• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer

2

Corporate America has been draining the world's water. Matt Damon's new campaign calls on Gap, Starbucks, and Amazon to help give it back

3

Marc Lore’s robots make 500 burrito bowls an hour. A human can make 45

1

Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer

2

Corporate America has been draining the world's water. Matt Damon's new campaign calls on Gap, Starbucks, and Amazon to help give it back

3

Marc Lore’s robots make 500 burrito bowls an hour. A human can make 45
NewslettersData Sheet

The most popular police scanner app is donating proceeds to charity

Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
Robert Hackett
By
Robert Hackett
Robert Hackett
Down Arrow Button Icon
June 3, 2020, 1:11 PM ET

This is the web version of Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the top tech news. To get it delivered daily to your in-box, sign up here

The No. 1 paid iPhone app right now isn’t a productivity tool, a selfie editor, or a social network. It is “5-0 Radio Police Scanner,” an app that lets people tune into the communications of law enforcement around the world.

As crackdowns on protests over racism have rocked America, people are tuning into police radio scanner apps, like “5-0,” to keep tabs on the tumult. Rival apps—like Citizen, Broadcastify, and Police Scanner Radio & Fire—have similarly shot to the top of the download charts, as I wrote about on Monday.

I recently exchanged emails with Allen Wong, the 5-0 app’s creator, for whom all this turmoil has been especially lucrative. On Monday evening, he told me his app had “netted a few tens of thousands of dollars in profit in the past 24 hours.”

A self-described self-made millionaire, Wong says most of 5-0’s revenue comes from a free, advertising-supported version of the app. Through it, anyone can listen to broadcasts uploaded by hobbyists who own special, emergency responder radio equipment. The free version is the third most popular free iPhone app today, and it makes five times as much money as the paid version, Wong says.

Now Wong wishes to share the wealth. He plans to donate recent proceeds from the 5-0 app “to various groups, such as the Equal Justice Initiative,” a non-profit group that fights mass incarceration and provides legal representation to people who may have been wrongfully convicted of crimes, he says. Wong made similar charitable donations, he says, when the app gained popularity in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombing in 2013.

“It has always been my purpose in life to create technology that helps people change the world for the better,” Wong told me in a note he since posted to his Lamborghini-filled Instagram profile. “I stand together with those who are feeling pain and fear every day of their lives due to racism in America.”

Add Wong’s pledge to the growing number of corporations backing anti-racist equal rights initiatives since protests over the death of George Floyd broke out. Every commitment counts.

Robert Hackett

Twitter: @rhhackett

Email: robert.hackett@fortune.com

THREATS

Permission to speak freely? A tech industry group filed a lawsuit challenging President Trump's recent social media-related executive order. The plaintiff, the Center for Democracy and Technology, contends that Trump's move to limit legal protections for online platforms breaches the First Amendment. The dispute is over Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields Internet companies from liability over the things people post online.

What I say goes. As tensions boil over, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is holding firm in his decision to leave up a controversial post by the President referencing shooting looters. Facebook's former security chief praised Twitter for taking a different approach, adding warning labels to the President's posts, while noting that "it's impossible deplatform the President."

Many years later, as he faced the firing squad... Years in the future, if and when Zuckerberg might like to forget this contentious period ever happened, he can use a tool the company just released called "manage activity." The feature, available now on the Facebook mobile app, allows people to bulk-delete old posts. 

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛. Images of black squares flooded Instagram on Tuesday in a show of support for the Black Lives Matter movement. The deluge of posts, many of which used the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag, drowned out links to resources and other relevant content shared by activists. Leaders of the movement recommended using #BlackOutTuesday for the campaign instead.

Crossing borders. Facebook's WhatsApp is making a big investment in Indonesian ride-hailing giant GoJek alongside PayPal. China's Tencent, another GoJek investor, is plunking down $260 million to become the majority stakeholder of Bohemia Interactive, a Prague-based video game studio. And SoftBank, which has been facing a reckoning since the collapse of portfolio company WeWork's IPO, just put together a $100 million fund for minority owned businesses.

Please 👏 change 👏 your 👏 passwords.

ACCESS GRANTED

Cameras are ubiquitous across the American landscape, and they're capturing footage of the recent intensifying conflicts between law enforcement and protestors. From storefront cameras and smartphones to Amazon Ring devices and video-sharing social media apps, there's no shortage of recordings. The technology is amplifying an already tense situation, reports the Washington Post.

On Saturday night, as protests were still taking place in city streets across the country, the Dallas police department put out a call for help on Twitter. It asked anyone who had video from the protests showing "illegal activity" to upload it to its anonymous tip app, iWatch Dallas.

What it got was a different kind of protest, in the form of a flood of videos and images of K-pop stars performing. The department later tweeted that the app was down due to technical difficulties.

FORTUNE RECON

Black workers losing jobs at twice the rate of white workers during the pandemic, according to new Fortune data by Lance Lambert

Google is sued for secretly amassing a vast trove of user web data by Robert Burnson

Amazon reportedly plans ‘Summer Sale’ starting June 22 to make up for Prime Day delay by Phil Wahba

Facebook’s Zuckerberg defends his handling of Trump post to staff by Kurt Wagner and Sarah Frier

Trump is sued over executive order targeting social media companies by Bob Van Voris

Two Facebook employees quit over handling of Trump posts by Aaron Pressman

Contact tracing begins in New York City with outreach to 600 people by Marina Villeneuve, Karen Matthews, Michael Hill

ONE MORE THING

As protests over police violence rocked the U.S. on Friday night, the Secret Service whisked President Trump into an underground bunker beneath the White House, according to the Associated Press. What do we know about the secret subterranean lair? Popular Mechanics dug into the details about the safe haven, which is designed for the commander-in-chief to use during emergencies such as terrorist attacks.

About the Author
Robert Hackett
By Robert Hackett
Instagram iconLinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Newsletters

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Newsletters

Why is it so hard to get ROI from AI? Because building from first principles isn’t easy
NewslettersEye on AI
Why is it so hard to get ROI from AI? Because building from first principles isn’t easy
By Jeremy KahnJune 11, 2026
9 hours ago
Bridgit Mendler, co-founder and CEO of Northwood, at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026 in Aspen, Colorado. (Photo: Stuart Isett/Fortune)
NewslettersMPW Daily
How Hollywood trained Bridgit Mendler for life as a space founder
By Emma HinchliffeJune 11, 2026
17 hours ago
Chevron’s CFO on why finance chiefs are defining AI’s business value
NewslettersCFO Daily
Chevron’s CFO on why finance chiefs are defining AI’s business value
By Sheryl EstradaJune 11, 2026
19 hours ago
Bridgit Mendler, co-founder and CEO of Northwood, at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026 in Aspen, Colorado. (Photo: Stuart Isett/Fortune)
NewslettersFortune Tech
Bridgit Mendler sees the space economy going mainstream
By Andrew NuscaJune 11, 2026
22 hours ago
‘Oh God, no! Not another thing’: What Anthropic’s Mythos-class Fable 5 means for CEOs trying to govern AI
NewslettersCEO Daily
‘Oh God, no! Not another thing’: What Anthropic’s Mythos-class Fable 5 means for CEOs trying to govern AI
By Diane BradyJune 11, 2026
22 hours ago
How the World Cup is a high-stakes stage for Big Tech’s AI push
NewslettersCIO Intelligence
How the World Cup is a high-stakes stage for Big Tech’s AI push
By John KellJune 10, 2026
2 days ago

Most Popular

Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer
Energy
Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer
By Sasha RogelbergJune 10, 2026
2 days ago
Corporate America has been draining the world's water. Matt Damon's new campaign calls on Gap, Starbucks, and Amazon to help give it back
Environment
Corporate America has been draining the world's water. Matt Damon's new campaign calls on Gap, Starbucks, and Amazon to help give it back
By Catherina GioinoJune 9, 2026
3 days ago
Marc Lore’s robots make 500 burrito bowls an hour. A human can make 45
Innovation
Marc Lore’s robots make 500 burrito bowls an hour. A human can make 45
By Amanda GerutJune 9, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of June 11, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 11, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 11, 2026
19 hours ago
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
Success
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
By Preston ForeJune 8, 2026
4 days ago
SpaceX's record IPO has Wall Street torn between a Musk 'holy grail' and a $135-per-share leap of faith
Startups & Venture
SpaceX's record IPO has Wall Street torn between a Musk 'holy grail' and a $135-per-share leap of faith
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJune 11, 2026
1 day ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.