App Annie, a mobile analytics company, was charged with securities fraud. The company agreed to pay $10 million as a fine to settle the charges. The app was found violating the Exchange Act’s anti-fraud provisions. The Exchange Act states that it’s unlawful to issue any kind of misleading information in connection with the purchase or sale of securities. The US Securities and Exchange Commission issued notice against the unlawful practice of the app.

What’s App Annie?

APP Annie is a mobile analytics firm. It is the first company that offers a mobile performance suite. It provides data science-driven insights related to the app market and advertising analytics. Their app enables brands to create winning mobile experiences, which impacts revenue, engagement, and brand loyalty. It integrates the brand’s app data with the app’s own comprehensive market data, which can help brands create winning strategies.

Understanding the Fraud in Depth

The SEC issued an order that states the app was guilty of engaging in “deceptive practices.” App Annie is one of the largest sellers of market data on mobile app performance. It provides estimates on the number of times a particular app is downloaded, how frequently it’s being used, how much revenue the app is creating for the company, and more. These kinds of data are usually referred to as ‘alternative data’ by the trading firms. A company’s financial statements or other traditional data don’t include such insights, but it can be critical in determining its performance.

According to the agreement between App Annie and companies who shared their data with the app, it was decided that App Annie would not share the company’s data with the third parties without first aggregating and anonymizing it. However, it was later found that starting from late 2014 and right through mid-2018, App Annie used non-aggregated and non-anonymized data to arrive at more precise estimates that can prove to be fruitful to trading firms. Trading firms made investment decisions based on the data provided by App Annie – and this is a case of deceptive conduct and material misrepresentations in connection with the sale or purchase of securities.

Sunsets are something we usually take for granted because they happen without fail every day. Of course, it’s not just on Earth that this phenomenon occurs. Planets like Mars and Uranus also have sunsets, although they look different than what you might expect. We know that because NASA has released a simulation that shows just that.

A Future On Uranus

This simulation came about after Dr. Geronimo Villanueva expressed an interest in organizing a mission to Uranus. He’s hopeful that travel to the planet will be possible in the future, although not without plenty of support. That’s why he teamed up with James Tralie of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center to show the public why Uranus is worth exploring. He figured that if people could see the beauty of the planet’s sunset, he’d get their support.

Creating The Simulations

Villanueva used his understanding of Uranus’ atmosphere to work out what a sunset would look like there. The result was far bluer than what we’re used to, and it’s certainly something special. Wanting the public to have more to to marvel at, the scientist also repeated the simulation for Earth, Mars, Venus, and Titan. The results varied, with Venus’ sunset a pale yellow while Mars’ was grayer and browner in color. As for Titan, it was much bolder with more of a yellow/orange glow.

A Point Of Comparison

It’s difficult to say for sure if these simulations are 100% accurate, given we can’t actually reach planets like Uranus yet. However, Villanueva believes that what he’s created offers a good point of comparison if we do ever make it that far. If a craft goes out there and returns with images that look different, we’ll know that there’s more we have to learn about Uranus’ atmosphere.

Although we can only appreciate these planets’ sunsets through a simulation, maybe us or our ancestors will get to experience them for real one day.