Plus: A YouTuber is helping to bring down rare plant prices ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

December 04, 2025 | Read online
# Facial recognition still in stores, Crucial stops selling to punters and Hubbl complaints Plus: A YouTuber is helping to bring down rare plant prices
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Edition 2465
"B for Bus" (Flickr: gr33ndata)
Do NOT forget to give your reccys for the Sizzle Xmas gift guide!!!!!!!
# The News
### Facial recognition is still used in stores despite a privacy ruling against its use
Despite the Privacy Commissioner ruling that Kmart and Bunnings’ facial recognition tech broke the law, Australian retailers continue to use the technology in their stores (Information Age). Friend of the Sizzle Jeremy Nadel found that multiple bottle shops and grocers were still using the real-time technology. Plus, he also found that Auror — a “retail surveillance” company used in thousands of Australian stores that I was first to write about — now facilitates the use of facial recognition technology and is being used to surveil staff, the union claims. Bunnings is appealing the Privacy Commissioner’s finding against its use of facial recognition technology.
The Sizzle: The problem with technology like this is that it’s impossible to put the genie back into the bottle. The allure of using facial recognition technology to supposedly solve crime is too much, its cost and potential risk to the retailer is too little. Speaking realistically — what does a random shop owner have to lose from using this even if they bother to know it’s against the law? Bunnings and Kmart didn’t face any consequences for their misuse.
Meanwhile, people end up being thrown in jail when it’s wrong (NYT, $) and we all suffer the consequences of the end of privacy.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Crucial is ditching selling to punters in favour of AI companies
Popular storage brand Crucial will no longer produce consumer hardware as its parent company pivots to — you guessed it — selling to AI companies (Videocardz). Micron will stop selling its budget brand Crucial RAM, SSD, SD cards and other storage by the end of February 2026 so it can “improve supply for our larger, strategic customers” (Micron). it doesn’t take a genius to realise that’s a consequence of the rush to turn the entire earth into data centres, which is also causing memory prices to spike (Tom’s Hardware). Crucial will honour existing warranties.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
### Hubbl is punching above its weight in tech complaints made to the wrong ombudsman
The telco ombudsman has published data about the 1500 Australians who’ve asked them for help with tech platforms — something that they can’t actually do — as part of a pitch to expand their scope (Guardian). The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman says they’re getting a growing number of complaints about tech platforms despite not having the power to adjudicate those disputes (TIO). 71% of all complaints were about 5 platforms: Google, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, and Hubbl! Now, given how many use these platforms, you’d have to imagine that Hubbl is the pound-for-pound winner. Anyway, TIO is putting this out to again ask the government for powers to step in and help in these disputes.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
#### Leftovers
Australia:
Why perpetrators makes deepfakes (ABC News) Tesla chair Robyn Denholm steps down from Tech Council Board changes (Tech Council of Australia) Social Media Age Test Fail: How Snapchat thought my daughter was older and Meta might have broken the law (EFTM) How teens are already using their parents to get around Australia’s social media ban (Crikey, $) OpenAI faces ‘brutal’ challenge as Aussie start-ups pick and choose (Australian Financial Review, $) Datacentres demand huge amounts of electricity. Could they derail Australia’s net zero ambitions? (The Guardian) Australian Cyber Security Centre’s guide to using AI in large organisations/government (Cyber.gov.au) 2025 Computer Stocktake (Decryption)
Rest of the world:
Anthropic races towards potential 2026 public offering (Financial Times, $) India’s government backs down after Apple refuses order to preinstall app (The Verge) Anti-immigrant material among AI-generated content getting billions of views on TikTok (The Guardian) Steam Deck Lead Reveals Valve Is Funding ARM Compatibility of Windows Games to Expand PC Gaming and Release Ultraportables in the Future (FRVR) Reddit’s r/popular community going away, says Steve Huffman (The Verge) The Mad Men in 4K on HBO Max Debacle (fxrant) Home Assistant 2025.12 released (LWN.net, $) Why are my headphones buzzing whenever I run my game? (alexene.dev)
Discuss these links in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Oh, Also
### A YouTuber is helping to bring down rare plant prices
During the peak of COVID-19 lockdowns, you might remember that plant prices spiked as everyone raced to make their houses feel less bleak. Since then i’ve been paying attention to a few rare plant online communities and I came across this video of US YouTuber Plants In Jars who says that prices for sought after plants are crashing because of the growing popularity of using tissue culture to “clone” the plants (i.e. just breed more).
I accidentally crashed the rare plant market
A funny part in all of this is apparently there’s some snobbery around tissue culture-grown plants as inferior.
Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.
# Bargains
Electrical & Electronics
Lubluelu SL68Plus Robot Vacuum Cleaner With Self Emptying Station - $197 at Lubluelu via Amazon AU Tineco Floor ONE S6 All-in-One Smart Cordless Floor Washer - $379 at Tineco Amazon AU (Down from $899) Get $100 Off Apple Watch Ultra When You Checkout With Apple Pay at Officeworks
Computing
Razer Barracuda X Chroma Wireless Headset - $149 at JB-Hifi Crucial 32GB (2x16gb) DDR5 RAM 5600MHz CL46 - $240 at Amazon UK via AU HPE Networking Instant On Access Point with PSU Dual Radio - $380 at Centre Com (Down from $600) Asus XG27UCDMG ROG Strix 27" 4K QD-OLED 240Hz Gaming Monitor - $1000 at Centre Com Gigabyte GAMING A16, 16" IPS i7-13620H, RTX 5060 8GB, 16GB (1x DDR5 5200mhz) - $1599 at PC Case Gear / Centre Com
Mobile
Boost Mobile 290GB 12-Month Prepaid SIM with $50 cashback - $250 at TopCashback AU
# The End
😎 The Sizzle is written by Cam Wilson and emailed every weekday. It was created by Anthony “decryption” Agius.
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