You’re reading Significant Digits, a daily digest of the numbers tucked inside the news.
As many as 180 requests
Location data gathered by Google from phones can serve as a “dragnet” for police. In many cases, authorities have obtained search warrants that require Google to turn over data from a database known as Sensorvault. The company receives as many as 180 requests from law enforcement a week, according to a Google employee, though the company didn’t comment to the Times about specific numbers. These new orders are sometimes called “geofence” warrants and “specify an area and a time period, and Google gathers information from Sensorvault about the devices that were there.” [The New York Times]
60 percent favorites
The NBA Playoffs began over the weekend and the Golden State Warriors — as they have been all season — are the favorites to cruise through them and win the championship. Specifically, they have a 60 percent chance of trophy-hoisting, according to our predictions. The Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks follow distantly with 16 and 15 percent chances, respectively. [FiveThirtyEight]
385-foot wingspan
The world’s largest airplane — at 500,000 pounds with a 385-foot wingspan and named Stratolaunch — flew for the first time over the weekend and safely landed. The plane is designed to “drop rockets that ignite their engines and boost themselves into orbit around the planet.” Stratolaunch was the brainchild of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, who died last year. [The Verge]
15 years of tax returns
Happy (?) Tax Day! Kamala Harris got in the spirit of the day by releasing 15 years of tax returns. She and her husband reported income of $1.89 million last year, which included Harris’s Senate salary along with $320,000 she made from her book, “The Truths We Hold.” [Politico]
More than 1,200 people
More than 1,200 people have died in Madagascar as the result of a measles outbreak that has seen “well beyond” 115,000 cases. Less than 60 percent of the country is vaccinated against the infectious disease, not because of resistance to vaccinating children but rather because parents there “face immense challenges, including the lack of resources.” [Associated Press]
14-year gap
Here’s a blast from the past: Tiger Woods won the Masters yesterday afternoon. It was his first major victory in 11 years and his first green jacket in 14 years — besting a record drought between Masters victories set by Gary Player. It was also Woods’s 15th major victory and at 43 years old he’s just three shy of Jack Nicklaus’s fabled record 18. [ESPN]
From ABC News:
News headlines today: April 15, 2019
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