The Federal Trade Commission voted this week to approve a roughly $5 billion settlement with Facebook over a long-running probe into the tech giant’s privacy missteps, WSJ reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter [Editor’s note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source]. From the report: The 3-2 vote by FTC commissioners broke along party lines, with the Republican majority…
Tag: Federal Trade Commission
Inside The Seamy World of Robocalling Schemes
CNBC reports on the latest revelations from America’s Federal Trade Commission about the tactics used by the robocall industry: In some cases, robocalls proliferate through programs that resemble multilevel marketing schemes, where business founders push robocall packages on “members” to spur quick growth. In one case, an organization known alternately as “8 Figure Dream Lifestyle,” “Millionaire Mind” and “Online Entrepreneur Academy”…
D-Link To Undergo Security Audits For 10 Years as Part of FTC Settlement
D-Link has agreed to a settlement with the US Federal Trade Commission in regards to a 2017 lawsuit in which the US government agency accused the Taiwanese hardware maker of misrepresenting the security of its devices and ignoring vulnerability reports. From a report: As part of the settlement, D-Link has promised to implement a new software security program for its routers…
Microsoft Claims Unauthorized Repairing of Its Devices Would Be a Security Risk
In comments submitted to America’s Federal Trade Commission, Microsoft says repairing its devices could jeopardize protections from the Trusted Platform Module (TPM) security chip. “Don’t believe them,” argues a group of information security professionals who support the right to repair. Slashdot reader chicksdaddy quotes their report: The statement was submitted ahead of Nixing the Fix, an FTC workshop on repair restrictions…
US Government Announces Nationwide Crackdown on Robocallers
The US government announced a nationwide crackdown on illegal robocalls on Tuesday, targeting companies and individuals who have collectively placed over 1 billion unwanted calls for financial schemes and other services, according to the Federal Trade Commission. From a report: The crackdown involves nearly 100 cases, five of which are criminal enforcement actions. They were brought by the FTC, Justice Department,…
YouTube Under Federal Investigation Over Allegations it Violates Children’s Privacy
The U.S. government is in the late stages of an investigation into YouTube for its handling of children’s videos, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing four people familiar with the matter, a probe that threatens the company with a potential fine and already has prompted the tech giant to reevaluate some of its business practices. From the report: The Federal…
Facebook Worries Emails Could Show Zuckerberg Knew of Questionable Privacy Practices
Facebook uncovered emails that appear to show Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg’s connection to potentially problematic privacy practices at the company, WSJ reported Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. From the report: Within the company, the unearthing of the emails in the process of responding to a continuing federal privacy investigation has raised concerns that they would be harmful to Facebook…
US Justice Department Considering Apple Probe
The U.S. Justice Department has jurisdiction for a potential probe of Apple as part of a broader review of whether technology giants are using their size to act in an anti-competitive manner, Reuters reported on Monday, citing sources. From the report: The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) met in recent weeks and agreed to give the…
Justice Department Is Preparing Antitrust Investigation of Google
According to The New York Times, the Justice Department is exploring whether to open a case against Google for potential antitrust violations (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source) relating to search and its other businesses, “putting renewed scrutiny on the company amid a growing chorus of criticism about the power of Big Tech.” From the report: An investigation into how…
Strict ‘Do Not Track’ Law Proposed By US Senator
This week a Republican senator “unveiled a ‘Do Not Track’ bill with tough penalties for companies who break its protections,” reports The Hill. Trailrunner7 shares more information from the security news site Decipher: Senator Hawley’s bill makes the Federal Trade Commission the enforcement authority for the system and any person who violates the measure would be liable for penalties of $50…