Tag: settlement

Google to Pay More Than $150 Million in YouTube Privacy Case

YouTube has agreed to pay more than $150 million to resolve U.S. allegations that it violated children’s privacy laws. Bloomberg reports: The settlement with the Federal Trade Commission resolves a probe into whether the video service broke a law that makes it illegal to collect information on children under 13 and disclose it to others without parental permission. A group of…

CenturyLink, FCC Reach Settlement Over ‘Cramming’ Fees On Phone Bills

The FCC said on Tuesday that CenturyLink will pay $550,000 to settle an investigation into a practice known as “cramming”: when phone companies add unauthorized third-party charges to customer bills. “CenturyLink will also stop billing for most third parties, start refunding affected customer accounts and let customers block future third-party charges,” adds CNET. From the report: “Over the years, the FCC…

Facebook Paid Contractors To Transcribe Users’ Audio Chats

Facebook has been paying hundreds of outside contractors to transcribe clips of audio from users of its services, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of the work. From the report: The work has rattled the contract employees, who are not told where the audio was recorded or how it was obtained — only to transcribe it, said the people, who…

US Appeals Court Voids Google ‘Cookie’ Privacy Settlement That Paid Users Nothing

A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down Google’s class-action settlement meant to resolve claims it invaded the privacy of millions of computer users by installing “cookies” in their browsers, but paying those users nothing for their troubles. Reuters reports: In a 3-0 decision, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia said it could not tell whether the $5.5…

Cisco To Pay $8.6 Million Fine For Selling Hackable Surveillance Tech

Cisco has agreed to pay $8.6 million to settle a claim that it sold video surveillance software it knew was vulnerable to hackers to hospitals, airports, schools, state governments and federal agencies. SFGate reports: The tech giant continued to sell the software and didn’t fix the massive security weakness for about four years after a whistleblower alerted the company about it…

Privacy Group Challenges FTC’s Small Facebook Settlement, Also Wants an Admission of Guilt

“A consumer privacy group has filed a challenge to Facebook’s $5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, saying it is not ‘adequate, reasonable or appropriate’ and lets the social media giant off the hook for years of violations,” reports the AP. The Verge argues that the current consensus is “the FTC gave the company a slap on the wrist, and…

Facebook Revenue Beats Estimates; Discloses Antitrust Probe

Facebook said on Wednesday that new data privacy rules and forthcoming privacy-focused product changes would slow its revenue growth and significantly raise expenses, driving down its shares in after-hours trade even as quarterly revenue topped estimates. Reuters reports: The outlook came soon after the company agreed to pay $5 billion to settle a data privacy probe and disclosed that it faces…

FTC To Hold Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Liable For Any Future Privacy Violations

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will have to personally answer to federal regulators under an agreement to settle a privacy case with the Federal Trade Commission that includes a $5 billion penalty for the giant social media company, the agency announced Wednesday. From a report: Separately, Facebook will pay $100 million to settle a case with the Securities and Exchange Commission for…