Despite the state's deep tech roots, California's legislature is considering banning devices that come with unbreakable encryption. California assembly member Jim Cooper (D-Elk Grove) introduced the legislation, bill 1681, that would require any smartphone manufactured "on or after January 1, 2017, and sold in California after that date" to be "capable of being decrypted and unlocked by its manufacturer or its operating system provider."
Google Inc.’s Android operating system has generated revenue of $31 billion and $22 billion in profit, a lawyer for Oracle Corp. said in court while disclosing figures Google says shouldn’t have been made public. An analysis of the search engine giant’s tightly held financial information was disclosed Jan. 14 by an Oracle attorney in the database maker’s lawsuit accusing Google of using its Java software without paying for it to develop Android.
The American Civil Liberties Union organized local lawmakers in 16 states to introduce a range of privacy legislation -- related to student and employee rights as well as protection from government surveillance. The lobbying group said it is putting a stronger focus on state-based laws because Congress has been “largely asleep at the switch.”
Google released its annual report on the state of its advertising business, as it relates to the company’s ability to block bad ads -- those that carry malware, are deceptive or just disruptive to the user experience, such as ads that cover up the content you’re trying to see. Google said it blocked over 780 million ads for policy violations last year, which is an increase from the 524 million-plus it blocked the year prior.
Tensions are rising between governments and big U.S. technology companies over widening surveillance demands, part of a broader debate over how to reconcile online privacy with the fight against terrorism. The battle will surface at the World Economic Forum, after a year in which terrorist groups including Islamic State killed hundreds in attacks around the world -- in some cases, officials say, using popular online tools to recruit followers and communicate.
Legislation that would grant U.S. privacy rights to Europeans is being delayed in the U.S. Senate, which may complicate negotiations over a broader trans-Atlantic data transfer pact that faces a January deadline for completion, sources said. The Judicial Redress Act, which would allow citizens of European allied countries to sue over data privacy in the United States, is "likely to be held" from a scheduled vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, a panel aide said.
India’s telecom regulator reprimanded Facebook Inc. for a letter-writing campaign urging approval of its Free Basics service, calling it an “orchestrated opinion poll.” The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is in the process of deciding whether services like Free Basics, which offers free access to a bundle of websites, are legal.
A tweak that Facebook made to its Android app will allow mobile customers in restricted places like China and Iran to connect to the social network. It's a big step forward for human rights activists -- and it could greatly expand Facebook's reach into countries where its services are banned.
Ten men suspected of using the digital currency Bitcoin to launder up to 20 million euros ($22 million) of criminal money made from online drug deals have been arrested in the Netherlands, Dutch prosecutors said. The men, described as all in their 20s and with Dutch nationality, were arrested in coordinated raids on 15 locations around the country, said spokeswoman Valentine Hoen of the country's Fiscal Information and Investigation Service.
Part of a lawsuit can proceed against the founder of Facebook's virtual reality glasses unit Oculus VR Inc, but a U.S. judge also dismissed several claims filed by another company which alleged the Oculus founder had passed off its confidential information as his own. U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco ruled that a breach of contract claim could proceed against Oculus founder Palmer Luckey.
Pakistan restored access to YouTube in the country, more than three years after the government blocked the video-sharing website because of content that officials described as blasphemous. The “Innocence of Muslims,” a movie uploaded on YouTube in 2012, triggered the ban after violent protests against it in many countries, including Pakistan.
Participating in daily fantasy sports amounts to illegal gambling in violation of Texas law, according to an opinion released by Attorney General Ken Paxton. “Odds are favorable that a court would conclude that participation in daily fantasy sports leagues is illegal gambling,” the opinion said.
The European Union is considering whether the way large Internet companies, such as Alphabet Inc.’s Google or Facebook Inc., collect vast quantities of data is in breach of antitrust rules, the bloc’s competition chief said. “If a company’s use of data is so bad for competition that it outweighs the benefits, we may have to step in to restore a level playing field,” said Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, according to a text of her speech delivered at the Digital Life Design conference in Munich, Germany.
Facebook Inc. began a Europe-wide campaign to thwart extremist posts on social media, after German politicians in particular raised concerns about a rise in xenophobic comments linked to an influx of refugees. The U.S.-based group launched its "Initiative for Civil Courage Online" in Berlin, pledging over 1 million euros ($1.09 million) to support non-governmental organizations in their efforts to counter racist and xenophobic posts.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to consider Microsoft Corp's bid to fend off class action claims by Xbox 360 owners who contend that the videogame console has a design defect that causes game discs to be gouged. The court will review a March 2015 ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on the question of whether a lower court decision denying class certification to the plaintiffs could be challenged.
A lawyer representing Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has demanded that several of the campaign's logos be removed from Wikipedia, saying that reproducing the logos violate copyright law. The Wikimedia Foundation has complied with the DMCA takedown notice and removed the notices.
Scammers are contacting Dell customers with detailed account information that should only be available to the company, reports SCMagazine, a publication for IT security pros. Fraudsters pose as a computer technician (in this case from Dell) and claim there is a virus or malware on your computer that needs to be fixed immediately. The scammer inevitably asks for hundreds of dollars in payment to fix the problem.
A new poll found more people are comfortable with office surveillance cameras than they are with a social media company using their information to serve up targeted ads. Despite the widespread adoption of social media, a majority of people, 51 percent, said they do not see it as an acceptable trade-off to get free access to a social media service in exchange for that company using their information to deliver targeted ads.
Hyatt Hotels Corp. said cyberthieves hit restaurants, front desks, spas and parking facilities at 250 hotels from Baku, Azerbaijan to Minneapolis over a four-month period last year. The attack, which affected roughly 40% of the hotels Hyatt manages, was one of the largest in a rash of recent intrusions to hit the hospitality industry.
Video-streaming service provider Netflix Inc's subscribers will no longer be able to use proxies to watch content not available in their home country. Subscribers often resort to proxies, or servers that facilitate access to Internet content not available locally, to watch Netflix's popular shows such as "House of cards" and "Orange is the New Black."
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