Pompeo Warns Britain of Security Risks in Doing Business with Huawei

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a blistering attack against China as he stepped up pressure on Britain, warning that American intelligence sharing could be risked by the involvement of a Chinese company in a new British telecommunications network. Speaking in London, Mr. Pompeo argued that China posed such a range of economic and security threats that the world now faced “a new kind of challenge, an authoritarian regime that’s integrated economically into the West.”

After Year-Long Ban, Facebook Allowing Some Ads for Cryptocurrency

A year after banning all blockchain-related ads, Facebook is reopening to ones for “blockchain technology, industry news, education or events related to cryptocurrency” without the need for pre-approval. The change could be a boon to an industry struggling for mainstream attention in the wake of the 2018 cryptocurrency price collapse that soured much of the public on the financial technology.

Lawmaker to Introduce 'Protecting Children From Abusive Games Act'

Video games popular among kids would be prohibited from offering “loot boxes” or randomized assortments of digital weapons, clothing and other items that can be purchased for a fee, under federal legislation to be introduced by Republican Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.). Hawley’s Protecting Children From Abusive Games Act takes aim at a growing industry revenue stream that analysts say could be worth more than $50 billion — but one that increasingly has triggered worldwide scrutiny out of fear it fosters addictive behaviors and entices kids to gamble.

Binance Says Hackers Withdrew $40 Million of Bitcoin in One Transaction

Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, said hackers withdrew 7,000 Bitcoins worth about $40 million via a single transaction in a “large scale security breach,” the latest in a long line of thefts in the digital currency space. The hackers used a “variety of techniques” including phishing and viruses to obtain a large amount of user data, Binance said in a post on its website.

FBI Counterterrorism Official Sees More Cooperation from Social Media

A top FBI counterterrorism official said that he has seen a major change in social media companies' willingness to address extremist content on their platforms. "We are seeing a tide change in social media companies being more proactive, policing their own," Michael McGarrity, the FBI's assistant director for counterterrorism, said at a House Homeland Security Committee hearing.

Amazon Hit by 'Extensive' Fraud That Took Funds from Merchant Accounts

Amazon.com was hit by an “extensive” fraud, revealing that unidentified hackers were able to siphon funds from merchant accounts over six months last year. Amazon believes it was the victim of a “serious” online attack by hackers who broke into about 100 seller accounts and funneled cash from loans or sales into their own bank accounts, according to a U.K. legal document.

Zuckerberg Gets Subpoena from Canadian Parliament Privacy Committee

A committee in Canada's Parliament voted unanimously to take the rare step of issuing a subpoena demanding appearances from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg. Bob Zimmer, chair of Canada's Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics, said in a phone call with CBS News that the subpoena can only be enforced if the Facebook executives step foot on Canadian soil.

Google Introduces Tools Giving Users More Control Over Privacy

Speaking at an annual conference for developers, Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, delivered a message that seemed cognizant of today’s consumer privacy concerns but out of step with the company’s history of intensive online data collection. Google introduced a set of tools spanning a range of its products to provide users with more control over their data and make it more difficult to track their online activities.

Facebook’s Sandberg Meets with Lawmakers to Discuss Privacy Protections

With a multibillion-dollar settlement looming for Facebook over user privacy violations, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg met with U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill to discuss legislation to protect users of the social network, officials said. The meetings had been long planned and were not to discuss reports that Facebook will soon settle a probe by the Federal Trade Commission into privacy lapses, according to a Facebook spokeswoman.

Senators Seek 'Resounding Precedent' Against Facebook for Privacy Woes

Two top Senate lawmakers expressed frustration with a federal probe into Facebook’s privacy practices, urging the government to move more swiftly and consider imposing tough punishments that target the company’s top executives. The message — delivered by Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Conn.) and Republican Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) — reflects the mounting political pressure on the Federal Trade Commission to deliver a strong rebuke of the tech giant while sending a message to the rest of Silicon Valley that Washington has started taking privacy violations more seriously.

Ukrainian Man Arrested in Netherlands for Creating 'Malvertising' Campaigns

A Ukrainian man has been arrested in the Netherlands and extradited to the U.S., where he was arraigned in front of a New Jersey judge to face charges of orchestrating malvertising campaigns for almost five years. According to court documents, Oleksii Ivanov, 31, has been behind multiple fake companies that operated from October 2013 through May 2018 and shipped over 100 million bad ads to users all across the world.

Facebook Deletes More Misleading Accounts Linked to Russia

Facebook Inc. said it had removed multiple pages, groups and accounts linked mostly to Russia that were used to spread misleading information on the social network and its Instagram service. The company deleted 97 accounts from Russia that focused on Ukraine and another 21 that focused on Austria, the Baltics, Germany, Spain, Ukraine and the United Kingdom, Facebook said in a blog post.

European Council President Warns About Rise of U.S. Tech Companies

The world needs to be wary of the rise of tech giants such as Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, comparing their powers to those of countries such as China, European Council President Donald Tusk said in Warsaw. “In the East, we see the rise of those capable of controlling everyone’s behavior, and in the West we’ve seen the rise of an uncontrolled, spontaneous empire,” Tusk said in Warsaw in reference to the companies during a speech marking Constitution Day.

EU Pushing WTO for Improved Protections for Online Transactions

The European Union began a push for improved protection for traders and consumers involved in online transactions, as it published proposals launching what are likely to be long and hard WTO negotiations on regulating e-commerce. The World Trade Organization rulebook was largely written in the 1980s and 1990s before the Internet revolution, and major trading powers have conflicting red lines over e-commerce.

EU Officials Expected to Seek Large Penalties for GDPR Violations

Companies can expect large penalties from the European Union this summer, more than a year after the sweeping General Data Protection Regulation took effect last May. Officials from Ireland and the U.K. said they are investigating major GDPR cases and plan to announce enforcement actions in the next few months, adding that the cases took time to build.

After Bans, Trump Threatens to 'Monitor' Social Media Sites for Censorship

President Trump threatened to “monitor" social-media sites for their “censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS,” a day after Facebook permanently banned far-right figures and organizations including the conspiracy theory site InfoWars. Trump’s subtle threat -- delivered in a series of tweets -- marked the president’s latest broadside against Silicon Valley, which he has repeatedly accused of unfairly targeting and removing conservative users and their views.

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