Airbnb Users Wrongly Charged for Reservations, Some at Fake Destinations

Airbnb users have been charged for non-refundable reservations at fake destination homes and in some cases, users report that money was taken from their bank and PayPal accounts. Airbnb confirms that there have been some occurrences, but said in a statement sent to USA Today that “these are isolated incidents and at no point was the Airbnb platform compromised.”

White House Social Media Bias Reporting Tool Raises Many Objections

A new White House campaign to collect stories about alleged instances of political bias on social media has drawn wide-ranging objections from members of Congress, free-speech advocates and privacy hawks, some of whom question whether the Trump administration’s effort violates the constitution. Their concerns stem from a survey the White House tweeted to followers that asked people to provide their names, citizenship status, contact information and links to their accounts on Facebook or other social platforms, along with details about instances in which they felt they had been censored.

Google Suspends Business with Huawei After U.S. Addition to Blacklist

Alphabet Inc.’s Google has suspended business with Huawei that requires the transfer of hardware and software products except those covered by open source licenses, a source close to the matter told Reuters, in a blow to the Chinese technology company that the U.S. government has sought to blacklist around the world. Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. will immediately lose access to updates to the Android operating system, and the next version of its smartphones outside of China will also lose access to popular applications and services including the Google Play Store and Gmail app.

Facebook Removes Hundreds of Accounts Linked to Israeli Entity

Facebook Inc. said it removed hundreds of fake accounts, pages and groups linked to a commercial entity based in Israel, a rare move against a private operation as the social network tries to stamp out misinformation around global elections. The company Thursday said it took down a network of 265 accounts, pages and groups, including 65 Facebook and four Instagram accounts, that posted content primarily pertaining to elections and other political activity in Africa, as well as Latin America and Southeast Asia.

FBI Keeps Classified Which Florida Counties Were Hacked in 2016 Election

Almost everyone, it seems, has been told which Florida voter registration systems were breached during the 2016 presidential election — except for the voters whose information was targeted. Elected leaders in Washington and Tallahassee want to tell them, but they say they can’t. The FBI has kept the information classified, refusing to publicly identify the two counties where Russian hackers had access to voter data that could have allowed them to wreak havoc for voters on Election Day.

U.S., European Law Enforcement Dismantle Cybercrime Network

U.S. and European law enforcement officials said they had dismantled a global organized cybercrime network, which used malware to steal banking login details in an attempt to pocket about $100 million from thousands of businesses. A federal grand jury in Pittsburgh charged ten members of the network, and other criminal prosecutions have begun in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, the European Union’s agency for law enforcement cooperation Europol said in a statement.

White House Launches Tool to Report Fraudulent Social Media Violations

The White House launched a new tool for people to use if they feel they’ve been wrongly censored, banned, or suspended on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. “Too many Americans have seen their accounts suspended, banned, or fraudulently reported for unclear ‘violations’ of user policies,” the site reads. “No matter your views, if you suspect political bias caused such an action to be taken against you, share your story with President Trump.”

Trump Administration Refuses to Sign International Accord on Online Extremism

The Trump administration said that it would not sign an international accord intended to pressure the largest internet platforms to eradicate violent and extremist content, highlighting a broader divide between the United States and other countries over government’s role in determining what content is acceptable online. Citing free speech protections, the administration said in a statement that “the United States is not currently in a position to join the endorsement.”

WhatsApp Urges Users to Update After Reports of Hacking Attempts

WhatsApp is urging its 1.5 billion users to update their app after the company detected sophisticated hacking attempts that might have targeted human rights activists. The Facebook subsidiary said “an advanced cyber actor” exploited a security flaw and installed the malware by targeting users’ mobile phones through WhatsApp’s call function, potentially allowing hackers to access private messages, location data and other information.

Trump Signs Executive Order Aimed at Banning Huawei's Telecom Tech

President Trump signed an executive order declaring a "national emergency" that would empower his administration to block foreign tech companies from doing business in the U.S. if they are deemed a national security threat. The order does not name any countries or companies, but the administration has launched a global campaign to keep the Chinese telecom Huawei from helping U.S. allies develop next-generation wireless infrastructures.

San Francisco Bans City from Using Facial Recognition Surveillance Technology

San Francisco became the first city in the country to ban city use of facial recognition surveillance technology — a groundbreaking move that privacy advocates applaud, but others say may go too far. The legislation will also force city departments to disclose what surveillance technology they currently use — and also seek approval from the Board of Supervisors on any new technology that either collects or stores someone’s data.

Google's Chief Legal Officer Emphasizes Anonymous Search Queries

Google’s main search business uses mostly anonymous queries to make money, the company’s chief legal officer said. In search ads, where the Alphabet Inc. unit makes most of its profit, more than 90% of the value is in the search itself “because it provides such a strong signal," Kent Walker told journalists in Munich during the unveiling of a security center in the German city.

Security Researchers Say WhatsApp Flaw Allowed Access to Phones

An Israeli firm accused of supplying tools for spying on human-rights activists and journalists now faces claims that its technology can use a security hole in WhatsApp, the messaging app used by 1.5 billion people, to break into the digital communications of iPhone and Android phone users. Security researchers said they had found so-called spyware — designed to take advantage of the WhatsApp flaw — that bears the characteristics of technology from the company, the NSO Group.

U.S. National Security Concerns Require Chinese Owner of Grindr to Sell App

The Chinese owner of Grindr is required to sell the popular gay-dating app by June 2020 under an agreement with U.S. officials who raised national security concerns about the app’s ownership. Beijing Kunlun Tech Co. said in a statement Monday that it reached a May 9 agreement that prohibits the company from accessing information about Grindr’s users and requires the sale of the app before June 30, 2020.

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The GigaLaw Firm helps companies of all sizes protect their brands online, using domain name dispute policies – such as the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP) – and other legal tools available to copyright and trademark owners on the Internet.