WhatsApp Alerted Users to 'Cyber Actor,' Thwarting Surveillance of Terrorists

A team of European law-enforcement officials was hot on the trail of a potential terror plot in October, fearing an attack during Christmas season, when their keyhole into a suspect’s phone went dark. WhatsApp, Facebook Inc. ’s popular messaging tool, had just notified about 1,400 users — among them the suspected terrorist — that their phones had been hacked by an “advanced cyber actor.” An elite surveillance team was using spyware from NSO Group, an Israeli company, to track the suspect, according to a law-enforcement official overseeing the investigation.

TikTok Releases First Transparency Report on Government Requests

TikTok released its first transparency report, showing which countries have submitted requests for content removal as well as access to user data. China is notably absent from the report — the video sharing app, owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, claims it did not receive a single takedown request from Communist Party of China in the first half of 2019.

Small Businesses Still Struggling to Comply with Online Sales Tax Ruling

Eighteen months after the Supreme Court gave states the green light to tax online transactions, small companies that sell things as diverse as recycled yarn and gold bullion are struggling to adjust. In its June 2018 ruling, the Supreme Court held that states had the authority to make online retailers collect sales taxes even if they didn’t maintain a store, warehouse or other physical presence.

YouTube to Limit Data Collected on Videos Designed for Children

YouTube will soon limit the data it collects on videos designed for children to comply with a federal privacy clampdown, pleasing consumer advocates but delivering a potential financial blow to creators of free children’s content on the video platform. The change, slated for early January, means the unit of Alphabet Inc.’s Google will stop showing data-driven personalized ads on videos for kids.

French Court Lets Authorities Review Social Media to Detect Tax Avoidance

France’s government can pursue plans to trawl social media to detect tax avoidance, its Constitutional Court ruled, although it introduced limitations on what information can be collected following a privacy outcry. The new rules, part of a broader law on tax changes passed by the lower house of parliament, add to the state’s surveillance powers by letting it collect masses of public data, as part of a three-year online monitoring experiment.

Homeowner Sues Amazon After Hacker Allegedly Accesses Ring Camera

Amazon.com Inc. and its Ring home security camera unit have been sued by an Alabama homeowner who said the cameras’ defective design leaves purchasers vulnerable to cyberattacks. In a proposed class action, John Baker Orange said an unknown hacker recently accessed his Ring camera while his children, ages 7, 9 and 10, were playing basketball on the driveway, and through its speaker system encouraged them to move closer to the camera.

Tuvalu's .tv Top-Level Domain Proves Valuable Amid TV, Gaming Growth

Nearly 25 years after it was assigned the country code top-level domain .tv, the internet’s full power remains relatively unknown to many people on the island of Tuvalu, but its evolution has made the domain one of its most valuable resources. Thanks to the rise of livestreamed programming and competitive video gaming, Tuvalu earns about 1/12th of its annual gross national income (GNI) from licensing its domain to tech giants like Amazon-owned streaming platform Twitch through the Virginia-based company Verisign.

California's Internet Privacy Law Creating Confusion for Companies, Consumers

A sweeping new law that aims to rewrite the rules of the internet in California went into effect on Jan. 1. Most businesses with a website and customers in California — which is to say most large businesses in the nation — must follow the new rules, which are supposed to make online life more transparent and less creepy for users. The only problem: Nobody’s sure how the new rules work.

Military Cyber Officials Create Plan to Target Russians for Election Interference

Military cyber officials are developing information warfare tactics that could be deployed against senior Russian officials and oligarchs if Moscow tries to interfere in the 2020 U.S. elections through hacking election systems or sowing widespread discord, according to current and former U.S. officials. One option being explored by U.S. Cyber Command would target senior leadership and Russian elites, though probably not President Vladimir Putin, which would be considered too provocative, said the current and former officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity.

Apple, Google Remove ToTok App After Report Identifying It as UAE Spy Tool

Apple and Google have reportedly both removed the messaging app ToTok from their online stores after The New York Times reported that it is a spy tool used by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government. ToTok said in a statement on its website that the app is "temporarily" not available on the Google Play or Apple App stores because of "a technical issue."

Facebook, Twitter Disable Fake Accounts Using AI to Push Pro-Trump Messages

Facebook and Twitter disabled a global network of hundreds of fake accounts that pushed pro-Trump messages and covered its tracks using inauthentic photos generated with the aid of artificial intelligence. The tech giants’ takedown targeted the BL, a U.S.-based media company that Facebook linked to Epoch Media Group that has criticized the Chinese government; has ties to Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual movement; and has vociferously supported the reelection of President Trump.

France's Competition Watchdog Fines Google $166M Over Ad Abuses

France’s competition watchdog has slapped Google with a €150 million (~$166 million) fine after finding the tech giant abused its dominant position in the online search advertising market. In a decision following a lengthy investigation into the online ad sector, the competition authority sanctioned Google for adopting what it describes as “opaque and difficult to understand” operating rules for its ad platform, Google Ads, and for applying them in “an unfair and random manner.”

'Secure' Chat App ToTok Called Spy Tool Used by United Arab Emirates

It is billed as an easy and secure way to chat by video or text message with friends and family, even in a country that has restricted popular messaging services like WhatsApp and Skype. But the service, ToTok, is actually a spying tool, according to American officials familiar with a classified intelligence assessment and a New York Times investigation into the app and its developers.

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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.