Amazon Temporarily Shuts Distribution Centers in France After Court Order

Amazon said that it would temporarily shut down its distribution centers in France after a court ruled that the company could only deliver food, hygiene and medical products until it addressed workplace safety at its warehouses amid the coronavirus pandemic. The move comes as the online retail giant faces intensifying scrutiny both domestically and abroad over what it's doing to keep workers safe.

Apple, Google Must 'Convince a Rightfully Skeptical Public' of COVID-19 App

Smartphone software makers Alphabet’s Google and Apple will have to convince the public that any apps to help track who has been exposed to the new coronavirus will not lead to a violation of their privacy, Senator Richard Blumenthal said. “Apple and Google have a lot of work to do to convince a rightfully skeptical public that they are fully serious about the privacy and security of their contact tracing efforts,” he said in an email statement.

Apple Sharing Mobility Data from Maps with Health Authorities

Apple is sharing its mobility data from Apple Maps to assist public health authorities in analyzing how people are moving in communities amid the pandemic, the company announced. The data trends tool uses information from Apple Maps to calculate the volume of people driving, walking or taking public transit in major cities and 63 countries or regions.

Facebook, WHO Launch Chatbot for Messenger to Get Coronavirus Info

Facebook and the World Health Organization (WHO) are again teaming up to make it easier to find reliable information about the coronavirus. The organization launched a new chatbot for Messenger, which allows Facebook users to access news and updates about the pandemic, such as the latest official statistics and press releases from the organization.

French Court Limits Amazon to Orders for Groceries, Hygiene, Health

A court in Nanterre, France, has ruled that Amazon should greatly restrict orders in France in the coming weeks. According to the decision that AFP and a union have obtained, Amazon can only accept orders of groceries, hygiene and health-related products. The company has 24 hours to comply or it’ll have to pay a fine of €1 million per day.

Zoom to Let Paying Customers Choose Data Centers, Addressing Privacy

Zoom Video Communications Inc. will let paying customers decide which countries their virtual meetings get routed through, a move to assuage clients worried they may be vulnerable to possible Chinese snooping. The ability to select preferred data center locations will be available beginning April 18, Brendan Ittelson, Zoom chief technology officer, said in a blog post.

Apple, Google Unveil Tools to Let Smartphone Owners Track Coronavirus

Apple and Google unveiled an ambitious effort to help combat the novel coronavirus, introducing new tools that could soon allow owners of smartphones to know if they have crossed paths with someone infected with the disease. The changes the two companies announced targeting iPhone and Android devices could inject valuable new technological support into contact tracing, a strategy public health officials say is essential to allowing people to return to work and normal life while containing the spread of the pandemic.

Bill Would Add $2 Billion for Telehealth Services Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Don Young (R-Alaska) introduced legislation to boost telehealth services amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Healthcare Broadband Expansion During COVID-19 Act would infuse $2 billion into the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rural health care program to expand remote treatment options and ensure high quality internet connection at health care facilities.

Facebook Files Suit Over Deceptive Ads for Investing, Coronavirus

Facebook Inc. sued the founder of a software company for running deceptive advertisements on its social-media platforms, including links to investment scams and bogus information about the coronavirus pandemic. Basant Gajjar’s “LeadCloak” software, designed to circumvent automated review systems in Facebook and Instagram, baits users into clicking on links that are unrelated to the ad, according to the lawsuit filed in California.

Trump Administration Seeks to Revoke Licenses Used by China Telecom

Trump administration officials sought to revoke federal licenses used by China Telecom Corp. to do business in the U.S. as part of a broader campaign to curb global Chinese technology interests on national security grounds. A collection of federal agencies led by the U.S. Department of Justice and including the departments of Defense and Homeland Security asked the Federal Communications Commission to permanently revoke licenses the Chinese internet service provider’s U.S. subsidiary has used since 2007 to act as a “common carrier” connecting domestic and overseas networks.

Appeals Court Revives Class-Action Privacy Suit Against Facebook

A federal appeals court revived nationwide litigation accusing Facebook Inc. of violating users’ privacy rights by tracking their internet activity even after they logged out of the social media website. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said Facebook users could pursue several claims under federal and California privacy and wiretapping laws.

German Foreign Ministry Limits Use of Zoom, Citing Security Concerns

The German foreign ministry has restricted use of the video conferencing service Zoom to fixed-connection desktop computers because of “critical” security and data protection weaknesses, the newspaper Handelsblatt reported. A memo to employees cited by the paper said that, “based on media reports and our own findings, we have concluded that Zoom’s software has critical weaknesses and serious security and data protection problems.”

Senator Questions White House Plans for Coronavirus Surveillance System

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) pressed the White House on reports that it is in talks to create a national coronavirus surveillance system. "The Trump administration has not given me or the American people any confidence that it is capable of creating or maintaining a massive health data network in a manner that doesn’t undermine our fundamental right to privacy," the Massachusetts Democrat said in a statement.

U.S., U.K. Cybersecurity Officials Warn of Coronavirus-Related Hackers

American and British cybersecurity officials are warning that state-backed hackers and online criminals are taking advantage of the coronavirus outbreak to further their operations, echoing concerns from digital safety experts. A joint advisory published by the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency and Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre said that while the overall volume of malicious activity does not appear to have changed, hackers of all varieties were leveraging anxiety around the disease outbreak to push people into clicking links and downloading attachments.

Microsoft Buys 'corp.com' Domain Name to Protect Internal Networks

Security researcher Brian Krebs reported that Microsoft has purchased the dangerous domain corp.com to keep it out of the hands of the bad guys. The reason the domain has become problematic is it could provide the owner with passwords, email and other sensitive data from Windows PCs in companies where admins used a generic domain name (corp.com) to represent the idea of any domain when setting up Active Directory.

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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.