Europe's Privacy Law, GDPR, Failing to Live Up to Its Promises

Europe’s two-year-old online privacy law, heralded as a model to crack down on the invasive, data-hungry practices of the world’s largest technology companies, is struggling to fulfill its promise. Europe’s rules have been a victim of a lack of enforcement, poor funding, limited staff resources and stalling tactics by the tech companies, according to budget and staffing figures and interviews with government officials. Even some of the law’s biggest supporters are frustrated with how it has worked.

Apple Finds No Evidence Hackers Exploited Flaw in Mail App

Apple Inc. said it found no evidence of cyber-attackers exploiting newly discovered vulnerabilities in the Mail app for iPhone and iPad, software potentially used by more than a billion people worldwide. The U.S. company is countering assertions by cybersecurity company ZecOps Inc. that software flaws may have allowed hackers to infiltrate iPhones and other iOS devices for more than a year.

Bipartisan Bill Expands Internet Freedoms, Limits Social Media Censorship

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers introduced legislation intended to expand global internet freedom and cut down on social media and news censorship by governments in countries such as China and Russia. The Open Technology Fund Authorization Act would authorize the existing nonprofit Open Technology Fund (OTF) as an independent group under the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which also includes media groups such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe.

French Appeals Court Rules Against Amazon on Delivering Non-Essentials

Amazon lost an appeal of a French court decision ordering the e-commerce giant to stop delivering nonessential items in France during the coronavirus crisis to protect workers, raising questions about the immediate future of its business in the country. The Versailles Court of Appeals upheld a lower-court ruling from last week that prompted Amazon to shutter its six mammoth warehouses around France for a week and put its 10,000 workers on paid furlough.

Facebook Removes 'Pseudoscience' Category Option for Advertisers

Facebook Inc. has removed “pseudoscience” as an option for advertisers that want to target audiences, a category available until this week even as the world’s largest social media network vowed to curb misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has also paused the availability of some other interest categories while it evaluates its list, a Facebook spokeswoman confirmed in an email after Reuters found “conspiracy theory” was no longer an ad-targeting option.

Amazon Reportedly Uses Sellers' Data to Create Competing Products

Amazon.com Inc. employees have used data about independent sellers on the company’s platform to develop competing products, a practice at odds with the company’s stated policies. The online retailing giant has long asserted, including to Congress, that when it makes and sells its own products, it doesn’t use information it collects from the site’s individual third-party sellers — data those sellers view as proprietary.

Apple Plans Patch for 'Exploitable Vulnerabilities' in Mail App

Apple Inc. plans to release a patch after the cybersecurity company ZecOps Inc. found vulnerabilities that may have allowed hackers to exploit iPhones, devices used by hundreds of millions of people. San Francisco-based ZecOps discovered two “exploitable vulnerabilities” in Apple’s mail app and alerted the company, which released a beta update this month. The company confirmed that a full update is forthcoming to fix the bug.

Court Systems, Limited by Coronavirus, Struggle with Online Technology

As cities across the United States continue shelter-in-place orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic, almost every court system in the country has suspended or reduced in-person proceedings. Some cases have simply been postponed; others are now taking place over Zoom. It’s an unprecedented moment for the justice system, which is typically slow to adapt to new technology.

Vietnamese-Backed Hackers Try to Break Into Chinese Operations

Hackers working in support of the Vietnamese government have attempted to break into Chinese state organisations at the centre of Beijing’s effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak, U.S. cybersecurity firm FireEye said. FireEye said a hacking group known as APT32 had tried to compromise the personal and professional email accounts of staff at China’s Ministry of Emergency Management and the government of Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the global coronavirus pandemic.

25,000 Email Addresses Used by Coronavirus Groups Exposed

Unknown activists have posted nearly 25,000 email addresses and passwords allegedly belonging to the National Institutes of Health, the World Health Organization, the Gates Foundation and other groups working to combat the coronavirus pandemic, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors online extremism and terrorist groups. While SITE was unable to verify whether the email addresses and passwords were authentic, the group said the information was released and almost immediately used to foment attempts at hacking and harassment by far-right extremists.

Bill Would Add National Security Warnings to Some App Downloads

Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) introduced legislation that would send consumers warnings before they download applications developed in countries considered national security risks. If passed, the bill would mean that users would be alerted about alleged risks of downloading the hugely popular short-form video platform TikTok, which is linked to Chinese company ByteDance.

France Says Apple's Bluetooth, Privacy Policies Hinder Coronavirus App

The widely touted next step in tackling the coronavirus' spread is a series of phone apps, known as contact-tracing apps, that are being developed by many governments around the world. But France, which is hoping to release its app in May, says there's one big obstacle standing in its way: Apple. More specifically, the tech giant's Bluetooth and privacy policies.

  • Read the article: CNET

Facebook Removes Pages Promoting Protests Against Stay-Home Orders

Facebook is taking down some event pages promoting controversial anti-stay-at-home protests that are taking place across the U.S. — but it’s only doing this in areas where the events violate local Covid-19 social distancing rules. Facebook’s selective response mirrors a larger fracture across the country as the Trump administration has given conflicting guidance about how and when restrictions should be lifted and has largely left these decisions up to individual state politicians.

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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.