Ireland's Data Protection Commissioner Probing Apple Over User Recordings

Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner (DPC), Apple’s main regulator in the European Union, said it was in contact with the company after a whistleblower called for action over a program that listens to users’ recordings. he regulator acted after Thomas Le Bonniec, a former Apple contractor, wrote to European data protection regulators on May 20 to push for investigations into these practices.

Apple, Google Launch Coronavirus 'Exposure Notification' Tool

Apple and Google launched software that will allow public health authorities around the world to create mobile applications that notify people when they may have come in contact with someone who’s been diagnosed with the coronavirus. The effort, which the two tech giants call an “exposure notification” tool and which utilizes Bluetooth radios within smartphones, will be part of a new software update the companies are pushing out.

EU Regulators Seeking Feedback Before Revising E-Commerce Directive

EU regulators are seeking feedback from users and digital service providers before drafting rules that could rein in Google, Facebook, Amazon, Uber and other tech companies, an EU document seen by Reuters showed. A 43-page questionnaire to be sent to members of the public, digital services providers and EU governments in coming weeks covers topics such as the power of “gatekeepers”, online platforms’ liability for illegal or harmful content, gig economy workers and transparency around online advertising.

European Countries Considering Contact Tracing Tech from Apple, Google

The continent that helped lead a backlash against Silicon Valley’s appetite for personal data is increasingly aligning itself with technology built by Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google to blaze a path out of the coronavirus pandemic. The embrace of Apple and Google protocols by European countries contrasts with the approach in the U.S., where state and local authorities are taking the lead on digital contact-tracing efforts.

Zuckerberg Says He's Worried About Countries Regulating Internet

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he is “worried” that other countries may be trying to imitate China’s approach to regulating the internet. “Just to be blunt about it, I think there is a model coming out of countries like China that tend to have very different values than Western countries that are more democratic,” Zuckerberg said during an hourlong video conversation with European Union Industry Commissioner Thierry Breton.

Ubisoft Sues Apple, Google for Selling Ripoff of 'Rainbow Six: Siege' Game

Ubisoft Entertainment SA sued Apple Inc. and Google LLC, accusing the companies of selling a ripoff of its popular video game “Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege.” “Area F2,” created by Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd.’s Ejoy.com, is a “near carbon copy” of Rainbow Six: Siege, and that can’t be “seriously be disputed,” Ubisoft said in a complaint filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

Judge Gives Preliminary Approval to $500M iPhone Performance Settlement

A California federal judge preliminarily approved Apple's $500 million deal to end multidistrict litigation accusing the company of releasing software updates that slowed down the performance of certain iPhones, but extended the final approval deadlines in light of the coronavirus pandemic. During a hearing held via Zoom's videoconferencing tool, U.S. District Judge Edward J. Davila told the parties he wants to extend the final approval deadlines by a few weeks due to the COVID-19 crisis and he told them to meet and confer about proposing a new date for a final settlement approval hearing that would take place sometime in December.

Justice Department, States Preparing Antitrust Lawsuits Against Google

The Justice Department and top state attorneys general are likely to file antitrust lawsuits against Google in the coming months, according to two people familiar with the matter, as regulators prepare to take more aggressive aim at the tech giant’s search-and-advertising empire. The federal case could come as soon as the summer, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss a law-enforcement proceeding that had not been finalized.

Google Removes News Articles Based on Bogus Complaints, Analysis Finds

The Wall Street Journal identified hundreds of instances in which individuals or companies, often using apparently fake identities, caused Google to remove links to unfavorable news articles and blog posts that alleged wrongdoing by convicted criminals, foreign officials and businesspeople in the U.S. and abroad. Google took them down in response to copyright complaints, many of which appear to be bogus, the Journal found in an analysis of information from the more than four billion links sent to Google for removal since 2011.

Pompeo Faults China for Online Efforts to Steal Coronavirus Research

The United States condemned attempts by China-linked “cyber actors and non-traditional collectors affiliated” to steal U.S. intellectual property and data related to coronavirus research, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. “The PRC’s behavior in cyberspace is an extension of its counterproductive actions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” Pompeo said in a statement.

FBI Gets Warrant to Seize Sen. Burr's Cellphone in Stock Trade Probe

Federal agents seized a cellphone belonging to a prominent Republican senator on Wednesday night as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into controversial stock trades he made as the novel coronavirus first struck the U.S., a law enforcement official said. Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, turned over his phone to agents after they served a search warrant on the lawmaker at his residence in the Washington area, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a law enforcement action.

ACLU Wants House to Revisit Vote on Warrant for Web Browsing Data

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is calling on the House to revive an amendment that would block law enforcement from being able to access web browsing data without a warrant after the measure fell short by one vote in the Senate. The amendment was introduced by Sens. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) during debate on legislation reauthorizing three intelligence programs that lapsed earlier this year.

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