Judge Dismisses Several Privacy Claims in Lawsuit Against Zoom

A U.S. judge dismissed large parts of a lawsuit accusing Zoom Video Communications Inc of violating users’ privacy rights by sharing personal information with Facebook, Google and LinkedIn, and letting malevolent intruders join Zoom meetings in a practice called Zoombombing. In a decision, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh in San Jose, California, dismissed several claims in the proposed class action including invasion of privacy, negligence, and violations of that state’s consumer and anti-hacking laws. She allowed some contract-based claims to proceed.

After Crackdown from Mainstream Social Sites, QAnon Followers Go Elsewhere

Adherents of QAnon, an extremist ideology that the FBI has deemed a domestic terrorism threat, can now be found in the less-visible but still-virulent world of encrypted chat app groups on Telegram and elsewhere. These largely unmoderated online spaces have become cauldrons of ludicrous claims about the pandemic and breeding grounds for an increasingly intense alliance between QAnon and covid denialism.

Biden Administration Adds Conditions to 5G Export Licenses with Huawei

The Biden administration has informed some suppliers to China’s Huawei Technologies Co. of tighter conditions on previously approved export licenses, prohibiting items for use in or with 5G devices, according to people familiar with the move. The 5G ban is effective as of this week, according to the people, who asked not to be identified to discuss nonpublic communications.

Facebook Asks Court to Dismiss Antitrust Cases from FTC, Most States

Facebook asked a federal court to dismiss major antitrust cases filed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and nearly every U.S. state, saying they failed to show the company had a monopoly or harmed consumers. “By a one-vote margin, in the fraught environment of relentless criticism of Facebook for matters entirely unrelated to antitrust concerns, the agency decided to bring a case against Facebook,” Facebook said in responding to the FTC complaint.

Apple Denies Parler's Application to Return to App Store

Apple denied Parler’s application to get back on its App Store, dealing a major blow to the right-leaning social media network that reappeared online last month after going dark for several weeks. Apple refused to let Parler back on its store in a recent decision, said a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private business matters.

Foreign Governments Increasingly Use U.S. Servers to Stage Cyberattacks

U.S. lawmakers and security experts are voicing concern that foreign governments are staging cyberattacks using servers in the U.S., in an apparent effort to avoid detection by America’s principal cyberintelligence organization, the National Security Agency. When hackers recently targeted servers running Microsoft Corp.’s widely used Exchange software, they employed U.S.-based computers from at least four service providers to mount their attack, according to an analysis by the threat intelligence company DomainTools LLC.

Russian Government Slows Access to Twitter to 'Protect Russian Citizens'

The Russian government said that it was slowing access to Twitter, accusing the social network of failing to remove illegal content and signaling that the Kremlin is escalating its offensive against American internet companies that have long provided a haven for freedom of expression. It was a landmark step in a country where the internet has essentially remained free despite President Vladimir V. Putin’s authoritarian rule.

Irish Data Protection Commissioner Says TikTok May Send EU Data to China

TikTok, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app, may be sending some European Union user data to China, its main data-protection watchdog in the EU warned. “TikTok tells us that EU data is transferred to the U.S. and not to China, however we have understood that there is possibility that maintenance and AI engineers in China may be accessing data,” Irish Data Protection Commissioner Helen Dixon said at an online event.

T-Mobile to Automatically Enroll Customers in Advertising Program

T-Mobile US Inc. will automatically enroll its phone subscribers in an advertising program informed by their online activity, testing businesses’ appetite for information that other companies have restricted. The No. 2 U.S. carrier by subscribers said in a recent privacy-policy update that unless they opt out it will share customers’ web and mobile-app data with advertisers starting April 26.

Twitter Sues Texas Attorney General for Retaliating Against Ban on Trump

Twitter sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, accusing the Republican of retaliating against the social media company for banning former President Donald Trump from its platform. "Twitter seeks to stop AG Paxton from unlawfully abusing his authority as the highest law-enforcement officer of the State of Texas to intimidate, harass, and target Twitter in retaliation for Twitter's exercise of its First Amendment rights," Twitter said in a lawsuit filed in a U.S. District Court.

  • Read the article: CNET

French Lobbying Group to File Privacy Complaint Against Apple

France Digitale will file a complaint against iPhone maker Apple with data privacy watchdog CNIL over alleged breaches of European Union rules, France’s leading startup lobby said in a statement. In the seven-page complaint seen by Reuters, the lobby, which represents the bulk of France’s digital entrepreneurs and venture capitalists, alleges Apple’s latest operating software, iOS 14, does not comply with EU privacy requirements.

Instagram Includes Anti-Vaccination Content in 'Suggested' Posts

Instagram’s “suggested” posts recommended anti-vaccination content to users, even as parent company Facebook intensified efforts to combat false and misleading statements about COVID-19, according to research from the Center for Countering Digital Hate. The nonprofit group says Instagram suggested anti-vaccination posts to volunteers who created accounts and showed an interest in conspiracy theories.

Lawmakers Appear to Focus on Tweaks to Section 230 Protections, Not Repeal

Former President Donald J. Trump called multiple times for repealing the law that shields tech companies from legal responsibility over what people post. President Biden, as a candidate, said the law should be “revoked.” But the lawmakers aiming to weaken the law have started to agree on a different approach. They are increasingly focused on eliminating protections for specific kinds of content rather than making wholesale changes to the law or eliminating it entirely.

House Judiciary Committee to Hear from News Outlets, Microsoft President

A House Judiciary panel focused on antitrust will hear from three witnesses who represent a range of news organizations with concerns about how big tech platforms like Facebook and Alphabet’s Google increasingly dominate their industry. The antitrust subcommittee leading the charge against tech platforms, and in this instance focusing on their relations with news organizations, will also hear from Microsoft President Brad Smith.

Hackers Appear to Breach Security Camera Data Used by Hospitals, Police

A group of hackers say they breached a massive trove of security-camera data collected by Silicon Valley startup Verkada Inc., gaining access to live feeds of 150,000 surveillance cameras inside hospitals, companies, police departments, prisons and schools. Companies whose footage was exposed include carmaker Tesla Inc. and software provider Cloudflare Inc.

Apple, Facebook, Google Fighting Over Privacy Protection, Image

Silicon Valley giants are drawing battle lines over personal data collection practices and targeted ads as the threat of regulation looms. As Apple presses ahead with plans to give users greater control over their privacy, companies like Facebook and Google have aligned themselves over the latter's more measured approach to scaling back tracking features.

House Democrats Ask Zuckerberg About Facebook's Ad Practices for Guns

A group of 23 U.S. House Democrats asked Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg for answers on the social media site’s advertising practices over targeted ads for gun accessories and protective equipment. The lawmakers, led by House Energy Commerce Committee chairman Frank Pallone, cited reports the ads were shown “next to content that amplified election misinformation” and news about the Capitol siege after January 6.

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.