Facebook Whistleblower Accepts Invitation to Meet with Oversight Board

Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen said that she will speak to the platform’s independent Oversight Board at its invitation. “I have accepted the invitation to brief the Facebook Oversight Board about what I learned while working there,” Haugen tweeted. “Facebook has lied to the board repeatedly, and I am looking forward to sharing the truth with them.”

Google Removes Ads for Apps That Encourage Spouses to Spy

Google has pulled several “stalkerware” ads that violated its policies by promoting apps that encouraged prospective users to spy on their spouses’ phone. These consumer-grade spyware apps are often marketed to parents wishing to monitor their child’s calls, messages, apps, photos and location, often under the guise of protecting against predators.

Poll Shows Serious Concerns About Cyberattacks from China, Russia

Most Americans across party lines have serious concerns about cyberattacks on U.S. computer systems and view China and Russia as major threats, according to a new poll. The poll by The Pearson Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that about 9 in 10 Americans are at least somewhat concerned about hacking that involves their personal information, financial institutions, government agencies or certain utilities.

Tech Body Creates Committee to Address Misinformation in Australia

A tech body backed by the Australian units of Facebook, Google and Twitter said it has set up a special committee to adjudicate complaints over misinformation, a day after the government threatened tougher laws over false and defamatory online posts. The issue of damaging social media posts has emerged as a second battlefront between Big Tech and Australia, which last year passed a law to make platforms pay licence fees for content, sparking a temporary Facebook blackout in February.

FTC Warns About Social Media Scams for Broadband Benefit Program

The Federal Trade Commission is warning Americans about scams popping up on social media offering to "help" people sign up for the Emergency Broadband Benefit program, which provides people struggling through the pandemic with a subsidy to pay for monthly broadband access and a one-time only discount for a computer. The notice, issued on Friday, warns that the ads are government impersonators that look and sound like legitimate government sites, complete with government seals, designed to trick people into handing over personal information or paying a fee.

  • Read the article: CNET

EU Antitrust Regulators Probe Slack Complaint About Microsoft Teams

EU antitrust regulators are following up on a complaint by Slack Technologies by asking Microsoft's rivals if its Teams app integrated with its Office product gives it greater clout, in a sign that they could open an investigation. In a questionnaire sent to rivals and seen by Reuters, the European Commission is focusing on the period 2016 to 2021. Microsoft introduced Teams in early 2017 to compete with Slack and others in the fast-growing workplace collaboration market.

White House National Security Council Considers Cryptocurrency Oversight

The White House is considering a wide ranging oversight of the cryptocurrency market to combat the growing threat of ransomware and other cyber crime, a spokeswoman said. "The NSC and NEC are coordinating across the interagency to look at ways we can ensure that cryptocurrency and other digital assets are not used to prop up bad actors, including ransomware criminals," the White House National Security Council spokeswoman said.

Apple Appeals Verdict in Fortnite Case Requiring App Store Payment Changes

Apple asked a federal appeals court to throw out a legal decision that would require the tech giant to tweak its strict App Store rules and force it to allow app developers to inform customers of ways to pay for subscriptions and services outside the App Store. The September verdict followed a yearlong legal battle between Apple and Epic Games, the maker of the game Fortnite. Apple also asked a judge to delay the ruling mandating App Store changes until after the appeal is heard.

DOJ to Take Action Against Contractors Who Don't Report Cyberattacks

The U.S. Department of Justice has said it will launch civil legal action against federal contractors if they fail to report cyberattacks or data breaches. The Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative, introduced by Deputy Attorney General Lisa O. Monaco, will leverage the existing False Claims Act (FCA) to “pursue cybersecurity-related fraud by government contractors and grant recipients.”

Dutch Antitrust Authority Orders Changes to Apple's In-App Payment System

The Dutch antitrust authority has found that Apple’s rules requiring software developers to use its in-app payment system are anti-competitive and ordered it to make changes, four people familiar with the matter said, in the latest regulatory setback for the iPhone maker. Apple's app-store payment policies, in particular its requirement that app developers exclusively use its payment system where commissions range between 15% and 30%, have long drawn complaints from developers.

Ireland Drops Opposition to EU Corporate Tax Rate Plan for Tech Companies

A global agreement to set a minimum 15% corporate tax rate cleared its last major hurdle after Ireland, a low-tax country that is the European headquarters for some of the largest U.S. tech companies, said it would join the overhaul effort. The change in Irish policy comes ahead of a meeting of 140 governments and jurisdictions that have for years been negotiating a way of taxing international companies to limit avoidance and divide tax revenue in a way they say is fairer.

Google to Stop Advertising on Inaccurate Videos About Climate Change

Google said it will no longer display advertisements on YouTube videos and other content that promote inaccurate claims about climate change. The decision, by the company’s ads team, means that it will no longer permit websites or YouTube creators to earn advertising money via Google for content that “contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change.”

Zuckerberg Says Whistleblower Mischaracterizes Facebook's Safety

Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said the company’s work and motives have been mischaracterized in recent media reports and whistleblower testimony and pledged that he would continue pursuing internal research into potential harms of social media. In a Facebook post, he acknowledged the difficulty in how children use social media, underscored the importance of the company’s research into tough issues and reiterated calls for more regulation of the industry.

TSA Plans New Regulations to Protect Agencies Against Cyberattacks

The Transportation Security Administration will soon issue new regulations designed to make transit agencies and airlines better prepared for cyberattacks. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas says that, under the new directive, railroads and rail-related entities deemed "higher-risk" will be required to appoint a point person in charge of cybersecurity, report cyberincidents to DHS' Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and create a contingency plan for what to do if a cyberattack were to happen.

  • Read the article: CNET

Text Message Routing Company Discloses Possible 5-Year-Long Hack

Syniverse, a telecom company that helps carriers like Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T route messages between each other and other carriers abroad, disclosed that it was the subject of a possible five year long hack. If the name Syniverse sounds familiar, the company was also responsible for the disappearance of a swath of Valentine’s Day text messages in 2019.

EU Lawmakers May Subject More Tech Companies to New Rules

European Union lawmakers may lower a threshold that determines which companies will be subject to new tech rules, a top EU lawmaker said. The proposal could mean some European companies, such as Booking.com, might join the list that the rules will apply to, which is expected to include the major tech players like Facebook, Alphabet unit Google, Amazon , Apple and Microsoft.

Data Breach at Twitch Discloses Source Code, Information on Payouts

Amazon. com Inc.-owned Twitch Interactive, the videogame streaming platform, said it suffered a data breach, with information leaked on the online chat forum 4chan. The 4chan user who allegedly posted Twitch data said they did so to hurt Twitch’s business. The person claimed to have access to information including Twitch source code, internal security tools and creator payouts.

NAACP Seeks Meeting with Zuckerberg to Discuss Hate Speech on Facebook

The NAACP civil-rights organization is demanding a meeting with Facebook Inc. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg following revelations that the company is letting the vast majority of hate speech on its platform go unchecked. The call for a meeting with Zuckerberg follows the release of thousands of pages of documents by former Facebook employee Frances Haugen.

Senators Warn of Ongoing Telecom Threats from Chinese Government

The leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned of continuing threats posed by the Chinese government to telecommunications systems and other critical technologies ahead of a major international summit. Committee Chairman Mark Warner (D-Va.) sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging him to use the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ministerial meeting to work with other democratic nations to establish rules of the road around developing technologies, particularly to counter Chinese efforts in this area. Blinken is set to speak at the meeting.

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