Google Says India's Antitrust Investigators Copied Parts of EU Ruling

Google has told a tribunal in India that the country's antitrust investigators copied parts of a European ruling against the U.S. firm for abusing the market dominance of its Android operating system, arguing the decision be quashed, legal papers show. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) in October fined Alphabet Inc's Google $161 million for exploiting its dominant position in markets such as online search and the Android app store, and asked it to change restrictions imposed on smartphone makers related to pre-installing apps.

N.Y. Governor Signs First State 'Right to Repair' Law for Customers

New York's Democratic governor, Kathy Hochul, made her state the first in the U.S. to establish that customers have the right to obtain diagnostic tools, parts and documentation from device makers in order to repair their devices. But right-to-repair advocates say the move will have limited impact. The new law, called the Digital Fair Repair Act, is set to go into effect on July 1, and requires that manufacturers provide "documents like manuals and diagrams, and tools like diagnostics and parts" to consumers for many electronics, excluding items such as home appliances, vehicles and medical equipment.

  • Read the article: CNET

Lawmakers Start Investigating U.S. Government's Use of Israeli Spyware

Senior lawmakers said they would investigate the government’s purchase and use of powerful spyware made by two Israeli hacking firms, as Congress passed a measure in recent days to try to rein in the proliferation of the hacking tools. Representative Adam Schiff, the California Democrat who is chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, sent a letter to the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration asking for detailed information about the agency’s use of Graphite, a spyware tool produced by the Israeli company Paragon.

Cybersecurity Experts Criticize LastPass for 'Half-Truths' in Breach Announcement

Just before Christmas, LastPass dropped a bombshell announcement: as the result of a breach in August, which led to another breach in November, hackers had gotten their hands on users’ password vaults. While the company insists that your login information is still secure, some cybersecurity experts are heavily criticizing its post, saying that it could make people feel more secure than they actually are and pointing out that this is just the latest in a series of incidents that make it hard to trust the password manager.

Hacker Claims Access to Private Data on 400 Million Twitter Accounts

Ireland's Data Protection Commission (DPC) says it "will examine Twitter's compliance with data-protection law in relation to that security issue" after a hacker claimed to have private details linked to more than 400 million accounts. The hacker, "Ryushi", is demanding $200,000 (£166,000) to hand over the data - reported to include that of some celebrities - and delete it.

  • Read the article: BBC

Appeals Court Revives Child Privacy Suit Against YouTube, Content Providers

A U.S. appeals court revived a lawsuit accusing Alphabet Inc's Google and several other companies of violating the privacy of children under age 13 by tracking their YouTube activity without parental consent, in order to send them targeted advertising. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle said Congress did not intend to pre-empt state law-based privacy claims by adopting the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA.

Meta Agrees to Pay $725 Million to Settle Lawsuit Cambridge Analytica Suit

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the company of allowing Cambridge Analytica and other third parties to access private information about millions of users. The proposed settlement would fund payouts to U.S.-based users of Facebook, in what plaintiffs say could be the largest U.S. class-action privacy settlement ever, according to a court filing.

Congress Passes Spending Bill That Bans TikTok on Government Devices

Under the bipartisan spending bill that passed both chambers of Congress, TikTok will be banned from government devices, underscoring the growing concern about the popular video-sharing app owned by China’s ByteDance. The bill, which still has to be signed into law by President Joe Biden, also calls on e-commerce platforms to do more vetting to help deter counterfeit goods from being sold online, and forces companies pursuing large mergers to pay more to file with federal antitrust agencies.

  • Read the article: CNBC

ByteDance Investigation Finds Employees Accessed Data on TikTok Users

ByteDance, the China-based parent company of TikTok, said that an internal investigation found that employees had inappropriately obtained the data of U.S. TikTok users, including that of two reporters. Over the summer, a few employees on a ByteDance team responsible for monitoring employee conduct tried to find the sources of suspected leaks of internal conversations and business documents to journalists.

Amazon Agrees to Settle Two EU Antitrust Cases Involving Third-Party Sellers

Amazon.com Inc. agreed to settle two European Union antitrust cases related to allegations about its treatment of third-party sellers on its platform, ending some of the bloc’s most advanced cases targeting a U.S. tech company. The online retailer won’t pay a fine as part of the settlement, something it first proposed in July, but it will be forced for up to seven years to adhere to commitments to change certain business practices that EU regulators had alleged were harmful to third-party sellers on its platform.

Fortnite Maker Epic Games Settles FTC's Child Privacy Case for $520 Million

Epic Games, the maker of the popular video game Fortnite, has agreed to pay $520 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that company violated online child privacy laws and tricked players to making unintentional purchases. Under the settlement, Epic will pay a $275 million penalty for violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and $245 million in refunds to players who were allegedly tricked into making purchases through design tricks.

Commerce Department Adds Chinese High-Tech Companies to Blacklist

The U.S. Department of Commerce is adding 36 Chinese high-tech companies, including makers of aviation equipment, chemicals and computer chips, to an export controls blacklist, citing concerns over national security, U.S. interests and human rights. The inclusion of the companies in the trade “Entity List” means that export licenses will likely be denied for any U.S. company trying to do business with them. In some cases, companies based in other countries are also required to comply with the requirements to prevent technologies from being diverted to uses banned under the export controls.

ADL Report About Extremism in Online Games Prompts Lawmakers' Questions

A recent report from the Anti-Defamation League about the rise of extremism in online game communities has stirred a response from members of Congress. Driving the news: Seven Democratic members, including Reps. Lori Trahan of Massachusetts, Katie Porter of California and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, are co-signing a letter to top game companies tomorrow, requesting information about how they deal with reports of extremism.

Metropolitan Opera Restores Website Nine Days After Cyberattack

Nine days after an audacious cyberattack struck the Metropolitan Opera, forcing its website offline, paralyzing its box office and hobbling its ability to sell tickets, the company announced that those services had been restored. “After suffering a cyberattack that temporarily impacted our network systems, we’re pleased to announce that the Met is now able to process ticket orders through our website and in person at our box office,” the Met said in a message on its website, which reassured customers that no credit card information had been stolen during the attack.

Microsoft Seeks to Address EU Antitrust Concerns Raised by Salesforce

Microsoft is seeking to address European Union antitrust concerns about its business practices prompted by a complaint from Salesforce.com's workspace messaging app Slack, people familiar with the matter said. The move, which may head off the opening of a formal EU antitrust investigation, underscores once again Microsoft's new preference for working out issues with regulators rather than jousting with them as it did in the previous decade.

Judge Dismisses Claims That Google Tracked Users' Personal Information

Alphabet Inc.’s Google defeated a privacy lawsuit by consumers who accused the company of snooping on them even after they opted out of sharing their web activity. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers dismissed claims that Google tracked users’ personal information, including IP addresses and browsing history, if they chose not to “Sync” their Google accounts with Chrome — and even if they didn’t have an account.

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