Month: July 2022

Internet Governance FTC Sues to Block Meta’s Acquisition of Virtual Reality Fitness Company: The suit alleges that Meta’s purchase of the company that makes the popular app Supernatural would lessen competition in the fitness app market. According to the Commission, because Meta already owns a similar app, the purchase would eliminate any “beneficial rivalry” between the two products and would be a step toward Meta achieving sole ownership over the Metaverse.

Privacy Activists Probe ICE’s Use of Data Brokers to Target Undocumented Immigrants: In public hearings in Cook County, Illinois, immigration activists described how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement relies on data brokers including LexisNexis and Thomson Reuters to obtain criminal justice data that could potentially be used to target immigrants. The activists urged lawmakers to investigate the practice, which they argued bypasses state and local sanctuary laws.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Uber Admits to Hiding 2016 Data Breach from the FTC: As part of a non-prosecution agreement between the company and the Department of Justice, Uber formally admitted that it failed to disclose to the Commission a 2016 breach that affected 57 million of the platform’s users, even though the Commission was investigating Uber’s security practices at the time. Uber ultimately publicized the breach in 2017 and settled breach-related litigation for $148,000.

Intellectual Property Chip Bill Passes Senate, House: The bill, which is designed to subsidize and support domestic chip manufacturing to the tune of $52 billion, was approved by both bodies of Congress and now heads to President Biden for signature. While the bill had bipartisan support, it has been criticized as a handout to manufacturers.

Freedom of Expression and Censorship Meta May Relax Covid-19 Misinformation Policies: In light of higher vaccination rates combined with its own efforts to promote accurate information about Covid-19, Meta has asked its Oversight Board to weigh in on a proposed policy change that would revert to labeling or down-ranking false Covid-19 information instead of outright removing it.

Practice Note NIST Releases Draft Cybersecurity Guidance for HIPAA Security Rule: The standards organization’s most recent revision of its guidance is meant to be “more actionable so that healthcare organizations can improve their cybersecurity posture and comply with the security rule.”

On the Lighter Side I’ll Hear What She’s Hearing: A new feature by Spotify will let you listen to automatically-generated playlists of songs that your friends have been listening to.

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Ron Lazebnik Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance Lawmakers Urge FTC to Rein in VPN Companies: Congressional Democrats have written to the Commission urging it to crack down on Virtual Private Network companies for misrepresenting their products and failing to provide adequate security for users. The letter, which comes in the wake of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, alleges that the companies’ misrepresentations are “giving abortion-seekers a false sense of security when searching for abortion-related care or information, putting them at a higher risk of prosecution.”

Privacy Newly Released Documents Reveal Department of Homeland Security’s Vast, Warrantless Use of Location Data: The trove of documents released by the American Civil Liberties Union includes contracts with data brokers and communications between agency officials expressing privacy concerns about the use of location data generated by mobile devices.

Information Security and Cyberthreats FBI Warns of Fake Cryptocurrency Apps: The apps, which copy the names and logos of legitimate apps, have defrauded at least 244 victims out of an estimated $42.7 million.

Intellectual Property Meta is Suing Meta for Trademark Infringement: Art installation company Meta.is, which owns the trademark “META” and has been in operation for over twelve years, is suing the company that is formerly Facebook, alleging that the company’s numerous scandals and “the toxicity that is inextricably linked with Facebook” make its mark unfit for promoting goods and services.

Freedom of Expression and Censorship Amazon Sues 10,000 Facebook Group Moderators for Facilitating Fake Product Reviews: The groups, which are recruitment grounds for sellers to find people to post fake reviews in exchange for money or products, have titles such as “Amazon Product Review” and membership numbering in the thousands. Amazon employs a team of over 12,000 to find similar fake review scams across social media properties.

Practice Note New Version of American Data Privacy and Protection Act Released: The new version of the draft bill, which has bipartisan support in Congress, emphasizes data minimization and, among other things, would prohibit targeted advertising based on sensitive information and information about peoples’ online activities across websites.

On the Lighter Side DALL-E Available in Beta: The popular AI image generator is now available to the first 1 million who add their names to a waitlist.

If you enjoy reading CLIP-ings, please consider making a contribution to Fordham CLIP. Your support provides crucial funding at a time when the study of information law and policy is more important than ever.

Ron Lazebnik Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance FTC Announces Focus on Highly Sensitive Data: In a statement released this week, the Commission committed to “using the full scope of its legal authorities” to enforce the law against companies that engage in conduct that unlawfully “exploits Americans’ location, health, or other sensitive data.”

Privacy Ring Rejects Lawmaker’s Requests to Improve Privacy: After product testing revealed that the company’s doorbell video cameras are capable of capturing audio from a long range away from the devices, Senator Markey asked the company to disable audio recording by default. In its response, Ring rejected the request, as well as a request to not apply voice-recognition techniques to collected audio.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Hacker Purportedly Steals Data on One Billion Chinese Citizens from Shanghai Police: In a post on a popular hacker forum, the anonymous thief offered for sale 23 terabytes worth of “information on 1 Billion Chinese national residents and several billion case records, including: name, address, birthplace, national ID number, mobile number, all crime/case details.” The data was supposedly exposed on a non-password-protected Alibaba-powered dashboard, and Alibaba executives have been called for questioning in relation to the theft.

Intellectual Property YouTube Restores Popular “Lofi Girl” Channel in the Wake of “Abusive” Copyright Notices: The popular music channel was removed after being hit with Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notices that YouTube later determined were “false copyright strikes.” Although YouTube restored the channel, its operators used the incident to criticize YouTube’s system for reviewing copyright claims.

Freedom of Expression and Censorship TikTok to Deploy “Content Levels” To Protect Young Users from Inappropriate Content: The rating system, which is designed to function similarly to the rating systems used in film and video gaming, will shield content featuring “mature or complex themes” from users under 18. TikTok has not yet clarified its methodology for classifying content or applying rankings.

Practice Note Section 230 Doesn’t Shield Omegle in Child Predator Suit: The District of Oregon found that the chat service was not entitled to immunity for claims alleging that its defective design facilitated the matching of an eleven-year-old girl with a man who sexually abused her.

On the Lighter Side UK Court Allows Claimant to Serve Defendants Via NFT: In a case alleging that unknown defendants misappropriated a business owner’s cryptocurrency, the court allowed the claimant to serve process by sending an NFT of the pleadings to the crypto wallets into which he initially deposited the cryptocurrency.

If you enjoy reading CLIP-ings, please consider making a contribution to Fordham CLIP. Your support provides crucial funding at a time when the study of information law and policy is more important than ever.

Ron Lazebnik Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance EU Passes Landmark Tech Regulation: The Digital Services Act will ensure that platforms such as Facebook, Amazon, and Google strengthen content moderation, the privacy of sensitive data, and AI transparency, while the Digital Markets Act will curb dominant companies such as Google, Apple, and Microsoft from abusing their market share.

Privacy Google Takes Privacy-Enhancing Steps in Light of Abortion Restrictions: The company has limited a feature that allows app developers to collect information about other apps a user has installed on their Android devices, including apps related to reproductive health. Google also announced that it will begin to delete location data on devices that have been in close proximity to a “sensitive medical location.”

Information Security and Cyberthreats Marriott Breached Again: Although not as serious as previous breaches, the latest breach resulted in the theft of 20GB of data that includes “confidential business documents” and customer payment information that would enable fraudulent credit card purchases. A Marriott spokesperson noted that the hack was perpetrated by a single threat actor who used social engineering to gain access to an employee’s computer and who attempted to extort the company before going public with the theft.

Intellectual Property FBI, MI5, Warn of China’s Efforts to Steal Tech: In a joint appearance before business and university leaders, the heads of the two security agencies warned of an “immense” effort by the Chinese Communist Party to steal technology “on a massive scale.”

Freedom of Expression and Censorship Twitter Sues in India over Account-Blocking Orders: The platform is challenging orders issued pursuant to the country’s tech rules, which require that tech companies remove certain types of content, as “excessive” and “disproportionate.”

Practice Note Japan Strengthens Consequences for Online Insults: Amendments to the country’s penal law designed to curb cyberbullying provide for one year of jail time and fines of up to 300,000 yen ($2,200).

On the Lighter Side Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks: A programmer configured a 40-year-old Commodore computer to play YouTube videos using its classic monochrome green display.

If you enjoy reading CLIP-ings, please consider making a contribution to Fordham CLIP. Your support provides crucial funding at a time when the study of information law and policy is more important than ever.

Ron Lazebnik Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance FCC Commissioner Calls Upon Google and Apple to Remove TikTok from their App Stores: In a letter sent to the companies, Commissioner Brendan Carr called the popular app a “sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data,” and asked the companies to justify how its “surreptitious” data collection and “pattern of misleading representations and conduct” does not put it in violation of the their terms of service.

Privacy Biden to Call on FTC to Protect Sensitive Health Information in Wake of Roe v. Wade Overruling: The President is expected to issue a letter to the Commission instructing it to clamp down on unfair and deceptive practices related to the use of sensitive health information by online platforms. Earlier this month, Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced a bill that would broadly ban the sale of such information.

Information Security and Cyberthreats FBI Warns that Cybercriminals Are Using Deepfakes to Apply for Remote Gigs: Cybercrooks are appearing via deepfake for interviews for targeted jobs in the tech sector that would grant them access to customer information, financial data, and other corporate databases.

Intellectual Property Supreme Court Won’t Hear Apple’s Renewed Attempt to Invalidate Qualcomm Patents: Although the parties in 2019 settled litigation over Apple’s use of the patents, which Qualcomm alleged that Apple infringed in its iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches, Apple’s latest appeal was based on a theory that it could become subject to future suits once the settlement agreement expires in a few years.

Freedom of Expression and Censorship Meta Properties to Remove Posts Offering Abortion Pills: Facebook and Instagram have begun to remove posts by users offering to mail abortion pills to those who need them on the basis that the posts violate the company’s prohibition on the sale, trade, or donation of pharmaceuticals. In tests, similar posts about guns or drugs were not removed despite similar prohibitions, and Facebook has admitted to inadvertently removing non-prohibited content, such as posts declaring that “abortion pills can be mailed.”

Practice Note FTC Takes Action Against CafePress: A complaint against the merchandise customizer alleges that it covered up a data breach and failed to implement reasonable measures to secure customers’ sensitive information, which included plaintext Social Security numbers, poorly encrypted passwords, and the answers to password questions.

On the Lighter Side Facial Recognition for Four-Legged Friends: A new pet door uses an “array of infrared cameras” to recognize your pet, and comes pre-trained to recognize other types of animals, to ensure that only your animal makes it in and out of the house.

If you enjoy reading CLIP-ings, please consider making a contribution to Fordham CLIP. Your support provides crucial funding at a time when the study of information law and policy is more important than ever.

Ron Lazebnik Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP