CLIP-ings

Internet Governance Facebook Shares Annotated Internal Research In Lead-Up To Congressional Testimony: Prior to appearing before Congress late this week, and in the wake of a recent investigation by The Wall Street Journal that prompted the hearings about the social networks’ effects on teens’ mental health, Facebook released annotated versions of its internal research into the matter to counter the reporting and contextualize the findings.

Privacy Amazon Ring’s Home-Security Drone Now In Testing: As part of an invite-only program, people will now be able to test Ring’s “Always Home Cam,” which is designed to fly around and “patrol” properties while occupants aren’t home; to curb privacy concerns, the drone “issues an audible warning” when recording occurs, and the camera is “obscured” when the drone is idle.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Far-Right Organizations Suffer Hacks: Five gigabytes of data belonging to the Oath Keepers militia group, including emails, chat logs, donor lists, and other information, were made publicly available earlier this week; on Tuesday, hacking group Anonymous published data from Epik, the web hosting company popular among far-right platforms, which it had breached earlier this month.

Intellectual Property National Music Publishers’ Association Reaches Agreement With Roblox: After making a similar deal with streaming platform Twitch last week, the NMPA has settled a $200 million copyright suit against the popular gaming platform; under the settlement, NMPA members have an option to negotiate their own licensing deals with Roblox.

Free Expression and Censorship CNN Restricts Certain Content In Australia Following Court Ruling: In response to a recent ruling by the country’s highest court that exposes media companies to liability for others’ comments on their social media posts, CNN has blocked Australian users from viewing its primary Facebook page, its CNN International page, and others. YouTube Expands Vaccine Misinformation Ban To Include All Vaccines: After concluding that falsehoods about the COVID-19 vaccine “spill over into misinformation about vaccines in general,” the company will expand its ban on vaccine misinformation to cover “long-approved vaccines”; certain vaccine content, such as “personal testimonies relating to vaccines,” will be allowed to remain on the site.

Practice Note New Jersey Lawyer Absolved Of Ethics Charges Based On Facebook Friending Opposing Party: The New Jersey Supreme Court concluded that the lawyer, who had directed a paralegal to use Facebook to connect with and download content from a represented opposing party in 2008, had a “good faith misunderstanding about the nature” of the social network’s privacy practices at the time, when he didn’t fully comprehend the concept of Facebook friendship and thought all content posted on the site was “for the world to see.”

On the Lighter Side Let Me Google That For You: “Google” is the most commonly searched word on Microsoft’s Bing browser, according to the record in court proceedings in the EU.

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

Internet Governance Facebook Oversight Board Investigates Allegations That The Company Shielded High-Profile Rulebreakers: In the wake of an exposé by The Wall Street Journal that suggested that the social media company refrained from enforcing its policies against some high-profile rulebreakers, the Board has asked Facebook for more transparency about it’s “cross-check” system, an internal program for reviewing content from politicians, journalists, and celebrities. Internal Facebook Documents Reveal That Apple Threatened To Ban The Social Network For Facilitating Human Trafficking: The documents reveal that the threat to remove Facebook products from the App Store came in 2019, after the BBC alerted Apple that one of its investigations exposed “a booming online black market in the illegal buying and selling of domestic workers.”

Privacy Senate Democrats Ask FTC To Craft New Data Privacy Rules: In a letter that referenced tech companies’ frequent rule-breaking and the resulting effect on consumers, a group of nine Democratic senators asked the Commission to commence a rulemaking to devise rules addressing privacy, civil rights, and consumer data collection. Apple Reportedly Working With UCLA, Biogen, To Detect Depression, Anxiety, And Cognitive Decline: Reports indicate that the early-stage research relies on data collected from iPhone cameras, keyboards, and audio sensors, as well as Apple Watch movement and sleep data; to preserve privacy, the company plans to process data locally on devices without sending it to Apple servers.

Information Security and Cyberthreats 106 Arrests Made In European Cybercrime Ring Crackdown: Police say that the group of arrestees includes computer and money-laundering experts who perpetrated phishing schemes, business email attacks, and SIM swapping schemes and who have ties to the Italian mafia.

Intellectual Property Twitch, National Music Publishers’ Association, Reach Deal On Unauthorized Music Use: The agreement between the popular live-streaming platform and the Association includes a settlement for streamers’ past usage of unlicensed music, a new process for reporting the use of unlicensed content, and a timetable for the parties to agree on how music may be used on the platform in the future.

Free Expression and Censorship Citing Censorship Concerns, Lithuanian Defense Ministry Urges Consumers To Discard Chinese Phones: A report by the Lithuanian Defense Ministry’s National Cyber Security Center concluded that smartphones sold by China’s Xiaomi Corp “have a built-in ability to detect and censor” certain terms, including “Free Tibet” and “democracy movement,” and urges consumers to use other devices.

On the Lighter Side A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Bites: Uber Eats has introduced a new feature that lets you search for your favorite foods on the app using emojis.

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

Internet Governance Congress Initiates Investigation Into Instagram’s Effect On Teens: After The Wall Street Journal reported on Instagram’s awareness that use of its platform leads to negative mental health effects for teenagers, members of the Senate’s consumer protection subcommittee announced that they will seek information and testimony from Facebook related to the issue; other congress members have written to Facebook, urging it to halt its plan to create an Instagram for kids.

Privacy Biden Nominates Facial-Recognition And Surveillance Critic To FTC: The nomination of Alvaro Bedoya, who has been critical of facial recognition and other digital surveillance technologies for their impact on civil liberties—especially among marginalized groups—has been lauded among privacy and consumer advocacy experts and reaffirms the expectation that the Commission will strongly focus on Big Tech’s influence. DoorDash Sues New York City Over Customer-Data-Sharing Law: The lawsuit argues that the ordinance, which was passed in July and requires food delivery services to share customer information with restaurants, is unconstitutional and violates customers’ privacy; many restaurants support the law because it helps ensure that they retain customers even if they stop using a delivery platform.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Apple Issues Emergency Software Updates To Patch Security Flaw That Allows Spyware To Access Devices Without Users’ Knowledge: The highly-invasive spyware by controversial company NSO, which can activate and access a device’s camera, microphone, messages, emails, calls, and other data, was discovered on a Saudi activists’ iPhone by cybersecurity watchdog CitizenPro; more than 1.65 billion Apple devices may have been vulnerable to the spyware since March.

Intellectual Property Apple Uncertain About Appeal In Case Against Epic: After a ruling last week that dismissed nearly all of Epic’s claims but which found that Apple’s anti-steering rules, which prohibit app developers from informing users about payment systems other than Apple’s in-app system, violate California law, the company has yet to decide whether to appeal and is focusing on how it might revise its terms to comply with a court order requiring it to allow developers to link to third-party payment systems.

Free Expression and Censorship TikTok Bans Posts Of “Devious Licks” Trend: The company says that the trend, which involves posting about stealing items from schools, violates its community guidelines; the company is altering search results and deleting hashtags related to the trend.

Practice Note FTC Extends Health Breach Notification Rule To Health Apps: In a policy statement issued this week, the Commission concluded that the 2009 Rule, which requires that vendors of personal health records notify consumers in the event of a data breach, also applies to health apps that process sensitive health information.

On the Lighter Side Augmented Reality Steals The Show During One NFL Team’s Opening Weekend: In a viral tweet, the Carolina Panthers show a giant, augmented-reality panther bounding around the team’s stadium during last Sunday’s game.

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

Internet Governance High Court Of Australia Finds Media Companies Liable For Third-Party Comments On Their Facebook Posts: In a defamation case brought against three major publishing companies, the court reasoned that the companies’ facilitating and encouraging the posting of third-party comments on their posts “rendered them publishers of those comments” who should “bear the legal consequences” of them.

Privacy Documents Reveal LAPD Officers Collect Citizens’ Social Media Info: Internal documents recently obtained by the Brennan Center for Justice reveal that officers are instructed to collect the social media account information of every person they interview, regardless of whether they are arrested or accused of a crime; the information is said to be critical for use in “investigations, arrests, and prosecutions,” but privacy advocates warn that it aids in the expansion of network surveillance and predictive policing. WhatsApp Messages Capable Of Review Despite End-To-End Encryption: A recent investigation by ProPublica revealed that end-to-end-encrypted messages sent through the app may be subject to AI or human review if a recipient flags a message as “improper”; the report also reveals that Facebook, the messaging service’s owner, may share unencrypted message metadata with law enforcement and others.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Howard University Closes In Response To Ransomware Attack: The university cancelled classes and shut down its network early this week to evaluate the impact of a ransomware attack; on Wednesday, Howard partially reopened as it continues to investigate the hack. New Zealand Banks And Post Offices Hit In Continuing DDoS Attack: A distributed denial-of-service attack that began last week against one of the country’s largest ISPs has seemingly continued, with banks, post offices, and a weather forecaster targeted in a new wave of activity; government officials have said little about who is responsible for the attacks.

Intellectual Property Spotify Playlist Creators Face Takedown Abuse: According to playlist curators, the music streaming service doesn’t do enough to curb bad actors, who report popular playlists so that their own playlists get more visibility once the reported ones are removed.

Free Expression and Censorship Brazil’s Bolsonaro Bans Social Media Companies From Censoring Some Content: Under new rules issued this week, platforms may only remove certain specified content and would have to obtain a court order to remove other content, which makes it more challenging for social media sites to moderate misinformation around topics such as COVID-19 and election fraud; the rules are provisional in nature and will expire after 120 days unless the country’s congress makes them permanent, which analysts expect won’t happen, as numerous lawsuits are already underway to block the measures.

On the Lighter Side Show Me Where It Hurts, Using Emojis: A team of researchers is exploring the use of emojis and similar iconography to assist in creating “standardisation, universality and familiarity” in medical diagnosis and recovery.

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

Internet Governance South Korea Passes Law Forcing Apple, Google, To Allow Third-Party Payment Processing: The amendment to the country’s Telecommunications Business Act, which awaits the signature of President Moon Jae-in, will prevent platforms from requiring app developers to rely on built-in payment systems and will allow for the use of outside payment processors; Google and Apple contend that the model threatens the quality, security, and effectiveness of their platforms. House Minority Leader Threatens Retaliation Against Tech Companies That Comply With January 6th Commission Preservation Orders: Representative McCarthy vowed to “hold accountable” any of the 35 technology companies that comply with requests by a special committee to preserve the phone and social-media records of 11 Congress members who are being scrutinized for their potential role in the January insurrection.

Privacy Australia Passes Government Surveillance Bill: The Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify and Disrupt) Bill 2020, which passed both houses of the federal parliament this week, authorizes law enforcement to target criminal activity through three new warrants that permit the modification or deletion of suspects’ data, allow for the collection of information about criminal network activity, and enable law enforcement to take over suspects’ online accounts.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Security Experts Suspect Microsoft Exchange Hack Intended To Siphon Data For AI Training: An attack on Microsoft Exchange servers in March by a group of cybercriminals associated with the Chinese government that targeted a broad range of businesses could have been for the purpose of collecting data to train AI systems, experts suggest.

Free Expression and Censorship Texas Poised To Ban Censorship Of Conservative Content By Social Media Platforms: The bill, which passed in a special session this summer and now awaits Governor Abbott’s signature, makes it illegal for social media sites with more than 50 million users to censor content based on political views or geographic location; a similar law in Florida was struck down earlier this year for being “wholly at odds with accepted constitutional principles.” Reddit Bans Popular Misinformation Subreddit: After other subreddits called for the platform to take action to curb the spread of misinformation, the site banned r/NoNewNormal, a subreddit that became a breeding ground for COVID-19 misinformation; Reddit cites frequent brigades—where members of one subreddit flood to another en masse to harass—as the reason for the ban.

Practice Note Irish Data Protection Commission Fines WhatsApp €225 Million For GDPR Violations: After a lengthy investigation that began in 2018, the Commission fined the Facebook-owned messaging app for failing to fulfill its obligations under the GDPR to be transparent about its data processing practices.

On the Lighter Side Apple, Eight States, Partner To Add IDs To Apple Wallet: The states that have enrolled in the program will allow people to add their state IDs or driver’s licenses to their Apple Wallet for use at TSA airport security checkpoints.

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

Internet Governance FCC Proposes $5.1 Million Fine For Anti-Voting Robocallers: The proposed fine, which is the largest to date under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, is against two right-wing conspiracy theorists who orchestrated over 1,100 robocalls designed to convince members of the Black community not to vote by mail by telling recipients that vote-by-mail data would be used to surface old warrants and collect debts.

Privacy UK Plans To Revamp Privacy Rules For Post-Brexit: As Britain plans to welcome a new Information Commissioner in November, it also plans to overhaul its privacy rules by moving away from EU-style regulations in favor of rules that prioritize “innovative and responsible uses of data,” and that are designed to “boost growth, especially for startups and small firms, speed up scientific discoveries and improve public services.” Federal Government Plans Increased Use Of Facial Recognition: Despite growing concerns about the technology—and outright bans of it in some locales—a new report by the Government Accountability Office reveals that at least ten federal agencies plan to expand its use by 2023, including to monitor threats and pursue criminals.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Companies Pledge Billions To Strengthen Cybersecurity: In the wake of recent high-profile cyberattacks, leaders from some of the nation’s biggest companies, including Big Tech, met with President Biden in a cybersecurity summit and committed billions to improve cybersecurity across the economy.

Intellectual Property Popular Discord Music Bot Groovy Will Shut Down After YouTube Crackdown: The Groovy Bot, which is popular on the Discord platform and which lets Discord users play music from YouTube videos on their servers, will shut down at the end of August after receiving notice from YouTube that the bot violates its terms.

Free Expression and Censorship Facebook Promotes FDA-Approved Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine: The social network announced that it will start “sharing messages across Facebook in both English and Spanish” about the vaccine’s approval, and will also update its policies to allow for the removal of claims that there are no FDA-approved vaccines.  OnlyFans Reverses Ban On Adult Content: After announcing earlier this week that it would ban sexually explicit content starting October 1, the content-sharing site made popular by sex workers reversed course; the ban and its subsequent reversal are purportedly tied to banks’ attitudes toward supporting sex work.

On the Lighter Side Clip-Art Rock NFT Sells For $1.3 Million: An EtherRock, a brand of NFT that has been around since 2017, recently sold for the equivalent of $1.3 million, highlighting a second surge in NFT popularity that has major brands such as Visa and Taco Bell joining the game.

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

Internet Governance Senators Call Upon FTC To Investigate Tesla’s Self-Driving Claims: Just days after the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration opened an investigation into accidents between Teslas and emergency vehicles, two senators have asked the Commission to examine whether the company has “overstated the capabilities of its vehicles” to perform fully autonomously.

Privacy Taliban Seizes U.S. Military-Used Biometric Devices: Some fear that the devices, which store iris scans, fingerprints, and biographical information from thousands of Afghan nationals and coalition forces, could be used by the Taliban to identify and retaliate against Afghans who assisted the United States during its 20-year presence in the country; similarly, U.S. agencies have begun removing content from their websites and social media channels that the Taliban might view as evidence of collaboration.

Information Security and Cyberthreats 47 Million Customer Records Exposed In T-Mobile Data Breach: The names, birthdates, Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers of over 40 million former or prospective customers and nearly 8 million current customers were stolen; although the stolen files did not include “phone numbers, account numbers, PINs or passwords,” the stolen information could be used to create accounts in another’s name or to hijack existing accounts. Poly Network Offers $600 Million Thief A Job: A week after falling victim to theft, the blockchain company offered the thief, known as Mr. White Hat, $500,000 in Ethereum as a bug bounty award, as well as a job as the company’s Chief Security Advisor; Mr. White hat, who perpetrated the hack for fun and has yet to return $238 million of the stolen funds, hasn’t indicated whether he’ll accept the position.

Free Expression and Censorship Taliban Social Media Campaigns Defy Bans, Create Complications For Social Media Companies: As new social media content from the group has ramped up as it has taken control of Afghanistan, social media companies struggle to enforce bans on content from the group, and are attempting to gauge whether world governments might officially recognize the group as Afghanistan’s leadership. Facebook Cracks Down On The “Disinformation Dozen”: A month after the White House publicly acknowledged a report finding that twelve individuals are responsible for nearly 65 percent of Covid-19 misinformation on the platform, a Facebook spokesperson announced that the platform had removed three dozen pages, groups, and Instagram accounts associated with the twelve individuals for violating Facebook policies.

Practice Note Binance Faces Unconventional Arbitration For May 2021 Outage: After a significant outage that led to millions of dollars in losses for over 700 customers affected the cryptocurrency platform earlier this year, a group of plaintiffs has commenced in an international business arbitration court proceedings funded by a blockchain-traded litigation firm.

On the Lighter Side Minecraft Alternative Helps Children With Autism Connect: Autcraft, a version of the popular online building game Minecraft designed specifically for children with autism and their families, has been observed by researchers to help autistic children practice social skills and make friends.

Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance Senate Rejects Cryptocurrency Tax Amendment To Infrastructure Bill: The amendment would have clarified and narrowed the definition of a “broker” to exclude entities such as miners and stakers from gains-reporting requirements; the proposal failed to reach the unanimous Senate vote required to pass.

Privacy TikTok Adds More Privacy Features For Teens: After making the accounts of users under 16 private by default earlier this year, the popular video-sharing app rolled out additional privacy features for teenagers, including turning direct messaging off by default, imposing limits on times of day when teens will receive push notifications from the app, and providing just-in-time privacy notices when certain app functionalities are used.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Hackers Steal, Return, Hundreds Of Millions In Cryptocurrency: Earlier this week, the hackers pulled off one of the biggest crypto heists to date to steal over $600 million in crypto tokens by exploiting a vulnerability in the digital contracts used by Poly Network, a company that facilitates crypto transactions across blockchains; the hacker, who is “not very interested in money” and perpetrated the hack “for fun,” has already returned $260 million.

Intellectual Property Apple, Corellium, Settle Copyright Suit: Apple alleged in the suit that the company infringed its copyrights by replicating Apple’s operating systems and apps for security testing, while Corellium argued that the suit was an effort by Apple to smother a competitor; the settlement’s terms are confidential, but Corellium said in a statement that it would continue to offer its virtual Apple systems.

Free Expression and Censorship Facebook Oversight Board Orders Restoration Of Post Critical Of Myanmar’s Relationship With China: The post was originally removed because it contained a Burmese word that Facebook content moderators determined amounted to hate speech against Chinese people; upon review, the Board found that the term, which can have multiple meanings depending on context, was instead used as a reference to the Chinese state and thus did not violate Facebook’s policies. Senator Paul And Representative Greene Suspended From YouTube For Spreading Covid-19 Misinformation: Each lawmaker had their account suspended for one week after posting videos casting doubt on the efficacy of masks and vaccines in curbing the spread of the virus.

Practice Note Amazon Will Compensate Customers In Products Liability Cases: In a blog post, the company announced that it will begin offering up to $1,000 to customers who suffer property damage or personal injury as a result of defective products sold by third-party merchants on its marketplace; the policy comes in the wake of recent lawsuits that could potentially result in Amazon facing greater liability for selling defective goods.

On the Lighter Side Swipe Right On Your New Pet: An animal shelter in Germany is hoping to increase pet adoptions by creating Tinder profiles for potential adoptees (complete with professional headshots).

Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance SEC Chair Asks Congress To Grant Agency More Crypto Oversight Authority: Citing concerns about “fraud, scams, and abuse” that could hurt investors, Chair Gary Gensler asked Congress to expand the SEC’s authority to oversee cryptocurrency exchanges and other platforms that facilitate crypto transactions.

Privacy Zoom Settles Privacy Suit For $85 Million: The settlement resolves claims that the videoconferencing platform shared users’ data with Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn without their consent, and allowed hackers to “Zoombomb” meetings. NYC’s Proof-Of-Vaccination Requirement Stokes Privacy Concerns: The City’s recent announcement that patrons will soon be required to offer proof that they’ve received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine to enter certain businesses has been met with concern by privacy advocates, who caution that the use of digital vaccine passports threatens the privacy of personal information and could help build a “global map of where people are going.”

Information Security and Cyberthreats Report Details Google Firings For Data Misuse: A leaked internal document revealed that since 2018, the tech company has fired almost 100 employees for improperly using or sharing the data of users or Google colleagues.

Intellectual Property Australian Court Ruling Opens The Door For AI To Be Patent Inventor: A decision by the country’s Federal Court found that because Australian law has no requirement that an inventor be human, the Commissioner of Patents erred in deciding that AI cannot be an inventor; the decision has been criticized as a form of judicial activism that invites an influx of junk patents.

Free Expression and Censorship Facebook Bans Accounts Of New York University Researchers: The academics are behind the NYU Ad Observatory project, which collects and studies data on political advertisements; the company defended the bans by arguing that the researchers’ methods, which include using a browser plugin to automatically extract data, violate its terms, and also that the bans are required by an FTC order arising from the Cambridge Analytica scandal.

Practice Note Man Violates No-Contact Order By Renaming Playlists Shared With Estranged Wife: An Ohio court held that the man violated the order, which prohibited him from contacting his wife by any means, by attempting to correspond with her by renaming playlists on a Napster account still shared by the former couple; the case is an example of how seemingly-innocuous digital functionalities can facilitate stalking or harassment.

On the Lighter Side TikTok Takes Flight: American Airlines is now helping people indulge their TikTok addictions by offering passengers 30 free minutes of in-flight access to the app.

Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance State AGs Fight To Keep Facebook Antitrust Suit Alive: The Attorneys General of 48 states appealed the recent dismissal of their suit against Facebook, which alleges that the company’s acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp were unlawfully anticompetitive.

Privacy Instagram Implements Measures To Protect Young Users: A series of safety changes include making the accounts of new users under 16 private by default, limiting the extent to which advertisers can target users under 18, and limiting interactions between users under 16 and accounts that engage in “potentially suspicious behavior.” Proposed Kids Privacy Law Aims To Strengthen Privacy For Youth Online: The Protecting the Information of our Vulnerable Children and Youth Act would extend the application of existing children’s privacy laws to those under 18, broaden the scope of covered websites, ban targeted advertising towards children, and direct the Federal Trade Commission to open a youth privacy division, among other things.

Information Security and Cyberthreats Biden Warns Of “Real Shooting War” Resulting From Cyberattacks: In a speech at the Office for the Director of National Intelligence, the President warned that continued cyberattacks that freeze American infrastructure, such as the recent ones supposedly originating from Russia and China, could result in war.

Free Expression and Censorship Apple Cracking Down On Internal Employee Discussions About Remote Work: The company shut down Slack channels employees have used to discuss working conditions in anticipation of office re-openings following the Covid-19 pandemic; the company recently announced that employees should plan to return to in-person work in the fall, but many employees want more flexibility. World Of Warcraft Will Begin Restricting Inappropriate Content: In the wake of a sexual harassment and workplace discrimination lawsuit filed last week against the game’s developer, the popular role-playing game’s team will work to remove “references that are not appropriate for [their] world.”

Practice Note Georgia Judge Faces Ethics Complaint For Facebook Post About Alleged Spa Shooter: The judge, whose post defends comments made by a law enforcement officer about the suspect that were criticized as being insensitive, is accused of acting in a way that undermines confidence in the judiciary.

On the Lighter Side 1 Billion Rickrolls And Counting: The YouTube video for Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” which is the subject of the long-popular “Rickroll” prank, has surpassed 1 billion views.

Olivier Sylvain Academic Director, Fordham CLIP Tom Norton Executive Director, Fordham CLIP