The FTC 5-0 approved a settlement with Cambridge Analytica leaders over “allegations they used deceptive tactics to collect personal information from tens of millions of Facebook users for voter profiling and targeting,” the agency said Wednesday. Then-CEO Alexander Nix and app developer Aleksandr Kogan are prohibited from making future false or deceptive statements.
FAA should secure updated drone-related cost information and set proper user fees to help recover costs, GAO recommended Tuesday. "Develop and implement a process to ensure that information on [unmanned aircraft systems]-related costs is complete and reliable as capabilities and related regulations evolve.”
An email subscription management service settled with the FTC on allegations it misled consumers about accessing and sharing personal emails, the agency said Tuesday. The vote was 4-0-1 with Commissioner Rohit Chopra abstaining. The FTC alleged Unroll.me, which unsubscribes users from services, “falsely told consumers that it would not ‘touch’ their personal emails in order to persuade consumers to provide access to their email accounts.” However, the agency said Unroll.me “shared users’ email receipts from completed transactions with Unroll.me’s parent company, Slice Technologies.” The company didn’t comment.
With CES in Las Vegas in weeks, industry is focused on security and privacy, FCBA heard Monday. “We’ve been able to see industry all coming together” on those, said Melanie Tiano, CTIA director-cybersecurity and privacy. “We’ve seen everyone coming forward with their privacy principles.” Panelists said consensus is privacy should be addressed federally. Smart homes, smart speakers and home robots are expected to lead IoT growth in 2020, said Rachel Nemeth, CTA director-regulatory affairs. Devices are getting better at talking to each other, she said. Artificially intelligent devices like the Amazon Echo and Google Home are a category to watch, she said. “The better they get at doing what consumers want them to do, the more we see the adoption over time,” she said. “Demand is there because I keep getting called” about the IoT, said Jeffrey Marks, Nokia head-regulatory affairs, North America. “How is this private network going to work?” people ask, he said: “Do they need licensed spectrum?” Industry is ready, he said: Nokia is focused on finding trustworthy vendors and eliminating threat factors. Huawei and ZTE push “a false narrative” that without them, 5G deployment will slow, Marks said. “That’s just not true. It is going to thrive just fine.” Those two Chinese companies didn’t comment.
Facebook committed $130 million over six years for funding the company’s content oversight board, which will independently review the platform’s content moderation decisions. The initial investment will cover office space, staff and travel expenses. Future funding is at the discretion of an oversight board trust, it said Thursday.
Somos notified the 44 applicants qualified to bid in the auction of certain toll-free numbers in the 833 area code, said the FCC Wireline Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics in a public notice in docket 19-101 and in Wednesday's Daily Digest. They include 1-800-Flowers.com, CannaMedExtractions, Comet Media, Dish Network, Phone.com and Verizon.
Amazon released patches for Blink security camera vulnerabilities, said cybersecurity company Tenable Tuesday, after it discovered seven severe vulnerabilities in the Blink XT2. Amazon urged users to confirm their device is updated to firmware version 2.13.11 or later, Tenable said. If exploited, the vulnerabilities could give attackers full control of an affected device, allowing them to remotely view camera footage, listen to audio output and hijack the device for use in a botnet, Tenable said. Attackers could perform distributed denial of service attacks, steal data or send spam, it said, including obtaining sensitive account information, viewing stored photographs and videos, adding or removing devices from the account or blocking camera communications. Amazon emailed: “Customer trust is important to us and we take the security of our devices seriously. Customers have received automatic security updates addressing these issues for impacted devices.”
The FTC again delayed when comments are due on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act rule, now by two days to Wednesday. Monday's announcement came as Regulations.gov was offline. Our queries for more details on that website netted no new information. In the evening, the website appeared to be working. Previously, the commission delayed the COPPA review comments by about a month and a half, to Dec. 9.
Cambridge Analytica “engaged in deceptive practices to harvest personal information from tens of millions of Facebook users for voter profiling and targeting,” the FTC said in a 5-0 opinion Friday. The bankrupt consulting firm engaged in deceptive practices involving EU-U.S. Privacy Shield participation. The company is barred from misrepresenting itself again, the agency said. A July complaint alleged Cambridge Analytica and then-CEO Alexander Nix and app developer Aleksandr Kogan deceived consumers. The individuals agreed to settle, while the company didn't respond, the commission said now. The company didn't respond to request for comment.
Be transparent when using facial recognition technology, specifically in collecting and using data, said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Thursday. Other recommendations include: protect privacy and personal data; promote beneficial uses while mitigating risks; risk-based regulation; and establish a national regulatory framework.