Posts related to and supporting “white nationalism and separatism” are banned from Facebook and Instagram starting next week, Facebook announced Wednesday. Broader concepts of nationalism and separatism have been allowed, unlike white supremacy, because of the relation to acceptable concepts like American pride and Basque separatism, it said. But experts from civil society and academics convinced the company that “white nationalism and separatism cannot be meaningfully separated from white supremacy and organized hate groups.” That's confirmed by the platform’s examination of hate figures and organizations, it said. A white supremacist's alleged mass shooting in New Zealand spurred criticism about tech company content moderation (see 1903110019).
NPD expects low single-digit percentage sales growth for U.S. consumer technology through 2021. Dollar sales growth is projected to slip to 2 percent this year, to a total $94 billion, vs. 3 percent growth from 2017 to 2018. Wireless headphones and smart home devices will lead growth categories, adding $3 billion vs. 2018, the researcher forecast Tuesday.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency exposed 2.3 million disaster survivors to increased risk of identity theft and fraud by sharing their personal data, including banking information, with a displacement contractor, the Office of Inspector General said, which FEMA acknowledged Friday. FEMA shared information it wasn't required to disclose, including electronic funds transfer and bank transit numbers of victims of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, and the 2017 California wildfires. FEMA violated the 1974 Privacy Act and Department of Homeland Security policy, the report said. There’s no evidence to suggest data was misused, and the contractor is cooperating to remove the unnecessary data, FEMA said Friday.
The Supreme Court denied an appeal from Amazon online retailer Zappos, allowing a class-action lawsuit about a breach that exposed some 24 million customers’ personal data to proceed. Some 20 Zappos customers claimed data misuse due to the 2012 breach. Industry groups argued those customers can’t prove actual harm or “substantial risk.” Zappos attempted to appeal a 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision stating the lawsuit should proceed because the customers faced substantial risks of identity theft and fraud. Amazon didn’t comment.
A proposed private-public municipal broadband partnership in Tacoma, Washington, would include net neutrality and data privacy rules like those reversed at the federal level. The city is reviewing terms sheets with local private ISPs Rainier Connect and Wave Broadband for a partnership with one of the providers to operate the publicly owned Click Network. The Tacoma Public Utility Board voted to negotiate a contract with Rainier Connect; the City Council will review that decision, the city and utility said. “These proposals represent unprecedented private sector commitments to net neutrality, privacy, low-income affordability and non-transfer to entities with substantial market share,” said Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards (nonpartisan).
Potentially hundreds of millions of Facebook users’ passwords were exposed in plain text to employees, it announced Thursday. The passwords, exposed on internal data storage systems, weren't visible externally, there’s no evidence of abuse, and the issue was corrected, wrote Vice President-Engineering, Security and Privacy Pedro Canahuati. The company plans to notify “hundreds of millions of Facebook Lite users, tens of millions of other Facebook users, and tens of thousands of Instagram users,” who were potentially affected. The platform discovered the issue during a routine security review in January. “This caught our attention because our login systems are designed to mask passwords using techniques that make them unreadable,” Canahuati wrote.
The FTC is rescheduling due to logistical reasons Monday’s roundtable (see 1902130069) with state attorneys general, it said Wednesday.
The Supreme Court vacated and remanded a lower court’s decision upholding Google’s $8.5 million privacy settlement directed to charitable and academic organizations instead of alleged victims (see 1810310043). In an unsigned per curiam opinion Wednesday that didn't address the legality of cy pres settlements, the high court said the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should decide whether plaintiffs have standing to sue in light of Spokeo v. Robins. Justice Clarence Thomas dissented, saying he would have reversed the settlement in the Stored Communications Act case because the class members received no benefit. The plaintiffs had standing because they were “seeking to vindicate a private right,” he wrote.
The White House launched AI.gov, for artificial intelligence strategic documents, fact sheets and agency programs and other materials. The website, which debuted Tuesday, details “policy accomplishments and initiatives,” emphasizing four areas: “AI for American Innovation, AI for American Industry, AI for the American Worker, and AI with American Values.”
Critics of the multibillion-dollar incentive package luring Amazon to build an HQ2 campus in Long Island City, Queens, cheered that New York would be better off after the tech giant scrapped the deal on Valentine’s Day (see 1902140054). But a Siena College poll found that wide swaths of New Yorkers of all stripes disagree. Siena pollsters canvassed 700 registered voters across the state by phone March 10-14, and found a 67-21 majority agreeing Amazon’s pullout was “bad for New York,” the pollster said Monday. Eighty-two percent of Republicans said they thought New York lost out when Amazon withdrew, compared with 65 percent of independents and 63 percent of Democrats. Though many progressive Democrats, including New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, led much of the local opposition that Amazon cited for pulling out, 56 percent of self-identified liberals said New York is worse off with the HQ2 project scrapped. That compared with 76 percent of conservatives and 69 percent of moderates. Meanwhile, the Arlington County, Virginia, Council last weekend OK’d $23 million in incentives for Amazon to build its Virginia HQ2 in Crystal City.