Facebook must be absolutely straight with consumers about how it operates and makes money, said EU Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality Commissioner Vera Jourova at a livestreamed Thursday news briefing. The European Commission said in February that social media companies must do better aligning terms of service with EU consumer protection rules. Facebook and others have made some changes, but Jourova said many people are still unclear about how it makes their data available to third parties or holds full copyright in content posted on the site. The EC gave the company until October to correct all remaining misleading terms and conditions, with all changes to be in place by year's end. "I am becoming impatient" with Facebook, the commissioner said: Talks have been ongoing for about two years but "we cannot negotiate forever." Asked what she'll do if the platform hasn't shown progress around October, Jourova said it will face penalties set by national authorities in 2019. The EC also went after Airbnb, which Thursday committed to making all requested modifications, Jourova said. These included making its prices more transparent and clarifying that consumers can use all available remedies, including suing hosts, in case of damages or personal harm. Facebook wants its terms to be clear and accessible to everyone, a spokeswoman said. It updated its terms of service in May and included the vast majority of changes proposed by the EU Consumer Protection Cooperation Network and the EC, she said: Facebook "will continue our close cooperation to understand any further concerns and make appropriate updates."
EU antitrust enforcers opened a preliminary investigation into Amazon’s third-party data collection practices, EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said Wednesday, citing increasing questions about platforms with dual purposes, which host merchants but also compete as merchants. “If you as Amazon get the data from the smaller merchants that you host, which can be of course completely legitimate because you can improve your service to these smaller merchants,” she said, “do you then also use these data to do your own calculations about what is the new, big thing?”
The FTC released a settlement with website operators Tuesday who allegedly sold fake pay stubs and other documents. The deal shuttered their businesses and resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties. The commission alleged Katrina Moore, Steven Simmons and George Jiri Strnad II operated websites that sold “a variety of fake financial and other documents -- such as pay stubs, income tax forms, and medical statements -- which can be used to facilitate identity theft, tax fraud, and other crimes.” Businesses included FakePayStubOnline.com and NoveltyExcuses.com. The three are prohibited from engaging in similar work in the future. Moore agreed to pay $169,000, Strnad $133,777 and Simmons $15,000.
Since the EU’s general data protection regulation took effect, more than 5 million people from 200 countries have used new Microsoft privacy tools to manage personal data, Corporate Vice President Julie Brill blogged Monday. American consumers were the largest group on an absolute and per capita basis, she said, which shows there’s a high level of interest from the U.S. in GDPR-like control of personal data.
New Pulte homes can connect with Wi-Fi, with increased bandwidth through built-in access points plus wiring, PulteGroup announced Thursday as it began a smart home partnership with Builder Boost. “The home of the future is here,” said Greg Salinas, division president-Pulte Homes in Central Texas. Smart home technology “may increase the resale value of your home,” the company said. Pulte says it partnered with Alexa since Amazon was one of the first companies to combine smart home control with voice commands. The Pulte smart home system “can work with others if that is your preference,” including Google Home or Samsung SmartThings hub, it said.
Consumers should be able to see how and why personal data is used and shared and who it’s being shared with, the Internet Association said Wednesday in releasing six online privacy principles meant to drive the legislative conversation. The tech trade group voiced support for consumers having “meaningful control” of how data is used and shared and better access. Users should be able to correct, request deletion of and transport personal data they share with companies, IA said. It joins a growing list of lawmakers and groups offering privacy proposals (see 1809070049). BSA|The Software Alliance also released a set of privacy principles Wednesday, urging transparency for how platforms handle and share purpose-driven data. Platforms “should provide consumers with sufficient information to make informed choices” and allow them to opt out of data processing “where practical and appropriate,” BSA said.
ThinkProgress, a progressive news website, accused Facebook Tuesday of catering to conservative views when it labeled a ThinkProgress story “false.” The story suggested Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh opposes the high court’s Roe v. Wade. ThinkProgress blamed conservative influence from The Weekly Standard, a weekly magazine that also has an online presence, with which Facebook partnered to fact-check articles. Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., who represents Silicon Valley, said “Facebook’s ban seems too broad and should not have censored ThinkProgress. Facebook should hire more humanists to help think through its responsibility as a new media company.” ThinkProgress is a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, which does public policy research and advocacy. Facebook didn’t comment.
FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter, economic sciences Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and former FTC Chairman William Kovacic will speak at the agency’s second session of competition policy hearings on Sept. 21 at the FTC’s Constitution Center, (see 1808240027). Panel discussions will focus on U.S. antitrust law and monopsony power.
Apple will launch an online portal later this year that international law enforcement can use to submit requests for user data and better understand what is legally available, General Counsel Kate Adams told Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I. It's “consistent” with Apple’s commitment to protect “security and privacy of our users,” Adams wrote Tuesday.
Equifax failed on multiple fronts in 2017, when hackers exploited data of more than 145.5 million Americans (see 1805080045), GAO reported Friday. That included failures with identification, detection, segmentation and data governance. The IRS, Social Security Administration and U.S. Postal Service “identified a number of lower-level technical concerns that Equifax was directed to address,” it said. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., who sought the report, cited the findings as evidence Congress should pass the Data Breach Prevention and Compensation Act. Equifax would have been penalized at least $1.5 billion under the law. Citing similar remarks in the report, an Equifax spokesman emailed that the company has “taken significant steps to strengthen data security protocols and controls, evaluate and adjust data governance processes and adjust our organizational structure to enhance management of cybersecurity risk.”