Facebook previewed a kids messaging app to mixed reviews Monday. The stand-alone app, Messenger Kids, can be controlled from a parent's Facebook account and would let children video chat. Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer said the service lacks "clear policies about data collection" and opens questions of platform trustworthiness. The Center for Digital Democracy blogged guarded support, saying "additional safeguards are necessary to protect young people from powerful new forms of commercial surveillance in the Big Data and Internet-of-things era."
The Supreme Court sees the "challenge" in reconstructing the third-party legal doctrine when deciding the legality of cellphone location data in Carpenter v. U.S. (see 1711290043), Verizon General Counsel Craig Silliman blogged Monday. "If they decide that the third party doctrine does not apply, they must explain how to draw a workable line," said Silliman, saying justices "remarked about the difficulties in drawing lines" on when searches should be allowable. Verizon plans a Feb. 15 panel.
Amazon announced Alexa for Business Thursday. Solution and/or software providers include Creston, Polycom RingCentral, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Splunk and SuccessFactors. Companies can customize skills that integrate with IT applications and office systems, said Amazon.
GAO released a trio of reports Thursday critical of agencies' tech policy-related practices, calling for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to take further steps to enforce equal employment opportunity and affirmative action in the sector. The report, sought by Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., found EEOC and Labor made progress in enforcing those goals but need to go further. GAO reported the percentage of Hispanic workers in tech remains low and that of black employees hasn't risen in a “statistically significant” way. The report recommended the OFCCP require more specific placement goals for racial minorities and women by qualifying contractors. “Without taking steps to address these issues, OFCCP may miss opportunities to hold contractors responsible for complying with affirmative action and nondiscrimination requirements,” the report said. EEOC neither agreed nor disagreed with the recommendations, and OFCCP said there need to be regulatory changes for it to push further improvements. The Department of Transportation should “develop a comprehensive plan to better manage departmental initiatives related to automated vehicles,” said another report. The department has made some progress in this area, including issuing voluntary guidance in September that suggests a framework for industry-led safety testing, the report said: Without a comprehensive plan, “it is unclear whether DOT’s efforts are adequately tackling automated vehicle challenges.” DOT agreed with the recommendation. Meanwhile, DOD should update its cyber incident coordination training and maintain a list of officials trained in the National Incident Management System, said in a third report. That's necessary given President Donald Trump's decision to elevate the U.S. Cyber Command to a unified combatant command, GAO said. It will help DOD as it continues to plan how to support civil authorities in responding to cyber incidents, the report said.
Stores have an advantage in the smart home market, expected to sell more than 8 million devices by 2021, blogged Parks Associates' Brad Russell Wednesday. They're leveraging positions as trusted advisers for consumers and offering services free, said the analyst. It's influencing Amazon and Google, which formed partnerships with the likes of Best Buy, Kohl's, Lowe's, Sears and Walmart, he noted.
Amazon said Thanksgiving-Cyber Monday (see 1711280055 or 1711280049) was its “best-ever holiday shopping weekend for devices,” with “millions” of its branded devices sold. The Echo Dot and Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa were the best-selling products on Amazon.com, it said Tuesday.
Nearly 87 percent of U.S. residents want government to mandate stricter data security for connected cars, said a survey of 1,000 by cyber systems provider Thales. Three out of five are more concerned about internet-based vehicle technology than five years ago.
Akamai completed its acquisition of cybersecurity firm Nominum, a deal disclosed in October, the buyer announced Monday.
Nearly 91 percent of government websites don't meet at least one key performance measure, with a third falling short on security standards, the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation reported Monday. Little progress has been made since ITIF's 2016 study (see 1703080055), said Vice President Daniel Castro, urging the Trump administration to "move quickly to address these failures." The report analyzed 469 of the "most popular" federal sites, building on a 2016 analysis of 297. Report rankings are based on metrics including page-load speed, mobile friendliness, accessibility and security. Vote.gov earned the highest ranking, 95.5, and federalreserve.gov scored lowest, 36.5. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's nist.gov ranked third with 87.2; fcc.gov had 81.7 and ftc.gov, 76.5. Recommendations include the government launching a website modernization sprint and requiring all federal agencies report site analytics.
NordVPN, a virtual private network security provider, is offering a 77 percent off Black Friday deal during what it said is one of the busiest times of the year for online fraud. The offer is $2.75 per month with a three-year agreement. As more people shop online for Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals, the risk for cybercrime is higher, and “not all Internet retailers are prepared to handle this kind of growth,” said the company. Websites could be spoofed with fraudulent sites set up by hackers to steal users’ data, or an e-commerce site may not use a secure encryption protocol to protect customers’ information, it said. Among its tips for e-commerce safety: (1) Look for https ahead of the website’s URL indicating a secure protocol and that data is encrypted properly; (2) don’t share financial information over public Wi-Fi networks; (3) be wary of providing personal information; (4) choose strong passwords; and (5) use a VPN.