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Google Fails to End $5 Billion Consumer Privacy Lawsuit
A U.S. judge rejected Google‘s bid to dismiss a lawsuit claiming it invaded the privacy of millions of people by secretly tracking their internet use. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers on Monday said she could not find that users consented to let Google collect information about what they viewed online because the Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit never explicitly told them it would.
David Boies, a lawyer for the plaintiffs in the proposed $5 billion class action, called the decision “an important step in protecting the privacy interests of millions of Americans.”
The plaintiffs alleged that Google’s analytics, cookies and apps let the Mountain View, California-based company track their activity even when they set Google’s Chrome browser to “Incognito” mode and other browsers to “private” browsing mode.
They said this let Google learn enough about their friends, hobbies, favorite foods, shopping habits, and “potentially embarrassing things” they seek out online, becoming “an unaccountable trove of information so detailed and expansive that George Orwell could never have dreamed it.”
Jim Jordan Reveals ‘Smoking Gun’ Against Biden
Representative Jim Jordan unveiled his “smoking gun” evidence that the Biden administration collaborated with Meta company leaders to remove information about COVID-19.
Jordan, an Ohio Republican who chairs the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, led its Republican members in filing an amicus briefing in the case State of Missouri v. Biden. The lawsuit, filed by the states of Missouri and Louisiana, accuses President Joe Biden‘s administration of government overreach, including attempting to suppress information they do not agree with online.
Jordan, a staunch Biden critic, has for weeks said the committee uncovered “smoking gun” evidence showing that members of the administration collaborated with Meta, Facebook‘s parent company, to remove information related to the COVID-19 pandemic, including the lab leak theory and vaccine misinformation.
House Republicans presented their evidence that the Biden administration pressured Facebook to stifle COVID-19 posts in the Monday night briefing. In one instance presented in the briefing, the Biden administration allegedly requested for Meta officials to take down information that the COVID-19 virus could have originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
Exclusive: Snapchat Under Scrutiny From U.K. Watchdog Over Underage Users — Sources
Britain’s data regulator is gathering information on Snapchat to establish whether the U.S. instant messaging app is doing enough to remove underage users from its platform, two people familiar with the matter said.
Reuters reported exclusively in March that Snapchat owner Snap Inc (SNAP.N) had only removed a few dozen children aged under-13 from its platform in Britain last year, while U.K. media regulator Ofcom estimates it has thousands of underage users.
Under U.K. data protection law, social media companies need parental consent before processing data of children under 13. Social media firms generally require users to be 13 or over but have had mixed success in keeping children off their platforms.
Last year, Ofcom found 60% of children aged between eight and 11 had at least one social media account, often created by supplying a false date of birth. It also found Snapchat was the most popular app for underage social media users.
Major Australian Banks Are Going Cashless — Forced Acceptance of CBDCs Next?
The core problems of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) have been addressed many times here, but it may bear repeating these two facts: First, in a cashless society all privacy in trade is lost, and second, banks and governments will control access to all of your money. If such a system is allowed, it will act as a major stepping stone to technocratic authoritarianism. It’s inevitable.
The Australian government and central bank have been involved in a beta test for the past year with the proliferation of CBDCs in mind. Their partnership projects with the Bank for International Settlements and pilot programs with companies like Mastercard are about to wrap up this fall, and it looks as though Aussie bureaucrats are planning to implement their cashless system very quickly after the trial run is finished.
In defense of CBDCs officials suggest that Australians are already shifting into a cashless society, citing the fact that the population went from 32% using cash to only 16% using cash in the span of three years. Of course, what they don’t mention is that Australia’s aggressive and draconian COVID lockdowns and mandates since 2020 pushed the public into relying more on digital and online purchases.
Already, the top four banks in the country are removing over-the-counter cash withdrawals at most of their branches. “Special centers” will be put in place for “more complex banking needs including cash” but the overall trend will be the reduction of paper money, forcing the populace to go fully digital.
Georgia Republicans Eyeing Legislation Requiring Parents’ Permission for Kids’ Social Media Accounts
A duo of Georgia Republicans has announced a legislative push to require children to have their parents’ permission to use certain social media accounts.
In a news conference on Monday, Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones (R) and state Senate Majority Caucus Chair Senator Jason Anavitarte (R) said they plan to introduce the bill during the state’s 2024 legislative session.
The proposed legislation would require social media platforms to take concrete steps to verify the age of their users. Existing rules requiring school systems in the state to monitor bullying and educate students and educators on the issue of social media would also be updated “to reflect the realities of modern technology.”
Social media companies will also be required to remove features that are addictive to children, according to the proposed legislation.
Anavitarte also said that the legislation would be modeled on a law in Louisiana that was passed earlier this year.
Embodied’s AI Robot Moxie Designed for Kids — With Limits
Artificial intelligence could become your child’s new best friend. California-based Embodied has created Moxie — a robot companion designed to support social, emotional and cognitive development in children ages 5 to 10.
While AI can often feel mysterious, Moxie – with its blue body and big, curious eyes – provides a tangible application of the fast-growing technology, to the tune of $799. Outfitted with sensors, microphones and a camera, the robot uses play-based exercises to help children learn how to identify and better manage their emotions.
With kids experiencing increasing feelings of loneliness, especially after being isolated during the pandemic, the company announced it created Moxie so the next generation could have a trusted friend to help with those anxieties.
One concern is children could bond too much with Moxie, foregoing real human interaction. To prevent that, Embodied has implemented use limits.
Norway to Fine Meta $98,500 a Day Over User Privacy Breach From 14 August
Facebook owner Meta Platforms will be fined 1m krone ($98,500) a day over privacy breaches from August 14, Norway’s data protection authority told Reuters on Monday, a decision that could have wider European implications.
The regulator, Datatilsynet, had said on July 17 that the company would be fined if it did not address privacy breaches the regulator had identified.
Datatilsynet had said Meta cannot harvest user data in Norway, such as users’ physical locations, and use it to target advertising at them, called behavioral advertising, a business model common to big tech.
“As of next Monday, a daily fine of 1 million krone will start to apply,” Tobias Judin, head of Datatilsynet’s international section told Reuters.
China’s Draft Measures Demand ‘Individual Consent’ for Facial Recognition Use
The pervasive use of facial recognition technology across all facets of life in China has elicited both praise for its convenience and backlash around privacy concerns. The widespread adoption has also fueled the exponential growth of valuations in companies specializing in the field, such as AI giants SenseTime and Megvii.
Now the industry is facing some potentially significant changes as Beijing steps up efforts to establish more defined boundaries for the technology’s usage. The move is building upon the implementation of major tech regulations that rolled out in recent years targeting cybersecurity, data security, and privacy protection.
On Tuesday, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), the nation’s top internet watchdog, unveiled a series of proposed measures aimed at regulating the application of facial recognition.
The technology has been extensively employed in both the public and private sectors, ranging from facial scans used to authenticate payments in supermarkets to identity verification procedures at airport boarding gates — the latter an increasingly common practice not only in China but also across the U.S.
