https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/27/big_tech_privacy/ [user] [user] Sign in The Register(r) -- Biting the hand that feeds IT [magn] [burg] [burg] Topics Security Security All SecurityCyber-crimePatchesResearchCSO (X) Off-Prem Off-Prem All Off-PremEdge + IoTChannelPaaS + IaaSSaaS (X) On-Prem On-Prem All On-PremSystemsStorageNetworksHPCPersonal Tech (X) Software Software All SoftwareAI + MLApplicationsDatabasesDevOpsOSesVirtualization (X) Offbeat Offbeat All OffbeatDebatesColumnistsScienceGeek's GuideBOFHLegalBootnotesSite NewsAbout Us (X) Vendor Voice Vendor Voice Vendor Voice All Vendor VoiceAmazon Web Services (AWS) Business Transformation CofenseEchoworxOutsystemsRapid7Rockwell Automation (X) Resources Resources Whitepapers Webinars Newsletters [personalte] Personal Tech Big Tech loves talking up privacy - while trying to kill privacy legislation Study claims Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft work to derail data rules Thomas Claburn in San Francisco Fri 27 May 2022 // 21:48 UTC 10 comment bubble on white --------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 comment bubble on white # reddit Twitter Facebook linkedin WhatsApp email [https://www.theregis] Copy Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft often support privacy in public statements, but behind the scenes they've been working through some common organizations to weaken or kill privacy legislation in US states. That's according to a report this week from news non-profit The Markup, which said the corporations hire lobbyists from the same few groups and law firms to defang or drown state privacy bills. The report examined 31 states when state legislatures were considering privacy legislation and identified 445 lobbyists and lobbying firms working on behalf of Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft, along with industry groups like TechNet and the State Privacy and Security Coalition. [personalte] These lobbyists, it's claimed, often registered for the first time just before or after the introduction of a privacy bill. [personalte] [personalte] What's more, The Markup found 75 of these lobbyists worked for the same firm, Politicom Law, based in Sausalito, California. They did so on behalf of Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft in 21 states where privacy legislation has been proposed. Politicom did not respond to a request for comment. [personalte] As a specific example, the report cites the Colorado Privacy Act, signed last July. The Markup found that Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft had registered 15 lobbyists between them who worked to shape the bill. Nonetheless, the influence of corporate lobbying doesn't mean the resulting law is without merit. [personalte] Margot Kaminski, associate professor at the University of Colorado Law School and the director of the Privacy Initiative at Silicon Flatiron, told The Register in an email that she appreciates several aspects of the Colorado Privacy Act. "First, it's to my knowledge the only law to prohibit obtaining consumer consent through 'dark patterns' - manipulative website or app design that tricks people into saying 'yes' when they would actually prefer to say 'no,'" she said. "Second, it gives a lot of discretion to the state AG [Attorney General] around rulemaking, which could result in practice in a fairly robust law. We'll see. Third, the law requires consent for processing sensitive data, not just collecting it. Depending on how broadly the AG implements this, this could reach a lot of companies and meaningfully empower individuals." Kaminski also said she thinks pretty highly of Stacey Gray, senior counsel at Future of Privacy Forum, one of the organizations The Markup report cites as representing big tech. "To imply that her views directly represent that of big tech isn't accurate," said Kaminski. "The devil is in the details on these laws," she added, noting that enforcement, interpretation, and rulemaking, among other things, depend on how a given state AG responds. Justin Brookman, director of technology policy for Consumer Reports, wrote about the concerted effort by tech firms to weaken state privacy bills in a Twitter thread earlier this year. There was enough pressure that a bunch of them were like, 'You know what? We could probably live with a national law that's pretty flimsy.' "Traditionally, most tech companies kind of just lobbied against privacy laws because they didn't want to deal with rules," he explained in a phone interview with The Register. "And then there was enough pressure that a bunch of them were like, 'You know what? We could probably live with a national law that's pretty flimsy.'" It was about 10 years ago, Brookman said, when Google and Facebook (before its Meta-morphosis) said they'd be fine with that. Then as calls for data privacy grew louder, Facebook became more vocal about the need for federal privacy regulation. "But nothing ever happens at the federal level," said Brookman. "So you started to see the states do stuff." After California and other states started passing privacy laws, Brookman said, there was a pivot, and tech companies then said that state legislation was a terrible idea because they didn't want to deal with different laws in each state. And now that it's happening, he said, they've decided to aggressively try to push their own terrible bills. Brookman said he was skeptical about the chance of getting a federal privacy law anytime soon, though he suggests there's more of a chance now that states like California and Connecticut have fairly strong privacy laws. Life can be pretty risky for privacy bills. A Connecticut data privacy bill died last year after lobbyists weighed in against it, though the state did pass SB 6, "An Act Concerning Personal Data Privacy and Online Monitoring," in April. The Washington Privacy Act collapsed for the third time last year. So did the Oklahoma Computer Data Privacy Act, and similar privacy legislation in Florida. In some cases, the companies lobbying state lawmakers actually draft the bills that will later be passed to regulate them. That's what happened with the first version of the 2021 Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, which was penned by an Amazon lobbyist. Similar claims surfaced in a Reuters report published last November. The news wire found that Amazon "has killed or undermined privacy protections in more than three dozen bills across 25 states..." Amazon issued a statement challenging the Reuters report. "The premise of this story is flawed and includes reporting that relies on early, incomplete drafts of documents to draw incorrect conclusions," the internet giant said. Amazon also reiterated past statements about its support for privacy. Asked to comment on The Markup's claims, Amazon did not immediately respond. Nor did Apple or Meta. A Microsoft spokesperson responded with a request for more detail about how the company might be included in the story, and about whether the other companies mentioned might be mentioned, too. Google acknowledged supporting organizations that aspire to help consumers without necessarily endorsing the organization's platform - which didn't really address our inquiry about whether it participates in coordinated lobbying against privacy bills and whether there are any specific privacy bills that the company dislikes. "We openly support a number of organizations advocating for policies that help consumers, and we're clear that our sponsorship doesn't mean we endorse that organization's entire agenda," a Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement. * UK monopoly watchdog investigates Google's online advertising business * Google's FLoC flopped, boffins claim, because it failed to provide promised privacy * Privacy pathology: It's time for the users to gather a little data - evidence All of the companies cited by The Markup - Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft - have dominant or emerging online ad businesses, which rely heavily on data collection. Brookman said the State Privacy and Security Coalition has been the lead actor in privacy lobbying and represents a wide range of corporate interests, pointing to ISPs as an example. But he acknowledged there are some common threads related to online ads. "There definitely are provisions I see inserted into laws that would specifically exempt or make it hard to turn off targeted advertising," he said. "Sometimes there's language around pseudonymous data, like cookies, or around allowing you to opt out only to the sale of your data - as a lot of online data sharing isn't a sale." Brookman also suggested it's too simplistic to treat these large tech firms as a monolith, noting that both Apple and Microsoft have publicly withdrawn from the State Privacy and Security Coalition because they didn't support the group's efforts to weaken privacy laws. In the absence of a federal law, the states are taking the lead, though where they're headed is still being hammered out. Kaminski said it's notable that states aren't copying California. Back in 2020, states were copying and pasting text from the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and inserting it into draft bills, she said. But once states started passing these laws, the Washington bill became the template. She said there are some things to like about the Washington State bill, such as its emphasis on internal company responsibilities, in the form of impact assessments and data minimization. The bill doesn't put all the burden on individuals and gives people the right to say no to data collection and processing in some instances. The Washington bill, however, didn't get adopted. "That law didn't pass in Washington amidst heavy criticism that Microsoft had a large role in drafting it," she said. "If I were writing a data privacy law carte blanche, I would not necessarily start with the WA law," said Kaminski. "But I also wouldn't necessarily start with the CCPA. There's stuff to like and stuff not to like in each model. The optimist in me is just glad that there's momentum to pass these laws right now and is hoping that a state like Colorado can emerge as a policy leader in important ways." (r) Get our Tech Resources # Share reddit Twitter Facebook linkedin WhatsApp email [https://www.theregis] Copy 10 Comments Similar topics * Amazon * Google * Government * Law * Privacy Broader topics * Alphabet * Jeff Bezos * Search Engine * Sector Narrower topics * Android * Antitrust * App stores * AWS * Chrome * Chromium * Ebook * Federal government of the United States * Google AI * Google Cloud Platform * Google Nest * Government of the United Kingdom * G Suite * Kindle * Kubernetes * Privacy Sandbox * Privacy Shield * Tavis Ormandy Corrections Send us news --------------------------------------------------------------------- [personalte] Other stories you might like * Quantum internet within grasp as scientists show off entanglement demo Teleportation of quantum information key to future secure data transfer Lindsay Clark Sun 29 May 2022 // 11:28 UTC 11 comment bubble on white Researchers in the Netherlands have shown they can transmit quantum information via an intermediary node, a feature necessary to make the so-called quantum internet possible. In recent years, scientists have argued that the quantum internet presents a more desirable network for transferring secure data, in addition to being necessary when connecting multiple quantum systems. All of this has been attracting investment from the US government, among others. Despite the promise, there are still vital elements missing for the creation of a functional quantum internet. Continue reading * Drone ship carrying yet more drones launches in China Zhuhai Cloud will carry 50 flying and diving machines it can control with minimal human assistance Brandon Vigliarolo Sun 29 May 2022 // 09:14 UTC 12 comment bubble on white Chinese academics have christened an ocean research vessel that has a twist: it will sail the seas with a complement of aerial and ocean-going drones and no human crew. The Zhu Hai Yun, or Zhuhai Cloud, launched in Guangzhou after a year of construction. The 290-foot-long mothership can hit a top speed of 18 knots (about 20 miles per hour) and will carry 50 flying, surface, and submersible drones that launch and self-recover autonomously. According to this blurb from the shipbuilder behind its construction, the Cloud will also be equipped with a variety of additional observational instruments "which can be deployed in batches in the target sea area, and carry out task-oriented adaptive networking to achieve three-dimensional view of specific targets." Most of the ship is an open deck where flying drones can land and be stored. The ship is also equipped with launch and recovery equipment for its aquatic craft. Continue reading * Experts: AI should be recognized as inventors in patent law Plus: Police release deepfake of murdered teen in cold case, and more Katyanna Quach Sat 28 May 2022 // 11:23 UTC 42 comment bubble on white In-brief Governments around the world should pass intellectual property laws that grant rights to AI systems, two academics at the University of New South Wales in Australia argued. Alexandra George, and Toby Walsh, professors of law and AI, respectively, believe failing to recognize machines as inventors could have long-lasting impacts on economies and societies. "If courts and governments decide that AI-made inventions cannot be patented, the implications could be huge," they wrote in a comment article published in Nature. "Funders and businesses would be less incentivized to pursue useful research using AI inventors when a return on their investment could be limited. Society could miss out on the development of worthwhile and life-saving inventions." Continue reading * Declassified and released: More secret files on US govt's emergency doomsday powers Nuke incoming? Quick break out the plans for rationing, censorship, property seizures, and more Katyanna Quach Sat 28 May 2022 // 08:51 UTC 84 comment bubble on white More papers describing the orders and messages the US President can issue in the event of apocalyptic crises, such as a devastating nuclear attack, have been declassified and released for all to see. These government files are part of a larger collection of records that discuss the nature, reach, and use of secret Presidential Emergency Action Documents: these are executive orders, announcements, and statements to Congress that are all ready to sign and send out as soon as a doomsday scenario occurs. PEADs are supposed to give America's commander-in-chief immediate extraordinary powers to overcome extraordinary events. PEADs have never been declassified or revealed before. They remain hush-hush, and their exact details are not publicly known. Continue reading * Stolen university credentials up for sale by Russian crooks, FBI warns Forget dark-web souks, thousands of these are already being traded on public bazaars Jessica Lyons Hardcastle Fri 27 May 2022 // 22:34 UTC 1 comment bubble on white Russian crooks are selling network credentials and virtual private network access for a "multitude" of US universities and colleges on criminal marketplaces, according to the FBI. According to a warning issued on Thursday, these stolen credentials sell for thousands of dollars on both dark web and public internet forums, and could lead to subsequent cyberattacks against individual employees or the schools themselves. "The exposure of usernames and passwords can lead to brute force credential stuffing computer network attacks, whereby attackers attempt logins across various internet sites or exploit them for subsequent cyber attacks as criminal actors take advantage of users recycling the same credentials across multiple accounts, internet sites, and services," the Feds' alert [PDF] said. Continue reading * SEC probes Musk for not properly disclosing Twitter stake Meanwhile, social network's board rejects resignation of one its directors Katyanna Quach Fri 27 May 2022 // 21:26 UTC 16 comment bubble on white America's financial watchdog is investigating whether Elon Musk adequately disclosed his purchase of Twitter shares last month, just as his bid to take over the social media company hangs in the balance. A letter [PDF] from the SEC addressed to the tech billionaire said he "[did] not appear" to have filed the proper form detailing his 9.2 percent stake in Twitter "required 10 days from the date of acquisition," and asked him to provide more information. Musk's shares made him one of Twitter's largest shareholders. The letter is dated April 4, and was shared this week by the regulator. Musk quickly moved to try and buy the whole company outright in a deal initially worth over $44 billion. Musk sold a chunk of his shares in Tesla worth $8.4 billion and bagged another $7.14 billion from investors to help finance the $21 billion he promised to put forward for the deal. The remaining $25.5 billion bill was secured via debt financing by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Barclays, and others. But the takeover is not going smoothly. Continue reading * Cloud security unicorn cuts 20% of staff after raising $1.3b Time to play blame bingo: Markets? Profits? Too much growth? Russia? Space aliens? Jessica Lyons Hardcastle Fri 27 May 2022 // 19:19 UTC 17 comment bubble on white Cloud security company Lacework has laid off 20 percent of its employees, just months after two record-breaking funding rounds pushed its valuation to $8.3 billion. A spokesperson wouldn't confirm the total number of employees affected, though told The Register that the "widely speculated number on Twitter is a significant overestimate." The company, as of March, counted more than 1,000 employees, which would push the jobs lost above 200. And the widely reported number on Twitter is about 300 employees. The biz, based in Silicon Valley, was founded in 2015. Continue reading * Talos names eight deadly sins in widely used industrial software Entire swaths of gear relies on vulnerability-laden Open Automation Software (OAS) Jeff Burt Fri 27 May 2022 // 18:30 UTC 5 comment bubble on white A researcher at Cisco's Talos threat intelligence team found eight vulnerabilities in the Open Automation Software (OAS) platform that, if exploited, could enable a bad actor to access a device and run code on a targeted system. The OAS platform is widely used by a range of industrial enterprises, essentially facilitating the transfer of data within an IT environment between hardware and software and playing a central role in organizations' industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) efforts. It touches a range of devices, including PLCs and OPCs and IoT devices, as well as custom applications and APIs, databases and edge systems. Companies like Volvo, General Dynamics, JBT Aerotech and wind-turbine maker AES are among the users of the OAS platform. Continue reading * Despite global uncertainty, $500m hit doesn't rattle Nvidia execs CEO acknowledges impact of war, pandemic but says fundamentals 'are really good' Dylan Martin Fri 27 May 2022 // 16:08 UTC 1 comment bubble on white Nvidia is expecting a $500 million hit to its global datacenter and consumer business in the second quarter due to COVID lockdowns in China and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Despite those and other macroeconomic concerns, executives are still optimistic about future prospects. "The full impact and duration of the war in Ukraine and COVID lockdowns in China is difficult to predict. However, the impact of our technology and our market opportunities remain unchanged," said Jensen Huang, Nvidia's CEO and co-founder, during the company's first-quarter earnings call. Those two statements might sound a little contradictory, including to some investors, particularly following the stock selloff yesterday after concerns over Russia and China prompted Nvidia to issue lower-than-expected guidance for second-quarter revenue. Continue reading * Another AI supercomputer from HPE: Champollion lands in France That's the second in a week following similar system in Munich also aimed at researchers Dan Robinson Fri 27 May 2022 // 15:30 UTC 6 comment bubble on white HPE is lifting the lid on a new AI supercomputer - the second this week - aimed at building and training larger machine learning models to underpin research. Based at HPE's Center of Excellence in Grenoble, France, the new supercomputer is to be named Champollion after the French scholar who made advances in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs in the 19th century. It was built in partnership with Nvidia using AMD-based Apollo computer nodes fitted with Nvidia's A100 GPUs. Champollion brings together HPC and purpose-built AI technologies to train machine learning models at scale and unlock results faster, HPE said. HPE already provides HPC and AI resources from its Grenoble facilities for customers, and the broader research community to access, and said it plans to provide access to Champollion for scientists and engineers globally to accelerate testing of their AI models and research. Continue reading * Workday nearly doubles losses as waves of deals pushed back Figures disappoint analysts as SaaSy HR and finance application vendor navigates economic uncertainty Lindsay Clark Fri 27 May 2022 // 14:30 UTC 15 comment bubble on white HR and finance application vendor Workday's CEO, Aneel Bhusri, confirmed deal wins expected for the three-month period ending April 30 were being pushed back until later in 2022. The SaaS company boss was speaking as Workday recorded an operating loss of $72.8 million in its first quarter [PDF] of fiscal '23, nearly double the $38.3 million loss recorded for the same period a year earlier. Workday also saw revenue increase to $1.43 billion in the period, up 22 percent year-on-year. However, the company increased its revenue guidance for the full financial year. It said revenues would be between $5.537 billion and $5.557 billion, an increase of 22 percent on earlier estimates. Continue reading ABOUT US* * Who we are * Under the hood * Contact us * Advertise with us MORE CONTENT* * Latest News * Popular Stories * Forums * Whitepapers * Webinars SITUATION PUBLISHING* * The Next Platform * DevClass * Blocks and Files * Continuous Lifecycle London * M-cubed Situation Publishing The Register - Independent news and views for the tech community. Part of Situation Publishing SIGN UP TO OUR DAILY NEWSLETTER Subscribe Twitter Facebook LinkedIn feeds Security Scorecard no-js Biting the hand that feeds IT (c) 1998-2022 Do not sell my personal information Cookies Privacy Ts&Cs