Microsoft is counting the cost of privacy violations, with $20m in fines related to illegal data collection from children’s Xbox accounts. The Xbox manufacturer has reached a settlement with the Federal Trade Commision (FTC), a result which promises to have other console developers looking closely at their privacy policies. The FTC’s release

A multinational payment processing company and two of its executives are facing a potential $650k fine as a result of allegedly processing credit card payments for tech support scammers. While this fine isn’t exactly massive in comparison to some of the privacy breaches and other incidents seen down the years, the original fine the company wa

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued data broker Kochava for allegedly selling information that would allow for individuals’ whereabouts to be traced to sensitive locations. The information included location data from hundreds of millions of phones, including sensitive locations that could be tied to an individual. And, while the name Kocha

A former Twitter executive has acted as a whistleblower and alleged some serious problems. Provided these accusations are true, the disclosure shows a side of Twitter that poses a threat to its own users' personal information, to company shareholders, to national security, and to democracy. Otherwise known as Mudge, Peiter Zatko is a network security expert,

Uber covered up the 2016 data breach that affected its 57 million customers and drivers. The confession came as part of the settlement between the DOJ (US Department of Justice) and the taxi company, which will see it avoid criminal prosecution. In a press release from the DOJ, Uber “admits that its personnel failed to report the November 2016 data

After the overturning of Roe V Wade, many feared that using, having access to, and sharing reproductive and sexual health data—once done freely—would be outlawed with the practice of abortion in many states. To protect such data from falling into the wrong hands,  Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (D-CA) sponsored the “My Body, My Data Act of 2022” bill.

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has warned the LGBTQ+ community about extortionists posing as potential romantic partners on Grindr and Feeld. The scammers send their targets explicit photos and then ask for them to reciprocate. If they do, targets are then blackmailed into paying a ransom, usually in the form of gift cards, or risk having these photos

Today, many Americans will head out to the water—not to swim, but to catch a catfish in time for National Catfish Day. But when we talk about catfishing in cybersecurity, we mean something different. Here, catfishing refers to someone who assumes someone else’s identity online in order to harass, troll, or scam someone. But there are ways to prot

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have ordered Twitter to pay a $150M penalty for using users’ account security data deceptively. The deception violates an FTC order from 2011, that bars Twitter from “misleading consumers about the extent to which it protects the security, privacy, and confidentiality of no

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced that it took action against online customized merchandise platform CafePress over allegations that it failed to secure consumers’ sensitive personal data and covered up a major breach. CafePress is a popular online custom T-shirt and merchandise retailer. According to Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s

With Valentine’s Day approaching, you can be sure that the scammers will want to take advantage of lovebirds everywhere. From romance scams and sextortion, to fake dating sites and phishing campaigns, here’s how to avoid a sting in the tail this Valentine’s Day. Romance scams Stories of online romance scams are abundant on the interne

A report from the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revealed that in 2021 Americans lost $770 million from social media frauds The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) revealed that in 2021 Americans lost $770 million from social media frauds. These data are the result of the increased exposure of netizens through social media. The US agency received over

byPaul DucklinThe Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the US consumer rights body, and it has sailed into 2022 with a bang, not a whimper.Using the infamous Log4Shell vulnerability as what you might call its Exhibit A, the FTC has fired a shot across the bows of companies in US jurisdictions, telling them to get their patching in order, or face the consequence

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has warned legal action against companies who fail to secure their infrastructure against Log4Shell attacks. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warns legal action against companies who protect their systems against Log4Shell (CVE-2021-44228) attacks. The move aims at urging organizations in protecting

Nearly two years after the US Federal Trade Commission first took aim against mobile apps that can non-consensually track people’s locations and pry into their emails, photos, and videos, the government agency placed restrictions Wednesday on the developers of SpyFone—which the FTC called a “stalkerware app company”—preventing the company and its CEO Scott Z