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Coinbase finds no wrongdoing in Bitcoin Cash insider trading probe
Last December, Coinbase halted trading of Bitcoin Cash just hours after it unexpectedly announced the addition of the cryptocurrency to its platform. The company, which initially said it wouldn't support Bitcoin Cash, a hard fork of Bitcoin, reversed its position, later saying it would add the currency by January 1st, 2018. Surprising many, it then announced access to Bitcoin Cash on December 19th, but the currency had already begun experiencing a price surge in the hours before the announcement, leading many to speculate that Coinbase employees who knew about the addition ahead of time had started buying up Bitcoin Cash in expectation of a price increase once Coinbase officially announced its availability. Accusations of insider trading led Coinbase to launch an investigation into the matter, which has now been wrapped up.
Mueller reportedly targets Trump's tweets in obstruction probe
It looks like Donald Trump's tweets are getting him into trouble yet again. The New York Times reports today that special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into the president's tweets and statements about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former FBI director James Comey, according to sources familiar with the matter. Mueller also reportedly wants to question Trump himself about his tweets. The interest is part of Mueller's ongoing probe into whether the president has engaged in any obstruction of the special counsel's investigation into potential links between Trump's campaign and Russian efforts to influence the 2016 presidential election.
NYT: FBI and DOJ are looking into Cambridge Analytica
Cambridge Analytica already shut down, because it couldn't cope with ongoing probes and scandals. But that doesn't mean the DOJ is going to let things go -- according to The New York Times, the Justice Department and the FBI have started investigating the political data firm, questioning former employees and banks that handled its businesses in recent weeks. Authorities' questions apparently focused on the firm's financial dealings, though they also sought to better understand how it acquired and used personal data pulled from Facebook and other sources. They also got in contact with Facebook itself, though the social network refused to tell NYT what they talked about.
Senator wants Facebook to stop tracking users after they log out
Senator Edward Markey (D-MA) isn't pleased with Facebook and he wants the FTC to do as much as it can to ensure the company is protecting its users' privacy and data. In a letter sent this week to the FTC chairman and commissioners, he requests certain actions be taken against the social media giant and asks for information about the commission's investigation into the company.
Investigators used online DNA databases to hunt Golden State Killer
Yesterday several police departments in California announced the arrest of the "Golden State Killer," who killed a dozen people between 1978 and 1986 and has been accused of over 50 rapes. At the time, investigators said DNA played a role in identifying former Auburn, CA police officer Joseph James DeAngelo, and today went a step further with the explanation. The LA Times and New York Times report that investigators took DNA samples from the old crime scenes and plugged them into online databases, looking for familiar matches that would help narrow down the suspect. The Olympian reports that by combing through family trees of partial matches they focused on DeAngelo, who was the right age and had lived in some of the areas. Before arresting the subject they got a DNA sample from something DeAngelo had discarded and checked for a match. That match led to his arrest and charges for two of the murders, with more expected to follow.
California opens investigation into Tesla factory safety
Tesla has been struggling lately to meet its automotive production targets, vowing to run its Model 3 factories "24/7." Unfortunately, they might also be underreporting serious workplace injuries, labeling them "personal medical" to avoid penalties. Now, according to a report at Bloomberg, California's Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) is opening an official investigation into the allegations.
Tesla may be purposefully undercounting worker injuries (updated)
In a report published today, Reveal details evidence that Tesla has been undercounting the injuries sustained by workers at its Fremont, California factory. Over the last couple of years, injury rates at the factory have been higher than the industry average, but for 2017, the company reported a sharp drop in injury rates. The reductions brought Tesla in line with the rest of the industry, but Reveal's investigation, in which it conducted interviews with more than three dozen current and former employees and reviewed hundreds of pages of official documents, suggests that the company has been mislabeling work injuries.
FTC confirms Facebook data security investigation
Last week, reports surfaced that the FTC was opening an investigation into Facebook regarding Cambridge Analytica's use of its data. The agency has now confirmed that it is indeed investigating the social media giant. "The FTC takes very seriously recent press reports raising substantial concerns about the privacy practices of Facebook," the FTC said in a statement. "Today, the FTC is confirming that it has an open non-public investigation into these practices."
New York joins Massachusetts investigation of Facebook's data use
All eyes are on Facebook as more and more information rolls out regarding Cambridge Analytica, its involvement in recent elections and forums and how it came to obtain 50 million Facebook users' profile information. Now, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is joining those demanding more information from the social network giant. "Consumers have a right to know how their information is used -- and companies like Facebook have a fundamental responsibility to protect their users' personal information," Schneiderman said in a statement. "Today, along with Massachusetts Attorney General Healey, we sent a demand letter to Facebook -- the first step in our joint investigation to get to the bottom of what happened."
Cambridge Analytica suspends CEO Alexander Nix during investigation (updated)
As the Cambridge Analytica scandal continues to develop, the company has now announced that its board has suspended CEO Alexander Nix. Cambridge Analytica says that the suspension is immediate and a full, independent investigation will be conducted. "In the view of the Board, Mr. Nix's recent comments secretly recorded by Channel 4 and other allegations do not represent the values or operations of the firm and his suspension reflects the seriousness with which we view this violation," the company said in a statement.
UK asks Facebook to try harder in Russia-Brexit investigation
The end of 2017 saw Facebook launch an investigation into Russia's use of the social network to influence the EU Referendum, aka Brexit. The company didn't find anything nefarious, but the House of Commons asked that it continue its probe. Now, Facebook has delivered its findings -- again suggesting no foul play -- and UK officials remain unsatisfied with the conclusion.
32 senators want to know if US regulators halted Equifax probe
Earlier this week, a Reuters report suggested that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) had halted its investigation into last year's massive Equifax data breach. Reuters sources said that even basic steps expected in such a probe hadn't been taken and efforts had stalled since Mick Mulvaney (pictured above) took over as head of the CFPB late last year. Now, 31 Democratic senators and one Independent have written a letter to Mulvaney asking if that is indeed the case and if so, why.
US Senator questions Apple about slowing older iPhones
Senator John Thune, chair of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, has sent Apple CEO Tim Cook a letter with questions about the company's decision to slow older models of iPhones, Reuters reports. In December, Apple admitted to slowing older iPhones in order to prevent spontaneous shutdowns and later reduced its battery replacement price to $29 as way of apology for its lack of transparency.
French officials investigate Apple for iPhone slowdowns
Last month, French organization HOP (which stands for Stop Planned Obsolescence in French) filed legal complaints against Apple after the company admitted to slowing older models of iPhones. Now, Bloomberg reports that French authorities have begun a preliminary investigation into the company in regards to accusations of "programmed obsolescence" and "deceit."
Mueller investigation obtains thousands of Trump transition emails
Government-related emails are once again prompting a very public dispute -- albeit under very different circumstances than a year earlier. Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office has confirmed an Axios report that it obtained thousands of Trump transition emails from the General Services Administration as part of its investigation into the President's team. The move was prompted by transition attorneys who accused Mueller's office of taking the messages without permission.
Representatives ask GAO to investigate FCC net neutrality comments
It's not just senators calling for a review of the FCC's millions of fake anti-net neutrality comments. Representatives Elijah Cummings, Greg Meeks and Frank Pallone have sent a letter to the Government Accountability Office asking it to investigate the comments. They want to know the extent of the fakery, which would violate laws barring fraudulent representation in any subject under the executive branch's oversight. And crucially, they also want a look at the FCC's response -- they're "concerned" that it stonewalled New York's investigation by withholding information (at least, until very recently).
Five state attorneys general are investigating Uber breach
Uber's latest security breach, which exposed 57 million customers' and drivers' personal information, has come under more and more scrutiny since it was revealed earlier this week. The Federal Trade Commission has already confirmed that it's looking into the breach as well as how Uber handled it. A number of agencies abroad are investigating the incident as well. But it doesn't stop there. Uber is also now under investigation by at least five state Attorney General offices and has been named in multiple lawsuits.
The FTC is looking into Uber's latest data breach
This week, Uber revealed that a security breach that happened in October of 2016 exposed personal data from around 57 million customers and drivers. But rather than inform the affected individuals, the company instead chose to pay off the hackers that stole the data in order to keep them quiet. Now, Reuters reports that the FTC is looking into the data breach and Uber's subsequent mishandling of the situation. An agency spokesperson told Reuters, "We are aware of press reports describing a breach in late 2016 at Uber and Uber officials' actions after that breach. We are closely evaluating the serious issues raised."
FTC may investigate TripAdvisor over deleted posts, but it isn't yet
Earlier this month, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that TripAdvisor had deleted multiple posts from users warning others about incidents of assault and rape that had taken place at a certain resorts in Mexico. Since then, the journal says that dozens of others have come forward with similar stories. Now, it reports that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is looking into the website's business practices.
DC Superior Court reins in DOJ’s Facebook snooping
The government's overreach into the Facebook accounts of anti-Trump protestors is finally getting curbed. The ACLU sued the DOJ in September over its very broad warrant demanding all the info from a protest-organizing Facebook page, DisruptJ20, over a period of 90 days -- which included data on 6,000 individuals who interacted with it. Additionally, the ACLU sought to limit what information Facebook would be forced to provide on two people, Lacy MacAuley and Legba Carrefour, who helped organize using the DisruptJ20 page. Today, the ACLU announced that the DC Superior Court would be eliminating the former requirement and adjusting how much info the social network must disclose on the two activists.
