Morning Consult Tech: Twitter Whistleblower Tells Senators That Nearly All User Accounts Face Security Risks
 

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Essential tech industry news & intel to start your day.
September 14, 2022
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Today’s Top News

  • Former Twitter Inc. security chief and whistleblower Peiter Zatko told lawmakers during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing that Twitter’s protection of users’ sensitive data is so slipshod that nearly anyone with an account should be concerned about its security. (Politico) Zatko also testified that within the week before he was fired from the company, he learned that the Federal Bureau of Investigation warned Twitter that an agent of China’s Ministry of State Security was on the company’s payroll, though a Twitter spokesperson said Zatko’s allegations are “riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies.” (Reuters)
  • Twitter shareholders voted to approve Elon Musk’s proposed $44 billion acquisition of the company. (CNBC)
  • The European Union’s General Court mostly upheld a 2018 decision by the bloc’s competition regulator that fined Google $4.33 billion for allegations that the company abused the market dominance of its Android operating system for cellphones in order to bolster its search engine and Chrome browser. The court did annul one part of the decision that accused Google of breaking competition laws by making revenue-sharing payments to manufacturers to pre-install only Google Search, and the court reduced the company’s fine to about $4.12 billion. (The Wall Street Journal)
  • The Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology reached a cooperative research and development deal with Google which will see the company produce chips that researchers can use to create new nanotechnology and semiconductor devices. Under the partnership, Google will pay the initial cost for establishing production and subsidize the first production run, while NIST and university research partners will design the chips’ circuitry. (Reuters)

 

Worth keeping an eye on today (all times local):

 

Chart Review

 
 

What Else You Need to Know

General
 

NASA Fixes Artemis I Rocket Leak, Eyes Sept. 27 for Next Launch Attempt

Eric Mack, CNET

If everything works out, NASA’s new Space Launch System could finally blast off for the first time from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center as soon as Friday, Sept. 27.

 

As data centers proliferate, neighbors knock the noise

Matthew Barakat, The Associated Press

In a universe of cloud computing, northern Virginia might be in a perpetual fog. More of the data centers that feed the cloud are clustered in the region outside the nation’s capital than anywhere else in the world.

 

VR developers accuse Facebook of withholding the keys to metaverse success

Naomi Nix, The Washington Post

Virtual reality creators say Meta now has the power to determine which apps will be successful and which will be left in obscurity.

 
Antitrust and Competition
 

Texas Beats Google’s Push to Toss Out Ad Tech Antitrust Suit

Leah Nylen, Bloomberg

An antitrust suit by state attorneys general accusing Alphabet Inc.’s Google of monopolizing the technology underlying online advertising can move forward, a New York federal judge ruled.

 

Judge throws out Facebook collusion claims in Google antitrust suit

Adi Robertson, The Verge

A federal judge has allowed crucial elements of an antitrust case against Google to proceed, including allegations that Google illegally monopolized the ad-tech market. However, Judge P. Kevin Castel dismissed claims of collusion between Google and Facebook (now Meta) in the “Jedi Blue” program.

 

Twitter whistleblower exposes limits of FTC’s power

Cat Zakrzewski and Joseph Menn, The Washington Post

A whistleblower’s accusation that Twitter is failing to comply with a 2011 consent decree is raising questions not just about the tech company’s actions, but also about the Federal Trade Commission, the agency that is supposed to ensure Twitter abides by its pledge to protect users’ private data.

 
Artificial Intelligence/Automation
 

Artificial intelligence is playing a bigger role in cybersecurity, but the bad guys may benefit the most

Bob Violino, CNBC

Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in cybersecurity — for both good and bad. Organizations can leverage the latest AI-based tools to better detect threats and protect their systems and data resources. But cyber criminals can also use the technology to launch more sophisticated attacks.

 
Telecom, Wireless and Internet Access
 

Lumen names former Microsoft exec Johnson CEO as Storey retires

Diana Goovaerts, Fierce Telecom

The telecom industry saw its second CEO transition in as many weeks, with Lumen Technologies announcing former Microsoft and Red Hat executive Kate Johnson will take over for longtime chief Jeff Storey on November 7.

 

AT&T wins challenge of Charter’s “20X faster” internet speed claim

Diana Goovaerts, Fierce Telecom

Cable operator Charter Communications lost its latest advertising spat with broadband rival AT&T, agreeing to make changes to marketing material claiming its service offers download speeds 20X faster than AT&T Internet.

 
Mobile Technology
 

U.S. to discuss new chips bill with Taiwan next month

Sarah Wu, Reuters

The United States will hold talks with Taiwan next month to discuss new U.S. legislation designed to boost the American semiconductor industry, the top U.S. diplomat in Taipei said on Wednesday.

 

Uber CEO says the company may actually benefit from rising inflation

Ashley Capoot, CNBC

A key August inflation report sent stocks tumbling Tuesday after the index gained 0.1% for the month despite falling gas prices. But the report isn’t all bad for companies like Uber, which said its supply side may actually be benefitting from the inflationary environment.

 

For Apple’s App Boss, a New Battle Nears

Wayne Ma, The Information

App Store chief Phil Schiller has often made decisions that left money on the table for the iPhone maker during his six years running it. But his actions are still likely to face growing scrutiny as antitrust regulators get closer to a possible lawsuit against the tech giant.

 

Disinformation via text message is a problem with few answers

Kevin Collier, NBC News

The biggest election disinformation event of the 2022 midterm primaries was not an elaborate Russian troll scheme that played out on Twitter or Facebook. It was some text messages.

 
Cybersecurity and Privacy
 

Google, Meta fined $71.8M for violating privacy law in South Korea

Kate Park, TechCrunch

South Korea has hit Google and Meta with a fine of ~$71.8 million (100 billion KRW) after finding they violated the country’s privacy law, the country’s authorities said on Wednesday.

 

Federal Action is Needed to Protect Consumer Data, New Report Says

Edward Graham, Nextgov

The increasing use of consumers’ personal data by businesses poses a privacy risk that should be addressed by Congress through comprehensive legislative action, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office released on Tuesday.

 

Democratic senators call on ICE to stop use of ‘Orwellian’ facial recognition, surveillance

Jared Gans, The Hill

Two Democratic senators called on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to discontinue its use of facial recognition and other surveillance technologies that they say threaten individual privacy rights. 

 

Human Trafficking’s Newest Abuse: Forcing Victims Into Cyberscamming

Cezary Podkul and  Cindy Liu, ProPublica

Tens of thousands of people from across Asia have been coerced into defrauding people in America and around the world out of millions of dollars. Those who resist face beatings, food deprivation or worse.

 

How Whistleblowers Navigate a Security Minefield

Matt Burgess, Wired

Exposing wrongdoing is risky on the best of days. Whistleblower Aid cofounder John Tye explains the extensive steps needed to keep people safe.

 
Social Media and Content Moderation
 

California 1st to make firms disclose social media policies

Don Thompson, The Associated Press

California will impose first-of-its-kind requirements on social media companies to publish their policies for removing disturbing content including hate speech, with details on how and when they remove that content, under a bill signed into law by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

 

Congress will quiz tech’s product chiefs on extremism

Ashley Gold, Axios

Top tech executives in charge of product design for Meta, YouTube, Twitter and TikTok will be grilled on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

 

The Search for Dirt on the Twitter Whistle-Blower

Ronan Farrow, The New Yorker

Many of Peiter (Mudge) Zatko’s former colleagues have received offers of payment for information about him.

 
Tech Workforce
 

Meta merging content moderation teams for ads and user posts

Sara Fischer, Axios

Meta is merging its business integrity unit, the team that moderates ad content, with its central integrity team, which moderates users’ posts, according to an internal memo obtained by Axios.

 

Amazon to Fund Raises for Delivery Drivers Amid Tight Labor Market

Dana Mattioli, The Wall Street Journal

Amazon.com Inc. said it is planning to raise pay and benefits for its delivery partners, as the e-commerce giant gears up for the peak holiday season amid a persistently tight labor market.

 

Tech Workers Say Salaries Have Not Kept Pace With Inflation

Sabiq Shahidullah, Bloomberg

Most technology professionals say their pay isn’t keeping up with inflation, raising pressure on employers to meet growing demand for remote work. 

 

Laid off by Big Tech? Big Pharma wants you

Adam Bluestein, Fast Company

As layoffs mount at tech firms, biotechs and pharmaceutical companies are scooping up employees with AI and data science experience.

 
Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives
 

AI tries its hand at economics

Oliver Roeder, Financial Times

The ability to simulate problems and solutions could help real world policies.

 

Don’t Expect Drones to Air-Drop Your Packages

Thomas Black, Bloomberg

The FAA is moving closer to approving widespread use of the technology, but the technical and economic drawbacks will keep such delivery a niche business.

 
Morning Consult