Policy

A group of international enforcers including the US’s Federal Trade Commission evaluated 642 websites and apps offering subscriptions. They found that almost 76% used at least one potential dark pattern — design tricks meant to steer consumers to a desired outcome — and nearly 67% used more than one possible dark pattern. The most common dark pattern they found were “sneaking practices,” where sites hide or delay information that could sway a consumer’s decision.

The European Commission says it’s made commitments offered by Apple in January legally binding, allowing third-party developers to use the NFC functionality on iOS devices without being tied to Apple Pay or Apple Wallet.

The acceptance officially settles a four-year EU investigation and spares Apple from facing fines of up to $40 billion. EU competition chief Margrethe Vestager said:

“It opens up competition in this crucial sector, by preventing Apple from excluding other mobile wallets from the iPhone’s ecosystem.”

The European Commission has designated XNXX as a “very large online platform” under the Digital Services Act (DSA), potentially requiring the website to bolster its content moderation and age verification processes.

The designation follows that of other adult content platforms — Pornhub, Xvideos, and Stripchat — last year. XNXX has until “mid-November 2024” to comply by submitting a risk assessment report.

A group that has previously claimed responsibility for breaching NATO, as well as satellite systems used by Halliburton and Shell, tells CyberScoop they’ve released 2GB of data from the conservative think tank behind “Project 2025” policy proposals for a second Trump administration.

The data includes the “full names, email addresses, passwords, and usernames” of people associating with Heritage, vio said, including users with U.S. government email addresses. “This itself can have an impact to heritage’s (sic) reputation,” they added, “and it’ll especially push away users in positions of power.” 

The funding is part of the $52 billion made available through the CHIPS Act. It’s meant to help bolster domestic semiconductor packaging — one of the final steps in the chip-making process that’s typically done in factories outside the US.

A CNN investigation found that Airbnb routinely ignores or silences, through settlements and NDAs, guests who find hidden cameras in their rentals’ bedrooms and bathrooms.

In one case, Airbnb told guests who found a camera pointed at their bed it wanted to get the host’s side of the story. It allowed him to continue hosting for months, even after being told he was under police investigation. Police eventually raided his property:

Among the more than 2,000 recovered images, law enforcement identified more than 30 victims, including several children. Many guests – who booked the same property either through Airbnb or Vrbo – were captured in various stages of undress. Some were recorded having sex.

Update: Altered the text for clarity.

Russia’s communications regulator ordered Apple to remove some of the VPN apps available in the country, according to a notice Apple sent to the developers of Red Shield VPN, Le VPN, and others:

We are writing to notify you that your application, your application, per demand from Roskomnadzor will be removed from the Russia App Store because it includes content that is illegal in Russia.

In March, Russia made it illegal to advertise VPNs that don’t comply with the country’s strict laws.

Two former execs of a German AI data center company, Northern Data, say they were fired for raising concerns the company was “misrepresenting the strength of its financial condition,” in a wrongful termination lawsuit. Northern Data, which is backed by Tether, has been looking into an IPO in the US.

The settlement would resolve an investigation by California’s Civil Rights Department, which had for years been investigating claims from employees who said they were retaliated against for using parental, disability, and family-care leave.

Employees who used these benefits said they were denied raises, promotions, and stock awards as a result. Microsoft, which has previously been lauded for its leave policy, denied the allegations.

The board previously said the policy “disproportionately restricts free expression” because while the term is “sometimes used by extremists to praise or glorify people who have died while committing violent terrorist acts,” there are also alternate meanings.

In a test, Meta said, removing the term when “paired with otherwise violating content” captured “the most potentially harmful content without disproportionality impacting voice.”

Correction: Meta said it’s implementing the Board’s recommendations, not seeking further guidance.

A look at the era of the non-disclosure agreement, subject of pop songs and nearly as common as water in Silicon Valley. Paradoxically, though, being as loud as possible makes it harder for the likes of Jeff Bezos to come after you.

Apple is bumping up the energy density of the battery in its next iPhones, letting them last longer between charges, claims supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Kuo notes that more density means more heat, so Apple is encasing them in stainless steel, which he says will also mean they’re easier to replace — something the EU now requires.

Recently, Apple unceremoniously dropped Apple Pay Later, which already felt like an odd, risky choice for the brand, not even a year after launching the small loans program.

Why? Regulation, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman:

In May, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced increased scrutiny of “buy now, pay later” services, saying providers would need to follow the same regulations as credit card companies ... The increased regulation wasn’t something Apple wanted to deal with, I’m told ...