Intellectual Property, Privacy, and Security Cases

Scroll through all three sections.

Privacy

• Amazon's Sidewalk feature turns Alexa devices into neighborhood WiFi networks that owners have to opt out of.

  Sidewalk Shared Network

• USA Commerce Department wants to ban TikTok and WeChat from USA app stores citing national security and data privacy concerns.

  USA vs TikTok and WeChat

• Data from hundreds of police organizations was leaked on Juneteenth 2020 by Distributed Denial of Secrets.

  BlueLeaks vs Police Data

• Lip-syncing app TikTok faces record FTC fine for illegally collecting kids’ data.

  FTC Fining TikTok

• Oregon senators demand answers from US Marshalls collection of data of BLM protesters in June 2020.

  US Marshalls plane surveillance.

• An Apple employee and US Citizen refused to allow border agents access to companny iPhone and laptop.

  US agents detaining Apple employee.

• Google won't remove Saudi app that gives men power of travel permission for women relatives.

  Google vs Absher app that tracks women.

• Airbnb guest discovers hidden camera but Airbnb took their time banning the host.

  Airbnb host caught surveilling guests.

• This multi-national media library publishes large datasets of censored/restricted official documents.

  Wikileaks leaks...you choose.

• Facebook's new technology will serve you ads based on your personal images.

  Facebook scanning your photos for brands

• A global team reviews audio clips in an effort to help the voice-activated assistant respond to commands.

  Amazon Listening to Your Alexa

• USA citizen leaks data on 14,200 people in Singapore with HIV

  Singapore vs Mikhy Brochez

• Motherboard reporter Joseph Cox pays a bounty hunter to locate a phone.

  Telecoms selling our phone geodata

• Newspaper scrapes mugshots to increase readership.

  Tampa Bay Mugshots

• To catch a robber, the FBI attempted an unprecedented grab for Google location data.

  Google vs the FBI

• Dragonfly is the upcoming Google search engine for China, which employees say will accesses users' phone numbers.

  Google Employees versus Dragonfly

• To support its advertising programs, the new Portal will collect user data (will it also serve ads?).

  Facebook's Portal privacy protections

• The 2nd-largest health insurer in the USA will pay the government $16 million to settle privacy violations.

  Anthem's $16M Data Breach Payout

• Nike ends privacy violations in running app after investigation by Dutch DPA

  Nike versus The Netherlands

• Many high-tech workers reject some government projects where privacy of citizens is at stake.

  Employees versus Google versus DOJ

• Whistleblower accuses Tesla of spying on employees at Gigafactory.

  Tesla management vs Employees

• Two South Korea men were arrested for secretly live-streaming hotel guests from 42 rooms in 10 cities.

  Live-streamed Motel Guests

• Is it OK to hack and publish private data when an ISP allows illegal content?

  Anonymous Deleting Child Porn Sites

• Lawsuit claims Bose headphones collect users' data without their permission.

  the Spying Headphones

• Siri, Alexa/Echo, and Cortana activate when hearing a "wake word, which means they are always listening."

  the Always Listening Personal Assistant

• Police monitored social media, ran facial recognition to arrest protesters.

  the Arrested Baltimore Protestors

• Lawsuit settles secret cellular tracking and interruption system that collected personal data.

  Chicago Police's StingRay Tracker

Security

• The 2018 California Consumer Privacy Act deters user interfaces designed to trick and frustrate users.

  Dark Patterns vs the CCPA

• Months-long breach of Orion server software SolarWinds affected Microsoft, USA government, and others.

  Russia → Sunburst → SolarWinds

• Apple won't reimburse mom of 6-year-old who racked up $16,000 playing Sonic.

  Apple vs a Six-year-old

• Microsoft says Russian-backed Fancy Bear hackers targeted the Joe Biden campaign, just like they did the Hillary Clinton campaign.

  Fancy Bear vs Biden Campaign

• The USA Justice Department has charged 5 Chinese citizens with hacks targeting more than 100 companies worldwide.

  USA vs Chinese Hackers

• USA's Treasury Office wants to crack down on consultants who help organizations pay off cybercriminals.

  Twice-punished Ransom Payers

• Chinese Spyware hidden in tax software was probably planted by a government.

  Spyware in Tax Software

• Keizer officials pay $48k ransom to regain control of city computers.

  Keizer, Oregon's Ransom payment.

• PRISM data was leaked to the press to show how the NSA violates section 215 of the PATRIOT Act.

  the Edward Snowden data mining leaks

• In Indian man destroyed 59 computers, monitors, and podiums with an easy to purchase USB device.

  USB Killer

• A US agent infected a Mar-a-Lago computer with a Chinese National's USB drive.

  Secret Service Agent's USB mishap.

• Craigslist closes personals sections in US due to USA Wagner Bill which holds websites accountable for their users trafficking sex.

  Sex-Trafficking Website

• USA warns European allies not to use Chinese gear for 5G networks

  USA/EU vs Huawei and ZTE.

• Some Phoenix Area Residents Are Attacking Waymo's Self-Driving Fleet

  Waymo haters in Phoenix

• Two international cybercriminal rings dismantled and eight defendants indicted for online advertising fraud

  FBI Thwarting Botnets

• 3000+ Google employees petitioned against working on the the USA's AI imagery project slated for battle.

  Google Employees vs Project Maven

• Slovakia-based cybersecurity company ESET accuses hackers of ties to Russian spy agency.

  GreyEnergy strikes Eastern Europe

• Microsoft and Google's Project Zero researchers find a processor flaw that might be vulnerable to attack.

  Speculative Store Bypass Variant 4

• "Vulnerabilities in modern computers leak passwords and sensitive data."

  Meltdown and Spectre

• Federal teams of investigators pour over data from fatal autonomous car crashes.

  the Deadly Autopilot Crash

• The USA Justice Department indicted several Iranians for hacking 8000 email accounts.

  Hacked University Accounts

• Dubai's Emerites airline app isn't always secure and could be leaking private data.

  Airline Private Data

• Triconex nuclear, oil, and gas safety infrastructure fell victim to a cyber attack.

  Hacked Triconex energy plant

• Millions were unable to access funds when digital currency wallets went offline.

  Bitcoin fever frailties

• Data from 143 million of the credit reporting company's accounts leaked.

  the Equifax data breach

• Hacker arrested for triggering a DDoS attack using JavaScript exploits via Twitter and YouTube.

  the 911 DDoS Attack

• Violent criminals were released due to a computer glitch.

  the California Prison Release

• Hackers targeted Internet of Things (IoT) devices using default passwords that are shared amongst entire device classes.

  the CCTV Camera Hijacking

• ValueClick was ordered to pay $2.9m violating CAN-SPAM Act.

  the Deceptive Ads and Insecure Data

• The FBI's [mis]Management of the Trilogy Information Technology Modernization Project

  the FBI's Trilogy Failure

• The FDA investigates VeriChip's misrepresentations.

  the Human RFID Chip

• Illinois Court Says State's Cyberstalking Law Is Unconstitutional due to missing 'intent'.

  the Unconstitutional Cyberstalking Law

• A Scud missile was not intercepted, consequentially killing 28 Army soldiers.

  the Patriot Missile Timing Problem

• Notorious runaway robot arrested by police for alledgedly recording voters' opinions.

  the Runaway Robot

• Hackers collected data from 70 million Target customers.

  the Target Data Breach

Intellectual Property

• Regulators around the world closely scrutinize big tech companies' anti-competitive concerns.

  Big Tech Antitrust Investigations

• Intel must pay VLSI $2.18 billion for chip-making patent-infringement.

  Intel vs VLSI Technology

• Google to pay publishers $1 billion due to unfair profits from their work.

  Google vs Publishers

• Apple infringed three Qualcomm patents, jury finds.

  Qualcomm vs Apple

• Students cheat Apple out nearly $900k in fake iPhone scheme.

  Fake iPhone lemon switch.

• Dark Overlord ransoms "Orange is the New Black" episodes from Larson Studios.

  hacked Netflix subcontractor

• The US Federal Trade Commission proposes reform to cut down on the frequency of patent-infringement lawsuits.

  FTC to patent trolls: Stop wasting our time

  copyright
• Taylor Swift and other entertainers call on lawmakers to reform the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998.

  The Music Industry's War on Copyright.

  music_note
• A jury said Apple willfully infringed on patents related to iPhone technology.

  Apple vs Acacia Research.

  copyright
• Adobe Loses Copyright Infringement Case to Software Surplus

  Adobe vs Software Surplus

  copyright
• Google used some Oracle code...was it a fair use under copyright law?

  Oracle vs Google

  block
• USA Supreme Court’s method of calculating damages awarded, based on all or part of the infringing product's profits.

  Apple vs Samsung Patent Battle

  copyright