FTC sues data broker for selling location data
Federal regulators have sued a data broker they accuse of selling sensitive geolocation data from millions of mobile devices, information that can be used to identify people and track their movements to and from sensitive locations, including reproductive health clinics, homeless shelters and places of worship.
Federal Trade Commission on Monday sued Idaho-based Kochava Inc. amid a charged debate over the privacy of individuals who may be seeking an abortion in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling in June ending the constitutional protections for abortion. Although it’s not the first case the FTC has brought against a data broker, experts say it is the first one involving health care data and referencing reproductive health clinics.
“This is potentially a big deal,” Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a privacy advocacy group, said of the FTC’s action. “They’ve placed a stake in the ground.”
In its lawsuit against Kochava filed in federal court in Idaho, the FTC alleges that by selling tracking data, the company enables other parties to identify individuals and exposes them to threats of stigma, stalking, discrimination, job loss and even physical violence. The agency is seeking to halt Kochava’s sale of “sensitive geolocation data” and to compel the company to delete the geolocation data it has collected.
Chattanooga State plans College and Career Fair
Chattanooga State Community College is bringing back a two-day fair on campus to help high school students find out more about career training programs.
For the first time since 2019, the Area Wide College & Career Fair will return on Sept. 8 and 9 in the gym of Health & Physical Fitness building on Chattanooga State’s main campus, 4501 Amnicola Highway. Chattanooga State is conducting the all-day fairs in partnership with the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce and Lookout Counseling Association to introduce prospective students to programs in seven academic divisions that include Business & Industry, Engineering & Information Technologies, Humanities & Fine Arts, Mathematics & Sciences, Nursing & Allied Health, Social & Behavioral Sciences, and Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT).
“The last time we hosted this fair was in 2019,” stated Dr. Kisha Thomas, Chattanooga State Recruiting director. “Approximately 2,500 high school junior and senior students from Hamilton County, rural counties, and north Georgia are expected.”
Businesses and colleges interested in participating as a vendor at the fair should contact Cathy Humble at chumble@chattanoogachamber.com for information. Registration deadline is August 31, 2022.
High schools that would like to participate at the Fair should register with Anna Millard, school counselor, STEM School of Chattanooga at (423) 531-6270.
Elon Musk subpoenas Twitter whistleblower
WILMINGTON, Del. — Elon Musk’s legal team is demanding to hear from a whistleblowing former Twitter executive who could help bolster Musk’s case for backing out of a $44 billion deal to buy the social media company.
Twitter’s former security chief Peiter Zatko — also known by his hacker handle “Mudge” — received a subpoena Saturday from Musk’s team, according to Zatko’s lawyer and court records.
The billionaire Tesla CEO has spent months alleging that the company he agreed to acquire undercounted its fake and spam accounts — and that he shouldn’t have to consummate the deal as a result.
NLRB says Tesla can’t block union clothing
The National Labor Relations Board has reversed a Trump-era decision by finding that Tesla can’t stop factory employees from wearing clothing with union insignias while on the job.
The board, in a 3-2 decision released Monday, overruled a 2019 NLRB decision involving Walmart and union clothing. The board wrote that a 1945 Supreme Court decision established the precedent for allowing the clothing.
It ordered Tesla to stop enforcing an “overly broad” uniform policy that effectively stops production workers at Tesla’s Fremont, California, factory from wearing black shirts with the United Auto Workers union’s logo.
The board said by ruling against Tesla, it reaffirmed a longstanding precedent that employers can’t restrict union clothing without special circumstances that justify the ban.
The board majority determined that Tesla failed to establish any special circumstances that would allow banning the UAW clothing.
“The board reaffirms that any attempt to restrict the wearing of union clothing or insignia is presumptively unlawful and — consistent with Supreme Court precedent — an employer has a heightened burden to justify attempts to limit this important right,” Chairman Lauren McFerran said in a statement.