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Google fails to end $5 billion lawsuit
A U.S. judge rejected Google’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit claiming it invaded the privacy of millions of users by secretly tracking their internet use. Users allege the company tracked their online activity even when their Chrome browsers were set to “Incognito”, and other browsers were set to “private” browsing mode.
The U.S. District Judge said she could not find that users consented to Google collecting information about what they viewed online because the company never explicitly told them it would. And while the plaintiffs allege that Google’s analytics, cookies, and apps let the company track their activity, a Google spokesman said the company strongly disputed the plaintiff’s claims and would defend itself vigorously against them. The lawsuit covers Google users since June 2016 and seeks at least $5,000 of damages per user for violation of federal wiretapping and California privacy laws.
Russian hackers target Ukrainian special services
Ukrainian special services said they foiled an attempt by Russian hackers to penetrate the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ combat information system. The country has reported an increase in Russian attempts to hack into the computer systems of the Ukrainian government, armed forces, and energy sector since the start of the invasion in February 2022.
While Russia has denied such accusations, the Ukranian service said hackers tried to gain access to “sensitive information on the actions of the Ukranian Armed Forces, the location and movement of the Defence Forces, their technical support”.
Android apps fraudulently running ads
Google Play Store removed 43 Android apps that were found to be loading ads when the phone’s screen was off. The apps, in violation of Google Play Store Developer policy, could affect not just the device’s battery life but also increase data consumption and pose potential risks such as information leaks and disruption of user profiling.
Among the removed apps were TV/DMB Player, Music Downloader, and News and Calendar applications. The applications were mainly media streaming apps, and their target audience was predominantly Korean, however, the same deceptive tactics could be used by other app categories to target users in other parts of the world.
