Facebook Agrees to Pay $5 Billion and Implement Robust New Protections of User Information in Settlement of Data-Privacy Claims

Facebook will Pay the Largest Civil Penalty in a Data-Privacy Case in United States History

The Department of Justice, together with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), today announced a settlement that requires Facebook to implement a comprehensive, multi-faceted set of compliance measures designed to improve user privacy and provide additional protections for user information. The settlement also requires Facebook to pay an unprecedented $5 billion civil penalty — the most ever imposed in an FTC case and among the largest civil penalties ever obtained by the federal government. read more »

US justice department targets big tech firms in antitrust review

Officials to look into whether Facebook, Google, Amazon and Apple are unlawfully limiting competition.

The US justice department is opening a broad antitrust review into major technology firms, as criticism over the companies’ growing reach and power heats up.

The investigation will focus on growing complaints that the companies are unlawfully stifling competition. read more »

SEC Awards Half-Million Dollars to Overseas Whistleblower

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a half-million dollar award to an overseas whistleblower whose expeditious reporting helped the Commission bring a successful enforcement action.  

“The Commission’s whistleblower award program has reached an important milestone,” said Jane Norberg, Chief of the SEC’s Office of the Whistleblower.  “With recent actions, more than $2 billion in monetary sanctions have been ordered against wrongdoers based on actionable information received by whistleblowers.  This represents the direct and important role that whistleblowers, like the overseas whistleblower being awarded today, have in enforcement actions and the protection of investors.” read more »    

Air Force suspends fee payments to landlord Balfour Beatty following Reuters report

The U.S. Air Force has suspended paying incentive fees at all 21 military housing bases operated by landlord Balfour Beatty Communities following a Reuters-CBS News report that the company falsified maintenance records at an Oklahoma base to help it qualify for millions of dollars in bonuses.

The Air Force previously had suspended fees at three Balfour Beatty bases. Now, it has halted such payments at all 21 company sites after new allegations of improper handling of maintenance records arose at another base in Idaho, Mountain Home Air Force Base, John Henderson, the Air Force assistant secretary for installations, said in a statement to Reuters late on Friday.

Balfour Beatty will not receive any management incentive fees, which the company says are worth 13 percent of its $33 million in annual military housing net income, or about $4.3 million, until it provides the Air Force with an independent review of its maintenance and work order processes and ensures they meet all Air Force requirements. read more »