Whistleblower News: Facebook, Bitcoin, Crypto Exchanges
DAILY WHISTLEBLOWER HEADLINES:
Cambridge Analytica gathered Facebook data with 'sex compass' quiz
The number of Facebook users who had their data acquired could far exceed 87 million, says a former Cambridge Analytica employee.
Data consultancy Cambridge Analytica acquired Facebook users' personal data through multiple quizes and questionnaires, including one called "sex compass," a former employee told a UK Parliament committee on Tuesday.
As a result, it's likely that the number of Facebook users affected by Cambridge Analytica's data-gathering activities far exceeds the previously stated figure of 87 million users, said Brittany Kaiser, who until January worked as a business director for the firm. read more »
Supreme Court seeks DOJ view on Gilead whistleblower case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked the solicitor general to weigh in on whether to grant review in a case involving Gilead Sciences Inc to consider what constitutes a material misrepresentation by companies submitting claims to the government for payment.
The Supreme Court’s order came in a whistleblower lawsuit accusing Gilead of making false statements about its compliance with federal regulations in connection with HIV drugs it makes. read more »
Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index
Ever since its inception Bitcoin's trust-minimizing consensus has been enabled by its proof-of-work algorithm. The machines performing the “work” are consuming huge amounts of energy while doing so. The Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index was created to provide insight into this amount, and raise awareness on the unsustainability of the proof-of-work algorithm.
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Bitcoin's current estimated annual electricity consumption* (TWh) |
61.25 |
|
Annualized global mining revenues |
$6,307,503,386 |
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Annualized estimated global mining costs |
$3,062,444,344 |
|
Current cost percentage |
48.55% |
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Country closest to Bitcoin in terms of electricity consumption |
Switzerland |
|
Estimated electricity used over the previous day (KWh) |
167,805,170 |
|
Implied Watts per GH/s |
0.232 |
|
Total Network Hashrate in PH/s (1,000,000 GH/s) |
30,173.00 |
|
Electricity consumed per transaction (KWh) |
971 |
|
Number of U.S. households that could be powered by Bitcoin |
5,671,193 |
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Number of U.S. households powered for 1 day by the electricity consumed for a single transaction |
32.83 |
|
Bitcoin's electricity consumption as a percentage of the world's electricity consumption |
0.27% |
|
Annual carbon footprint (kt of CO2) |
30,012 |
|
Carbon footprint per transaction (kg of CO2) |
475.92 |
New York Attorney General Launches Inquiry Into Cryptocurrency Exchanges
As part of an effort to protect cryptocurrency investors and bring greater transparency into how cryptocurrency exchanges operate, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has sent letters to 13 virtual currency exchanges requesting they disclose key information about their operations.
"With cryptocurrency on the rise, consumers in New York and across the country have a right to transparency and accountability when they invest their money," the attorney general said in a statement today, April 16, 2018. "Yet too often, consumers don't have the basic facts they need to assess the fairness, integrity and security of these trading platforms." read more »
A bomb silenced Daphne Caruana Galizia. But her investigation lives on
The murder six months ago of the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia sent shockwaves around the world.
In Malta, the prime minister, Joseph Muscat, and his party stand accused of allowing corruption to go unpunished, of weakening the police and the judiciary, of allowing an environment in which her killing became possible.
But it goes deeper than that. The European Union must now decide how to deal with its smallest member state – an island that appears to have become a magnet for criminals and kleptocrats, and that some MEPs fear has become a gateway for dirty money into the rest of the continent, including the UK.
The profound questions raised by Caruana Galizia’s murder have become the focus of a new collaboration: the Daphne Project. read more »
Germany watchdog investigating Volkswagen shares in run-up to CEO change: report
The German financial markets watchdog is investigating trading in Volkswagen shares before the announcement of a new chief executive, a German magazine reported on Tuesday.
“We will take a routine look at the trading of Volkswagen shares for possible indications of insider trading and/or market manipulation,” a spokeswoman for the BaFin watchdog told WirtschaftsWoche magazine. read more »
Allergan to pay $3.5 mln over U.S. claims of defective Lap-Bands
Allergan will pay $3.5 million to resolve claims it sold defective stomach bands intended to help obese adults lose weight and marketed them for procedures that were not reasonable or necessary, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday.
The settlement resolved claims raised in a whistleblower lawsuit filed in federal court in Baltimore against Allergan, which sold its Lap-Band product business to Apollo Endosurgery Inc in 2013. read more »
