Tag Archives: regulators

U.S. Regulators Launch Investigation into Tesla’s Self-Driving System Following Multiple Crashes

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U.S. automotive safety authorities have initiated an investigation into Tesla vehicles equipped with fully autonomous driving technology due to traffic safety infractions following multiple accidents.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) stated that the electric vehicle manufacturer’s automated driving assistance system, which necessitates driver attention and intervention when required, “caused vehicle actions that contravened traffic safety regulations.”


NHTSA’s preliminary evaluation marks the initial step that could lead to a vehicle recall if deemed a safety risk.

The agency reported incidents of 2.88-metre Teslas disobeying red lights and traveling against oncoming traffic while changing lanes while utilizing the system.

NHTSA indicated that there were six reports of Tesla vehicles in fully autonomous driving (FSD) mode “entering intersections on red, proceeding into intersections against red lights, and subsequently colliding with other vehicles within those intersections.”

The agency highlighted that at least one individual sustained injuries in four of the crashes. Tesla has not yet responded to Reuters’ request for comments.

NHTSA documented 18 complaints and a media report stating that Tesla vehicles operating in FSD mode “failed to adhere to red lights, did not come to a complete stop, or inadequately detected and displayed the appropriate signal conditions on the vehicle interface.”

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Some whistleblowers expressed that the FSD “failed to provide any alerts regarding the system’s operation when approaching a red light.”

Tesla’s FSD is more sophisticated than the Autopilot system and has been under NHTSA scrutiny for a year.

In October 2024, authorities initiated an investigation into 2.4 million Tesla vehicles equipped with FSD following four accidents under poor visibility conditions, such as sun glare, fog, or airborne dust. One incident in 2023 resulted in a fatality.

According to Tesla’s website, FSD is “designed for fully attentive drivers who maintain their hands on the wheel and are prepared to assume control at any moment. These features are meant to grow more capable over time, but the features currently enabled do not render the vehicle self-driving.”

Reuters contributed to this report

Source: www.theguardian.com

23AndMe Fined £2.3 Million by UK Regulators Over 2023 Data Breach | Technology News

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The genetic testing firm 23AndMe has been penalized with a fine exceeding £2.3 million following a significant cyberattack in 2023, which compromised the personal information of over 150,000 UK residents.

Sensitive data, including family tree details, health reports, names, and postal codes, were among the information breached from the California-based company. The UK Intelligence Commission’s office confirmed the breach after employees discovered that stolen data was being offered for sale on the social media platform Reddit.

Intelligence Commissioner John Edwards referred to the incidents during the summer of 2023 as “a deeply damaging violation.” The data breach affecting the UK was just a fraction of a larger security incident that compromised data from 7 million individuals.

23AndMe offers DNA screening for £89 through a saliva-based kit, allowing users to trace their ancestry in terms of ethnicity and geographical origin. However, many customers sought bankruptcy protection in the US in March, requesting the removal of their DNA data from the company’s records following the hack.

The penalty coincided with a $355 million acquisition bid for the company led by former CEO Anne Wassicki.

Edwards noted that the data breaches included sensitive personal information, family histories, and even health conditions of numerous individuals in the UK.

“As one affected individual remarked, once this information is out there, it cannot be altered or replaced like a password or credit card number,” he added.

UK data protection regulators found that 23AndMe did not take fundamental steps to safeguard user information, revealing inadequacies in its security system, including a failure to implement stricter user authentication measures.

Hackers exploited a widespread weakness due to the reuse of passwords compromised in unrelated data breaches. They employed automated tools in a method called “credential stuffing.”

Edwards remarked, “The warning signs were evident, and the company’s response was sluggish. This has made individuals’ most sensitive data vulnerable to exploitation and harm.”

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A company spokesperson stated that 23AndMe has taken various measures to enhance security for individual accounts and data. They have made a firm commitment to improving the protection of customer data and privacy in connection with an initiative that will benefit 23AndMe, a nonprofit associated with Wojcicki, the TTAM Research Institute.

Fines are part of the substantial penalties imposed on various organizations by ICOs in recent years due to their inability to secure data from hacking and ransomware incidents. In 2022, a fine levied against construction firms exceeded £4.4 million when staff data was compromised, including contact information, bank details, sexual orientation, and health data.

In March of this year, NHS IT supplier Advanced Computer Software Group faced a fine of nearly £3.1 million for endangering the personal information of approximately 80,000 individuals.

Source: www.theguardian.com

TikTok Fined €530 Million by Irish Regulators for Failing to Ensure User Data Protection from China

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TikTok has been penalized €530 million (£452 million) by the Irish regulator for failing to ensure that European user data transmitted to China would be safeguarded from access by the Chinese government.

The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) oversees TikTok’s operations across the European Economic Area (EEA), which includes all 27 EU member states along with Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.

It was determined that the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform breached the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) by not adequately addressing whether EEA user data sent to China is shielded from the authorities there.

The DPC remarked: “TikTok did not consider the potential access by Chinese authorities to EEA personal data. China’s national security and anti-terrorism laws have been noted as diverging from EU standards by TikTok.”

According to the DPC, TikTok did not “verify, assure, or demonstrate” that the European user data sent to China was afforded a level of protection comparable to that guaranteed within the EU.

TikTok stated that it would not “certify” that the DPC transfers European user data to Chinese authorities. The company claimed it has never received such a request from Chinese officials nor provided user data to them.

Moreover, TikTok has been directed to cease data transfers to China unless compliant processing measures are implemented within six months.

For instance, the National Intelligence Act of 2017 in China mandates that all organizations and citizens “support, assist, and cooperate” with national intelligence efforts.

The DPC noted that the data was “remotely accessed by TikTok’s Chinese staff.”

The watchdog also reported that TikTok provided “false information” during the investigation, initially claiming it had not stored user data from the EEA, but later acknowledging the possibility of storing “limited” European user data in China.

The Dublin-based regulator expressed that it takes “inaccurate” submissions very seriously and is evaluating whether additional regulatory actions are necessary.

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The security of TikTok user data has been a longstanding concern among politicians regarding its Chinese ownership. The app still faces the threat of a ban in the US, with legislators on both sides of the Atlantic cautioning that the Chinese state may have access to user data. TikTok is managed by an organization based in Beijing.

In response to the ruling, TikTok announced its intent to appeal and mentioned that safeguards have been put in place under the Project Clover Data Security Scheme, introduced in March 2023. The DPC investigation covered the period from September 2021 to May 2023.

The DPC’s decision also included a finding from 2021 that a privacy statement provided to users did not disclose that data could be accessed in China when personal user data was transferred to a third country. The Privacy Policy was subsequently revised in 2022 to clarify that data is accessible in China.

Following the changes in 2022, TikTok acknowledged that it could access European user data in countries like China to perform checks on platform functionalities, including the effectiveness of algorithms that recommend content to users and identify problematic automated accounts.

Source: www.theguardian.com

Regulators discover that SpaceX has contaminated water in Texas multiple times

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summary

  • Texas environmental officials notified the company last week that Elon Musk’s SpaceX had discharged pollutants into or near Texas waters, violating environmental regulations.
  • The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality report came five months after the Environmental Protection Agency notified SpaceX that it had violated the Clean Water Act.
  • The breach could threaten SpaceX’s ambitions to increase StartShip launches from its StarBase facility.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX has repeatedly discharged pollutants into or near Texas waters, violating environmental regulations, state officials said in a notice of violation that focused on the water discharge system at the company’s StarBase launch facility.

The notice from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) last week came five months after the Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 6, which oversees Texas and surrounding states, also notified SpaceX that it was violating the Clean Water Act through similar activities.

The notice and related investigative records obtained by CNBC have not been previously reported.

TCEQ said its office in the South Texas city of Harlingen, near Boca Chica Starbase, received a complaint on Aug. 6, 2023, alleging that SpaceX was “discharging floodwaters without TCEQ authorization.”

“The Harlingen area received a total of 14 complaints alleging environmental impacts from the facility’s water discharge system,” regulators said in a written statement.

Aerospace companies, including SpaceX, generally comply with state and federal laws. Federal Aviation Administration SpaceX had been seeking permission to conduct up to 25 launches and landings per year of its Starship spacecraft and Super Heavy rocket at the Boca Chica facility. The notice of violation could delay those approvals and lead to civil fines, further investigations and criminal charges against SpaceX.

in Long post about XAfter this article was published, SpaceX said regulators told it it could continue launch operations despite the violation notice.

“Through ongoing coordination with TCEQ and EPA, we have specifically asked whether we should cease operations of the Deluge system and have been informed that operations can continue,” SpaceX wrote to EPA.

Neither regulator responded to CNBC’s questions about SpaceX’s statements.

SpaceX’s Starship in Brownsville, Texas on June 5.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images file

Rushing to rebuild

On July 25, 2024, TCEQ environmental investigators “conducted an internal compliance records review” to determine SpaceX’s compliance with wastewater regulations. The investigation found that SpaceX had discharged industrial wastewater without a permit four times between March and July of this year.

A water system with flame deflectors would dissipate heat, sound and energy generated during orbital test flights and rocket launches, but SpaceX didn’t have one installed at its Boca Chica launch pad before it began test flights of Starship, the biggest rocket ever made.

The FAA did not give a reason for the delay and said a new date would be announced in the future.

Source: www.nbcnews.com

Google’s partnership with Anthropic under review by UK regulators

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The Competition and Markets Authority has initiated a preliminary inquiry into Google’s collaboration with AI startup Anthropic, marking the latest in a series of probes into agreements between major tech companies and smaller AI enterprises.

Google has injected $2 billion (approximately £1.56 billion) into the firm by 2023, following a recent cloud-computing deal with Clode LLM and chatbot startup Anthropic.

The CMA is currently assessing whether the partnership may have led to “merger-related situations” that warrant a formal investigation. Public feedback is welcomed over the next fortnight.

This move comes amidst broader worries about competition in the generative AI sector, with Amazon also collaborating with Anthropic to secure a $4 billion stake in the company and serve as one of its cloud computing suppliers. The Amazon-Anthropic deal is also under scrutiny by the CMA for potential merger implications.

Additionally, the CMA has launched investigations into OpenAI and Microsoft, following Microsoft’s acquisition of a significant share in the commercial division of ChatGPT creator, as well as into Microsoft’s partnership with AI startup Inflection, where the tech giant obtained access to its AI models and recruited the startup’s founders and management.

An inquiry into Microsoft’s dealings with French AI startup Mistral was terminated in May.

Regulators are apprehensive about the dominance of big tech players, especially in competitive fields like AI, hence direct takeovers are improbable. However, the CMA is vigilant about agreements that could impede competition through other means.

An Anthropic spokesperson refuted any claims of a merger, stating that they remain an autonomous entity with no compromise to their corporate governance independence or partnership freedom.

A Google representative affirmed the company’s commitment to fostering an open and innovative AI ecosystem globally.

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Furthermore, it was clarified that “Anthropic utilizes multiple cloud providers and has not sought any exclusive technology rights.”

Source: www.theguardian.com