Federal Privacy Commissioner investigates Tim Hortons app's detailed location data gathering

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The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada recently announced plans to investigate the Tim Hortons mobile app. A comprehensive media report released mid-June prompted this investigation. It brought up concerns about how the company collects data from its users and the amount of information it receives—even without the customers being on the app. 

The federal Privacy Commissioner will be working with three of its provincial counterparts in Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta to determine whether the app complies with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). PIPEDA is Canada's federal private sector privacy law.

They want to determine if Tim Hortons received "meaningful consent" from app users, meaning companies can only collect information if they receive consent from the individuals affected. 

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EU will review Apple’s acquisition of music discovery app Shazam

We reported back in December that Apple was set to buy music discover app Shazam. The tech giant reportedly signed a US$400m acquisition deal with the London-based company. And now it seems the European Commission wants to investigate the deal following requests from seven countries that fear the agreement will “adversely affect competition.” The seven petitioners include Austria, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Spain, and Sweden. When Apple made the announcement last year, it said the deal will be less than the “turnover threshold” for the European Commission. However, it’s above the merger notification threshold for Austria, which is leading the quorum of countries worried about the deal.

This investigation forces Apple to let the EU authorities know about the deal and have to wait for the investigation into the deal’s implications. The EC has up to 35 working days for the initial investigations and another 105 working days if there are serious concerns that need to be looked into. Apple will then have the opportunity for approval by answering and addressing the concerns.

Source: The Guardian

Uber covered up 2016 hack that exposed personal data of 57 million users

Uber has covered up a massive 2016 hack to its system that compromised the personal data of over 57 million users and drivers globally. The ride-hailing service declined to notify affected users and instead paid hackers $100,000 to hush up the hack and delete the data. This is the latest in a string of shady practices from Uber.Bloomberg reported that fired Uber CEO Travis Kalanick was aware of the hack as early as November 2016, just a month after it occurred. Uber Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan, and a key senior deputy to the CSO, have also been removed from the company this week, specifically for their roles in keeping the cyberattack secret.

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Chinese company behind the ‘Straddling Bus’ concept is being investigated by authorities

China Xinhua News

You might have seen around the internet before photos of the Transit Elevated Bus (TEB), a concept that came from China where the “straddling bus” looked a lot like a moving tunnel. It was being developed with the end goal of reducing the fuel consumption and carbon emissions of the country. But it looks like the entire thing was a scam. Beijing police is investigating the company behind TEB for alleged illegal fundraising. Over 30 people associated with Huaying Kailai, an online financing platform that was selling an investment product to help raise money from individual investors to help develop the bus, are being held by authorities. The police are looking to recover the money taken from the individual investors, which is estimated to be around US$1.3 billion. It’s said that 72 of those investors have already filed suits against the company.

TEB did its first road test run back in August on a 300-meter track in the northeastern port of Qinghuangdao city. But after that it’s just become a giant roadblock. Local authorities already plan to remove the tracks by the end of the month.

Source: Quartz + Digital Trends