HBO is facing a class action lawsuit over allegations that it gave subscribers' viewing history to Facebook without proper permission, Variety has reported. The suit accuses HBO of providing Facebook with customer lists, allowing the social network to match viewing habits with their profiles. 

It further alleges that HBO knows Facebook can combine the data because HBO is a major Facebook advertiser — and Facebook can then use that information to retarget ads to its subscribers. Since HBO never received proper customer consent to do this, it allegedly violated the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA), according to the lawsuit.

HBO, like other sites, discloses to users that it (and partners) use cookies to deliver personalized ads. However, the VPPA requires separate consent from users to share their video viewing history. "A standard privacy policy will not suffice," according to the suit. 

Other streaming providers have been hit with similar claims, and TikTok recently agreed to pay a $92 million settlement for (in part) violating the VPPA. In another case, however, a judge ruled in 2015 that Hulu didn't knowingly share data with Facebook that could establish an individual's viewing history. The law firm involved in the HBO suit previously won a $50 million settlement with Hearst after alleging that it violated Michigan privacy laws by selling subscriber data. 

Facebook has updated its Community Help section in Ukraine to add resources from local UN and Red Cross agencies. The information Facebook has added will make it easier for users to find medical help and other kinds of assistance not just in Ukraine, but also in neighboring countries. In addition, Community Help now contains the WhatsApp helpline for Ukraine's State Emergency Services to connect people with critical updates and vital services.

To make sure that people who need it can quickly access the section, Facebook is putting a link to Community Help at the top of its feeds for Ukrainain users, even if they've already left the country. The link will also appear at the top of the results for relevant searches on Facebook, as well as at the top of users' Instagram feeds. 

Facebook has updated its Emotional Health Center, as well, adding mental health tips (such as how to support children during a crisis) from the WHO and other organizations in Ukrainian, Russian and English. Users in Ukraine might also start seeing more ads connecting them to organizations providing aid, because Facebook is giving those groups access to free ad campaigns to get critical messaging out to those who need it. The World Health Organization, for instance, has put out ads promoting information on breastfeeding for displaced mothers. 

Finally, those who need to get in touch with the WHO's Health Alert helpline for mental health in Ukraine and neighboring countries can add the number +41 79 893 18 92 to their WhatsApp contacts. They simply have to message "hi" to that number to get the process started. 

Facebook made several other moves over the past couple of weeks in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The social network previously demoted Russian state media across its entire platform and took down fake accounts boosting Russian information in Ukraine shortly after the attacks started. It also enabled a "lock profile" tool for people in Ukraine, giving them a one-click solution to ensure that nobody outside their friends list can see their posts, photos and information. 

In the Internet age, nothing is gone forever, and everything can be resurrected time and again as an easy way to sell products. Sadly, whatever residual affection our parents’ generation had for brands like Polaroid and Atari has been strip-mined to sell, well, whatever their new owners choose. Consequently, it’s time for a newer, fresher name to return from the dust and remind everyone over the age of 34 that our childhoods are now something that people can feel nostalgia towards. Oh, and apropos of nothing, LimeWire is coming back as an NFT marketplace.

In May, LimeWire is relaunching as a “mainstream-ready, digital collectibles marketplace for art and entertainment, initially focusing on music.” Its backers believe that it will be a place for artists and fans to create and sell digital trinkets without the “technical hurdles of the current NFT landscape.” It is hoping to partner with a raft of high-profile musicians in the hope of spreading word about LimeWire’s resurrection in the hope of getting a million willing buyers signed up before the first year is done.

The phrase of the day is ensuring that “NFT newbies” are well catered-for, offering easy signup, pricing in US dollars and a lack of any crypto-based gatekeeping. Users will be able to buy straight from their credit cards (or any other regular money) via Wyre’s payment platform, which is also used by OpenSea. The company added that it is working with “top-tier artists” from the music world who will create content for the platform and also open lines of communication with willing fans.

LimeWire’s resurrection is being handled by Julian and Paul Zehetmayr, who are also both co-CEOs of the company. The Zehetmayrs are the figures behind Eversign, as well as b2b-software companies Currencylayer and Stack Holdings. Julian, in a statement, said that “it’s important to note that we are not relaunching LimeWire as an alternative to streaming platforms, but rather as an additional channel for artists to sell exclusive music and art directly to collectors.”

Of course, it’s not clear if the folks who really loved LimeWire had much affection for the platform itself back in the day. After all, LimeWire’s ability to let you illegally pirate music from your friends and enemies came with the added inclusion of some spyware. But with LimeWire back and Napster lurking in the background as some sort of VR thing these days, maybe we can club together to get Kazaa revived so we can once again feel the delight at hearing Corky and the Juice Pigs’ Eskimo Song even though we’d tried to download the Backstreet Boys’ I Want It That Way.

Amazon is known for its heavy use of gig workers, but it's reversing that calculus a bit of late, according to a letter to contractors seen by CNBC. The company has offered Whole Foods jobs to a number of its grocery "shoppers," who pick products from shelves to help fulfill delivery orders. 

"To help continue to offer the best experience for our team and customers, we are transitioning online grocery-fulfillment operations currently operated by Amazon to Whole Foods Market by the end of the year,” the letter reads. "This transition will happen slowly for the majority of stores." A spokesperson confirmed to CNBC that shoppers would become Whole Foods employees by the end of 2022.

The jobs don't offer the benefits seen by Amazon's warehouse employees or full-time Whole Foods employees, like medical benefits and 401K contributions. In fact, workers would appear to get longer shifts, less flexibility, and keep their existing status levels and pay rates — but there would be some opportunities for promotion, according to a job listing. 

Amazon said that it's aiming to "create a more unified team culture," with the changes. It is promising flexibility, but schedules would be made up to three weeks in advance and cover two-week periods. By contrast, gig shoppers can currently work "as little as four hours per week" and have "shift flexibility," according to a recent job posting.

Amazon recently announced that it was closing all of its bookstores, pop-up shops and 4-star stores in a shift in its retail strategy. It's not clear why it's shifting shopper contractors to Whole Foods employment, but not all workers are happy. "This is supposed to be a side gig for a lot of people," a gig worker told CNBC in an email. "If there are changes in terms of shift scheduling/length, I can easily see a lot of people leaving."

Rivian is facing a shareholder lawsuit after raising the price of its electric pickup and SUV and subsequently reversing course, Protocol has reported. The action alleges that Rivian failed to disclose that it would hike the base price of its vehicles by around $12,000, nor the potential damages that would cause. An individual shareholder brought the complaint, but is seeking class-action status.

On March 1st, Rivian unveiled the higher pricing that applied to everyone except those who placed the earliest orders, including most reservation holders. The company did give potential buyers another option, as it also introduced dual-motor versions of the R1T and R1S EVs, with both starting at the original $67,500 and $72,500 prices. However, neither of those vehicles will be available until 2024, and both will have smaller "standard" battery packs that deliver less range than the large packs (260 instead of 310 miles).

Two days later, the company reversed the price increases. Anyone who reserved before March 1st will pay the original price, and those who cancelled because of the increase can reinstate their orders with the same price and delivery date. The company's CEO RJ Scaringe also apologized. "I have made a lot of mistakes since starting Rivian more than 12 years ago, but this one has been the most painful," he said. "I am truly sorry and committed to rebuilding your trust."

Rivian gained a massive $10.7 billion in funding with investors including Ford and Amazon, which owns the largest stake (22 percent). The company went public via a regular IPO and not a SPAC merger. It had a "blockbuster debut," according to CNBC, with an initial valuation of $86 billion. Early reviews of the R1T electric pickup, including by Engadget, have been positive. 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) is preparing a bill in response to fears that Russian nationals may be using cryptocurrency to evade sanctions. The draft legislation, first reported by NBC, would require banks and other financial institutions to both identify customers and transfers to private wallets, and regularly report information to the Treasury Department. But crypto firms insist that there’s no evidence of sanctions evasion on their exchanges.

“Criminals can use cryptocurrency to move money in the shadows, opening a door for Putin & his cronies to evade economic sanctions,”Warren wrote in a tweet Tuesday afternoon. “I want answers from @USTreasury on how they'll ensure crypto doesn’t undermine our response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.”

While the bill’s text hasn’t been released yet, NBC reports that one of the provisions is identical to a proposed Treasury Department rule that requires banks to regularly identify suspicious transactions that it believes is linked to sanctions evasion. If passed, the legislation would codify the rule.

Lawmakers are worried that the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control lacks the muscle to hunt down crypto criminals. A letter by Warren and three other Senate Democrats asks the Treasury Department to list ways it plans to counter sanctions evasions through crypto platforms, including how it plans to work with foreign governments. The senators also detailed the methods they suspect Russians are using to skirt sanctions, including using the dark web to move funds, ransomware attacks and the Bank of Russia’s new digital ruble.

In the wake of 9/11, the passage of the PATRIOT Act required banks and financial institutions to adopt customer identification programs. Requiring banks to disclose suspicious transactions into private crypto wallets is not without precedent, even if it’s disagreeable to some parties.

The cryptocurrency industry, which largely views anonymity (or at least lack of government intervention) as one of its central tenets, understandably is less than enthusiastic. While Coinbase, Binance and Kraken are cooperating with government officials to make sure individuals targeted by sanctions aren’t using their platforms, they have refused to ban Russian accounts altogether.

Crypto platforms also argue that widespread Russian sanctions evasion simply isn’t happening. One example: Coinbase recently announced that it blocked 25,000 crypto addresses it believed to belong to Russians engaging in illegal activity, but also added that it identified the majority of them before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Furthermore, the Coinbase said it didn’t notice a surge of new illicit activity following sanctions on Russia.

Blockchain data platform Chainalysis noted a considerable tick in crypto transactions using the Russian ruble and the Ukrainian hryvnia in the last week of February, just as Russia advanced on Ukraine. Still, the platform was quick to point out that the surge in potentially illicit trading could also be due to average Ukrainian and Russians buying crypto in order to preserve their savings while both fiat currencies lose value.

Another important internet player is changing its relationship with Russia due to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Over the weekend, Amazon quietly stopped accepting new Amazon Web Services customers in Russia and Belarus, as first reported by The New York Times. The company announced the change in an update on Tuesday to a blog post it published last week.

“Given the current events and the uncertainty and lack of credit available in Russia right now, we’re not accepting new Russian AWS customers at this moment,” a spokesperson for Amazon told the outlet.

In practice, the move is unlikely to have a major impact on Russia. That’s because Amazon already had an existing policy in place that saw it not do business with the Russian government. It also doesn’t have any data centers or offices in Russia. Additionally, of its biggest AWS customers in the country, Amazon notes most are multinational companies with local development teams.

Still, the decision sees yet another major US tech company distance itself from the country. In recent days, Cogent Communications and Lumen, two of the largest American backbone internet providers, pulled out of Russia. That’s a move that’s expected to disrupt and slow down internet connectivity in the country. 

Apple unveiled a new standalone monitor—the $1599 Studio Display—that includes your choice of either a tilt-adjustable stand or a VESA wall mount adaptor. But for $400 more, you can purchase a fancier tilt and height-adjustable version of that stand. In the Apple universe, a 5K retina display monitor and stand aimed at the consumer market priced just shy of $2000 is a steal. Be forewarned: If you're partial to non-reflective surfaces, shooting for nano-texture glass on the Studio Display is another additional $300. 

Even hardcore Apple enthusiasts balked at the Pro Display XDR the company released in 2019, which started at $4,999, not including $999 for the (optional) stand. Back then, we called the smooth, elegantly designed accessory “an expensive gadget no one needs”. It’s due to this type of conditioning that a $400 metal stand— even though it’s roughly the same price as a new iPad with 128 GB of storage or an Apple Watch Series 7—still seems like a bargain. It’s definitely not.

For consumers who opt not to purchase the $400 stand, the stand included with the Studio Display is still tilt-adjustable. If you want to save some desk space, mounting your Studio Display is another good option. But for those who struggle with eye strain or are using a standing desk, a height-adjustable stand is non-negotiable.

Those still recovering from sticker shock induced by the $400 Studio Display stand should also remember the cost of wheels for the Apple Mac Pro, which will set you back $699. Once again, this new mount feels like a relative bargain.

Cogent isn't the only large American internet provider pulling out of Russia following that country's invasion of Ukraine. The Washington Postreports Lumen is "immediately" halting business in the country. The company is disconnecting over concerns of an "increased security risk" inside Russia, fears of government action and a desire to protect the integrity of the Internet at large.

The company claimed that its services are "extremely small and very limited" in Russia, and that it only has a handful of enterprise customers. However, analysts at Kentik noted that Lumen is a major source of international data within the country, and that those customers include state-owned telecoms like Rostelecom and TransTelekom. Russia should feel the impact, in other words.

This could hurt Russians' access to internet services hosted outside of the country, and might make them reliant on state propaganda. However, it comes as many US tech companies are limiting or pulling products, including Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft. Lumen is joining a united front, then. Support is growing, too, as Amazon Web Services said it would stop accepting new customers from either Russia or Belarus.

This isn't going as far as Ukraine wanted. It called on ICANN to boot Russia from the internet. It's still a significant move, though, and it suggests many tech heavyweights aren't worried about the threat of Russian retaliation.

On Tuesday, Apple held its first event of 2022. What initially seemed like it would be a low-key affair turned into something a bit more exciting. Yes, Apple updated the iPhone SE and iPad Air, but it also had a new Mac to show off and a matching display. Here's everything the company announced at its Peek Performance keynote. 

iPhone SE

Apple

Apple opened the event with the announcement of the third-generation iPhone SE. Like its 2020 predecessor, the 2022 model looks like an iPhone 8 but features some of the company’s latest technologies, including its blazing fast A15 Bionic processor. The SE also includes a new modem that can connect to 5G networks. Additionally, Apple claims it features a “new” camera system that includes a handful of computational photography features found on the iPhone 13, including Smart HDR 4 and Deep Fusion for better low-light shots. At $429, it’s also $30 more expensive than its predecessor. Pre-orders for the iPhone SE open on March 11th, with general availability to follow on March 18th.

Alongside the SE, Apple announced it would offer the iPhone 13 in two new green colors. Those too go on sale on March 18th.

iPad Air

Apple

After its glow-up in 2020, the iPad Air became one of the most compelling products in Apple’s lineup. At its Peek Performance event, Apple announced a minor refresh of the tablet that adds a couple of handy upgrades. Likely the most impactful is the inclusion of a new front-facing camera sensor that supports the company’s Center Stage feature for ensuring that you’re in the center of the frame during FaceTime calls. Internally, the 2022 iPad Air, like the 2021 iPad Pro, features Apple’s M1 chip. The company claims that should make its tablet about twice as fast as a similarly priced Windows laptop. Apple will also offer the iPad Air with optional 5G connectivity.

The iPad Air starts at $599. It will be available to pre-order starting March 11th, with general availability to follow on March 18th.

Mac Studio and Studio Display

Apple

Thankfully, Apple’s Peek Performance event didn’t only consist of refreshes to existing products. The company also had something fresh to show in the Mac Studio, a pro-level desktop that features its new M1 Ultra. Thanks to its most powerful chip to date, Apple claims the Mac Studio is up to 60 percent faster than a Mac Pro with a 28-core Intel processor in CPU tasks. Outside of performance, a highlight of Mac Studio is all the I/O it includes. On the back of the computer, you’ll find four Thunderbolt 4 connections, two USB-A ports, HDMI and 10Gbps Ethernet. Meanwhile, there’s an SD card slot and two additional USB-C connectors on the front of the computer.

Of course, power and versatility come at a cost, and the Mac Studio is no exception. It starts at $2,000 before you include upgrades and optional accessories. All in, you’re looking to pay as much as $7,999 when you include peripherals and a matching display.

Speaking of that matching display. Alongside Mac Studio, Apple announced its new Studio Display, a 27-inch monitor that features a 5K Retina panel capable of 600 nits of brightness and P3 wide color gamut coverage. It also features a built A13 processor, six-speaker sound system and a 12-megapixel front-facing camera with Center Stage. The Studio Display starts at $1,599. If you want a height-adjustable stand, that’s an extra $400. Like everything else Apple announced today, both the Mac Studio and Studio Display will ship on March 18th.

Friday Night Baseball

Apple

Provided MLB owners and the players association can agree on a new collective bargaining agreement before the 2022 season is canceled, Apple will offer two weekly doubleheader baseball games through its TV+ streaming service. Those games will be available to watch in eight countries and won’t be subject to local broadcasting restrictions.

Catch up on all of the news from Apple’s Peek Performance event right here!