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This Week's Updates:
The Deceptive Anti-Abortion Campaign with Ties to Leonard Leo
Last year, Kansas voters chose to reject an amendment to the state constitution that would have explicitly eliminated the right to abortion using language that alluded to – but did not explicitly protect – exceptions for rape, incest or threats to the life of the mother. The entire campaign was mired in similar obfuscation, with supporters of the amendment attempting to convince Kansans that a “yes” vote would not lead to an abortion ban. One anti-abortion organization, the Do Right PAC, was heavily criticized for sending voters a text message which read “Voting YES on the Amendment will give women a choice. Vote YES to protect women’s health.” This week, new reporting from Lever News revealed that the deceptive texts were linked to Leonard Leo, who donated $1.7 million to CatholicVote Civic Action via the Concord Fund. CatholicVote, in turn, provided nearly 90% of the funding for the Do Right PAC.
If the Concord Fund sounds familiar, it may be because CfA recently urged the IRS to investigate seven Leonard Leo-affiliated non-profits, including the Concord Fund, that appear to have funneled large amounts of money to Leo via his private businesses. According to CfA’s analysis, more than $73 million dollars made its way to Leo’s for-profit operations, which could be evidence of explicit and coordinated self-enrichment in violation of IRS rules.
Meta Fights FTC Ruling
In early May, the FTC claimed that Meta had violated its 2012 and 2020 privacy orders, the FTC Act, and the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA). The agency then proposed changes to an existing privacy order with Meta, which included a blanket prohibition on the monetization of children’s data, a pause on new products to assess privacy compliance, and sharper limits for facial recognition technology.
Now, Meta is suing to block the FTC’s order by claiming that the agency doesn’t have the authority to take further enforcement action, and that only a federal court – which approved the settlement – can modify restrictions. The tech giant’s lawyers claim that Meta would suffer irreparable injury if the FTC’s new restrictions are implemented. You can read Meta’s motion for an injunction here.
FTC Cracks Down on Ring’s Unlawful Surveillance
On Wednesday, the FTC announced that it was taking enforcement actions against Ring, a home-security company which sells internet enabled cameras and sensors that can be monitored from a user’s phone. The agency’s complaint alleged that Ring had failed to take basic security precautions, which allowed one software engineer to download thousands of videos of women taken inside their homes. It was only after anotheremployee stalked a female coworker through her Ring camera that the company took action to narrow access to user data. On top these glaring security issues, the FTC claims that Ring also subjected customers’ videos to “extensive human review” without adequately notifying them or seeking their consent. The FTC has ordered Ring to delete algorithms or other products it developed using that illegally gathered information.
