An #Argentine court
has ordered pop star Justin Bieber to appear before it within two months to
face questions about an alleged assault on a photographer at a Buenos Aires
nightclub last year, state-run news agency Telam reported on Thursday.
The photographer,
Diego Pesoa, accused Bieber and one of his bodyguards of lashing out at him
when he tried to take a picture of the Canadian singer as he left the club in
the capital's trendy Palermo Hollywood neighborhood.
Telam said the
magistrate, Facundo Cubas, had requested the assistance of Argentina's Interpol
branch to help locate Bieber, who has had a string or run-ins with the law in
several countries.
Bieber should be
detained if he failed to appear or failed to explain why he was unable to
present himself before the court, Telam cited Cubas as saying.
"Bieber has
to come to Argentina, and it won't be to sing," Pesoa's lawyer, Matias
Morla, told local TV channel C5N.
There was no
immediate reaction from Bieber's representatives to the report.
Published by
ettefreeguy
United State FTC asking Apple about health
data protection
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is seeking
assurances from Apple Inc (AAPL.O) that it will prevent sensitive health data
collected by its upcoming smartwatch and other mobile devices from being used
without owners' consent, two sources told Reuters.
The two people,
both familiar with the FTC's thinking, said Apple representatives have met on
multiple occasions with agency officials in recent months, to stress that it
will not sell its users' health data to third-party entities such as marketers
or allow third-party developers to do so.
Apple said it
works closely with regulators around the world, including the FTC, to describe
built-in data protections for its services. "We’ve been very encouraged by their support,” Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller told
Reuters.
Apple developed
its new HealthKit platform, which manages data from mobile health apps, to give
consumers control over how their information is used and shared. "We
designed HealthKit with privacy in mind," said Muller.
There are no
indications that the FTC intends to launch a formal investigation or inquiry
into the matter, but the dialogue underscores the agency's interest in how the
increasing wealth of consumer-generated health and fitness data will be
safeguarded.
The FTC
declined to comment.
The FTC is paying
particularly close attention to Apple's upcoming smartwatch, which can track a
user's pulse and potentially store health-related information, the two sources
said.
Apple hopes
its upcoming Apple Watch and HealthKit platform will become the lynchpins in a
broad push into mobile healthcare, a potentially lucrative field that rivals
Google and Samsung are also exploring.
FTC Commissioner
Julie Brill in May said the agency is concerned about the risks of health data
that flows outside of a medical context, such as information collected via
wearables and mobile health apps.
The agency also
requested that Congress enact legislation to make the practices of data brokers
more visible.
Most data that
consumers store in mobile health apps is not covered by privacy rules known as
HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. But the FTC has
stressed that this data is still highly sensitive and is keen on investigating
how any consumer-generated data gathered is shared, exchanged, and protected.
The agency
has made it a priority to examine whether mobile health developers marketing
apps on Apple's iOS and Google's Android platforms are taking precautions to
safeguard user privacy, the sources said.
The FTC also
concluded in a recent study that many developers share or sell health data. The
study found that developers of 12 mobile health and fitness apps were sharing
user information with 76 different parties, such as advertisers.
Apple is turning
to a team of outside experts, including health data protection lawyer Marcy
Wilder, to respond on health issues, said one of the sources and another person
familiar with the matter.
The company also
is considering appointing an in-house health privacy czar, the sources said.
Some experts say
Apple is setting a strong precedent for health data privacy. Apple requires
that users must give consent before app developers are granted access to their
health information, and that data logged by its smartwatch is encrypted on the
device.
In late August,
Apple tightened its privacy rules to ensure that personal data collected
through HealthKit would not be used by developers for the purposes of
advertising or other data-mining purposes. It also said apps that access
HealthKit are required to have a privacy policy, although it remains to be seen
how Apple will enforce this rule.
FTC Chairwoman
Edith Ramirez praised Apple for taking a step critical to maintain consumers'
trust.
Posted by
ettefreeguy
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