Make Money

As of November 30, 2018 at 09:50PM, 1 BTC equals 4216.4199 USD.

Register PIVOT to get BTC Bonus：PIVOT is a community for cryptocurrency investors. 
via free bitcoin

Register PIVOT to get BTC Bonus：PIVOT is a community for cryptocurrency investors. 
via free bitcoin
November 30, 2018 at 08:15PM

Facebook Inc. Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg told employees to investigate financial dealings by George Soros, the billionaire who criticized the company at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January.

Sandberg wanted to determine whether Soros had a financial incentive to see the company's share price decline, Facebook said in a statement. The social networking giant said it had been looking into his holdings and trading activity.

"That research was already underway when Sheryl sent an email asking if Mr. Soros had shorted Facebook's stock," Facebook said in a statement. Her directive was previously reported by the New York Times.

Sandberg has come under fire for Facebook's handling of a rising tide of criticism, much of it related to the spread of disinformation across the social network. She initially denied knowing that the company had hired public relations firm Definers, which drew links between Soros and some of the company's critics.

Sandberg later conceded that "some of their work was incorporated into materials presented to me and I received a small number of emails where Definers was referenced." Thursday's statement draws a more direct link between the executive and Facebook's response to Soros.

Concerns over how Facebook has reacted to Soros emerged earlier this month in the wake of a New York Times article outlining the ways Definers attempted to deflect criticism of the company.

The PR firm was hired to look into links between Soros and purportedly grassroots groups, such as "Freedom from Facebook," that publicly lambasted the social network owner.

Definers "learned that George Soros was funding several of the coalition members," Elliot Schrage, Facebook's outgoing head of communications and policy, said in a statement last week. "They prepared documents and distributed these to the press to show that this was not simply a spontaneous grassroots movement."

Up to 500 million guests of the hotel chain Marriott may have had their data stolen in a security breach, the company announced on Friday.

For some 327 million of those guests, the stolen information includes "some combination of name, mailing address, phone number, email address, passport number, Starwood Preferred Guest ("SPG") account information, date of birth, gender, arrival and departure information, reservation date, and communication preferences," according to the chain.

The data breach, which involved a reservation database at Marriott's Starwood unit, is unprecedented in size and scale.

Here's what to do if you are worried your information has been compromised.

I'm a Marriott customer. How will I know if I'm affected?

Marriott began sending out messages on a rolling basis to affected customers on Friday to the email addresses associated with compromised accounts. Check those email addresses regularly — and be aware that you may not receive notification immediately, as it takes time to send 500 million emails.

Okay, so my account is involved. What should I do now?

Marriott says affected customers should monitor their accounts and bank statements for suspicious activity. More information can be found on its advice page for people affected by the breach.

It also warned of the risk that hackers could use information exposed by the data breach news to mount "phishing" attacks, in which people pretending to be someone they're not trick you into giving them other valuable information, like credit card numbers.

Marriott said breach notification emails would only come from the address "starwoodhotels@email-marriott.com," and that those emails would not contain attachments or requests for personal information, including passwords.

It would also be wise for you to change any passwords for other services that you know to be the same as the one you used for Marriott accounts.

Anything else?

Yes. As part of its response to the data breach, Marriott has set up a way for all guests to sign up to WebWatcher for free for one year. That site alerts you if your personal information is being shared on dodgy websites. U.S. users will also be eligible for compensation through the site if money is lost.

However, it's not clear whether that compensation will be applicable to misuses of data that might occur after a year is up, or whether non-U.S. citizens will be able to obtain compensation.

Are there any bigger steps I can take?

That depends on your rights.

In the U.S., data protection law varies state by state. But if you believe you have suffered because of the breach, you should contact the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Attorney General of your state. You should also file a police report if you believe crimes have been committed.

On the FTC website, you can file a complaint against a company and report identity theft.

These measures may be a useful first step in proving your case if a class action lawsuit is set up in the future. A police report will also be helpful evidence to provide to correct your credit score if it suffers because of the breach.

What if I live in the European Union?

If you are an E.U. citizen, you benefit from the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which came into force earlier this year. If your data has been stolen and you suffer financial loss or distress because of it, you may have the right to compensation.

The first step towards claiming that compensation is to contact the company outlining your case, including losses suffered, and requesting compensation.

You should also contact your country's data regulator, which Marriott has helpfully listed on its website. Scroll to the bottom, click the "More information on steps you can take" tab, then click "Additional information for EU data subjects."

That regulator will be able to advise you whether your claim has merit, and whether they believe your information has been compromised. That advice could be helpful later in court, or as part of a future class action lawsuit.

How about elsewhere?

If you live outside the U.S. or E.U., you should do some research into what rights your jurisdiction gives you over your personal data, and see if your country has a data protection authority you can contact.

Marriott also said it would set up a call center to answer questions in multiple languages. Information on that can be found on its help site.

Marriott International Inc. has been investigating a hack involving unauthorized access to the guest reservation database at its Starwood unit since 2014, in what may be one of the biggest such data breaches.

The attack involved 500 million guests and included some passport numbers and credit card information.

As of November 29, 2018 at 09:50PM, 1 BTC equals 4237.1802 USD.

Register PIVOT to get BTC Bonus：PIVOT is a community for cryptocurrency investors. 
via free bitcoin

Register PIVOT to get BTC Bonus：PIVOT is a community for cryptocurrency investors. 
via free bitcoin
November 29, 2018 at 08:15PM

BERLIN — German authorities searched the headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt and other offices on Thursday on the suspicion bank employees helped clients set up offshore companies in tax havens to launder hundreds of millions of euros, in an investigation brought about from an analysis of online document leaks.

Frankfurt prosecutors' spokeswoman Nadja Niesen said the investigation was focused on two Deutsche Bank employees, aged 50 and 46, and possibly other not-yet identified suspects.

Some 170 prosecutors, state police, national police and tax investigators were involved in the morning searches of six buildings in Frankfurt, and in nearby Eschborn and Gross-Umstadt, Niesen said.

The investigation was launched after evaluation of the explosive Panama Papers tax haven revelations and the previous Offshore Leaks report of offshore bank accounts, she said. The analysis "gave rise to suspicion that Deutsche Bank was helping clients set up so-called offshore companies in tax havens and the proceeds of crimes were transferred there from Deutsche Bank accounts" without the bank reporting it.

In 2016 alone, more than 900 customers are alleged to have transferred some 311 million euros to one such company set up in the British Virgin Islands, she said.

The suspects are accused of failing to report the suspicious transactions even though there was "sufficient evidence" to have been aware of it.

Deutsche Bank confirmed that authorities were "conducting an investigation at a number of our offices in Germany."

"The investigation has to do with the Panama Papers case," the bank said. "More details will be communicated as soon as these become known. We are cooperating fully with the authorities."

Deutsche Bank shares slid sharply after the news broke, and were down 3.75 percent in midday trading in Frankfurt.

WASHINGTON — Three days before a U.S.-China summit, the top U.S. trade official is blasting Beijing for imposing "egregious" taxes on American-made cars.

In a statement Wednesday, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer complained that China slaps 40 percent tariffs on U.S. auto imports — more than the 15 percent tariffs it imposes on other countries and the 27.5 percent U.S. tax on Chinese auto imports.

Lighthizer said the president had directed him to "examine all available tools to equalize the tariffs applied to automobiles."

The statement comes before a dinner meeting Saturday in Buenos Aires, Argentina, between President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping. The two leaders are expected to seek a resolution to a trade dispute between their countries that has shaken financial markets and threatened the global economy.

The United States has imposed import taxes on $250 billion worth of Chinese products and China has countered by targeting $110 billion in U.S. imports. They are locked in a dispute over what Washington calls China's predatory tactics to challenge American technology dominance.

These include, the U.S. alleges, hacking into U.S. firms' computer networks to steal trade secrets and demanding that American and other foreign companies hand over technology in exchange for access to the Chinese market.

Separately, Trump hinted Wednesday that he's looking into imposing tariffs on auto imports, a day after threatening to slash federal subsidies to General Motors. The president is angry over the announcement Monday that GM plans to close plants and eliminate 14,000 jobs in North America.

Higher auto tariffs on China would have a limited impact. The Chinese last year shipped just $884 million worth of cars and light trucks to the United States — less than 1 percent of total auto imports. GM makes the Buick Envision in China, but so far this year has shipped fewer than 25,000 of the SUVs to the United States.

___

AP Auto Writer Tom Krisher in Detroit contributed to this story.

As of November 28, 2018 at 09:50PM, 1 BTC equals 4027.6101 USD.

Register PIVOT to get BTC Bonus：PIVOT is a community for cryptocurrency investors. 
via free bitcoin

Register PIVOT to get BTC Bonus：PIVOT is a community for cryptocurrency investors. 
via free bitcoin
November 28, 2018 at 08:15PM