Zoom has become extremely prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic: its stock has doubled, its iOS app is No. 1 in the App Store, and schools are relying upon it to hold classes for students stuck at home.That spotlight has turned harsh, as the company has been battered by privacy and security scandals — so-called "Zoombombing" has become prevalent, as bad actors crash meetings, classes, and other online classes, while concerns swirl about how Zoom gathers user data.  Security experts and the company itself say the platform was not intended for this spike of global use in all kinds of areas. Rivals like Cisco are quick to slam Zoom, highlighting the steps that they take to protect user security and privacy.Experts say that while Zoom apparently has serious security issues as a product, they praise the steps the company has taken so far in addressing them, and the gravity with which the company is treating the claims. It's already taken steps to prevent so-called Zoombombing."During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are working around-the-clock to ensure that hospitals, universities, schools, and other organizations across the world can stay connected and operational," the company said in a statement. "We are proud of the role we are playing during this challenging time and committed to providing users with the tools they need."Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Chances are pretty good that at some point today you will stare into a screen at other people who are staring into screens. You will talk and listen and laugh and sneakily peer into each other's homes. And that odd activity will be an important way in which you interact with the world in the age of COVID-19. 

Videoconferencing is a central part of the hermit economy, and right now Zoom is its star – and its villain. And that is all of our faults, experts suggest.

Like Facebook more than a decade before, Zoom's popularity blew past its privacy issues, which seem to pop up like late coworkers on a mandatory video call, and they just keep on coming. 

Zoom is pulling the world together in this dark hour, while at the same time unleashing egregious security issues. And, as with Facebook, the onus is on you and your company and your group and your kid's school to investigate its privacy and security settings and protect yourselves.

It's as easy to blame Zoom as it was to blame Facebook, but the company made a valid point this week when its CEO wrote: "We did not design the product with the foresight that, in a matter of weeks, every person in the world would suddenly be working, studying, and socializing from home." 

Mark Ostrowski of Check Point, an Israeli security firm that identified Zoom vulnerabilities in January, gives the firm credit for speedily addressing issues. "We often look at these tools and complain about privacy and security, but they're free. You almost have to assume some of these things. You have to take security and privacy under our own responsibility." 

Which is to say: Security experts say that Zoom has serious issues that need addressing, and rivals like Cisco and Microsoft are quick to point out the ways that their more-mature technology protects users.

But many of those same experts also give Zoom credit for the gravity and speed of the company's response to those issues, and argue that users could be doing more to protect themselves, too. And even the most hard-boiled security experts note that if Zoom had not been focused on easy adoption without a lot of configuration, it might not have filled the immediate need for connection that neither it nor the world anticipated.

Zoom rides the zeitgeist

Zoom, a 2,000-person Silicon Valley company founded in 2011, has seen its stock nearly double this year while the Nasdaq market where it trades has tumbled more than 20%. Zoom calls were up 600% in March and the data they generated was up 1,200%, according to the cloud security firm Wandera. Zoom's iOS app is No. 1 for business, and No. 1 overall in downloads rated by the service App Annie. CEO Eric Yuan won hearts and minds by giving schools use of the videoconferencing platform. There has literally been a lovefest around the company: Insider recently reported that a London sex club hosted a "virtual orgy" on the platform with "a lot of nakedness and lingerie on display and people challenging each other to do certain things." 

It hasn't all been peace and love, though. This week the FBI warned the world about "Zoombombing," in which intruders with swastika tattoos were dropping into school web conferences, and screaming profanities and teacher's privacy information.  

Research from the University of Toronto cited a UK Cabinet meeting being held on Zoom, complete with meeting ID number and ministers' faces onscreen (not to mention virus-stricken Prime Minister Boris Johnson). This highly-classified use of the platform was even more questionable in light of the report's other findings that much of Zoom's development and some of its user data is run through China. 

The New York Times found that Zoom's software automatically sent meeting participants' names and email addresses to a company system it used to match them with their LinkedIn profiles.

And a class action case with citations from the events of this week was filed on behalf of users whose information was given to Facebook via yet another Zoom privacy opening. 

And that's not to mention the fact that the company has been lambasted for allegations that it made misleading marketing claims around the encryption of video calls on the service.

What Zoom says

It would be tempting to envy Zoom's popularity, but it clearly has brought challenges.

"Our platform was built primarily for enterprise customers – large institutions with full IT support," CEO Yuan wrote on the Zoom blog this week. "We now have a much broader set of users who are utilizing our product in a myriad of unexpected ways, presenting us with challenges we did not anticipate when the platform was conceived." 

The company noted it has deleted the tool exposed by The New York Times that accessed meeting participants' LinkedIn data, and froze new features so engineering can focus on security issues. 

On Friday evening, the company also announced new anti-Zoombombing measures coming on April 5th, including new default settings to enable both passwords and the "waiting room" feature that allows hosts to vet conference participants. 

"During the COVID-19 pandemic, we are working around-the-clock to ensure that hospitals, universities, schools, and other organizations across the world can stay connected and operational," the company said in a statement. "We are proud of the role we are playing during this challenging time and committed to providing users with the tools they need."

What the competition says

Cisco, makers of WebEx, an older and arguably more secure platform, was not shy about weighing in on its popular rival. "We are different. Security is not an afterthought. It's part of our culture," says Abhay Kulkarni, Cisco's general manager of WebEx Meetings. Cisco bought WebEx in 2007, but the company has been around since 1995 – a paleozoic era for web conferencing. (One of its early engineers was Zoom's CEO, Eric Yuan.) Kulkarni says WebEx meetings require a password, can be locked, and are harder to share online. 

Microsoft, makers of the web conferencing tools in its Teams coworking tools, says its video conferencing "is built with Microsoft security, identity and compliance technologies" including identity protection via multi-factor authentication; data-loss prevention, which prevents sensitive content from being accidentally shared; access controls; and the antivirus tools in its built-in  Microsoft Threat Protection. Microsoft is also providing some free access to its coworking tools during the virus crisis. 

Google declined to comment on the security of its Hangouts web conferencing app, but technical specs show its meetings are encrypted, that invitations cannot be shared except by a host organization, and that meeting codes are long, difficult to crack, and not available in advance of the meeting. 

Wickr, a high-security, software-as-a-service alternative to Zoom with end-to-end encryption, says its web conferencing is different because all data is only available at the end points involved in the individual conversations – not via a central server that could get hacked. Founded in 2012, Wickr has around 50 employees and is a privately held company that doesn't reveal financial records. Crunchbase reports it has raised $73 million in venture capital. 

"Is Zoom bringing the world together, or unleashing security threats? Both," says Joel Wallenstrom, CEO of Wickr. "I'm watching my kids' high school getting onto Zoom fast. People are using this to weather the storm. I think Zoom is doing a great job, but it's disingenuous to say they can serve large security needs."

What cybersecurity researchers say

In January, the Israeli cybersecurity company Check Point showed how hackers could eavesdrop into Zoom calls by generating and guessing random numbers allocated to Zoom conference URLs. Zoom fixed the security breach and addressed other issues.

"We followed the proper process of disclosure in January," says Ostrowski, its evangelist. "We went to them, Zoom fixed it, and then we released our research. Some of the people publishing right now about unfixed research flaws in Zoom are kind of piling on. I'm very impressed with how Zoom responded to this with an open dialogue and with the fixes they released very quickly." 

Zoom's viral popularity brought a rush of hacking and scrutiny to a platform never intended to host Cabinet meetings, or even board meetings without IT oversight. 

Patrick Wardle, a cybersecurity researcher who has presented findings at large security conferences such as BlackHat, DefCon, and RSA, recently published a blog post ("The 'S' in Zoom Stands For Security") detailing several vulnerabilities he found in Zoom, including flaws that could give hackers the ability to taken control of the microphone and camera on a Mac – or the entire computer.

"For better or worse, businesses generally value features and usability vs. security and privacy," Wardle says. "And Zoom both prioritized and shone in the former."

Original author: Jeff Elder

For finance and tech firms, spring recruiting will look a bit different this year.

As the coronavirus pandemic has universities shutting down and recruiters working under shelter in place conditions, companies that are looking to hire have to rethink their traditional methods of finding talent.

HireVue, a Utah-based startup that private-equity giant The Carlyle Group owns a majority stake in, offers employers the ability to evaluate candidates and conduct interviews online. And as more Americans are staying home to prevent the spread of the virus, industries in need of workers are using HireVue to recruit from afar.

"Customers are trying to virtualize every part of the hiring process," said Kevin Parker, chairman and CEO of HireVue.

And HireVue offers more than just video interviewing. It also has AI-driven candidate evaluation tools, which can help hiring managers review candidates more efficiently.

HireVue is used by companies like Goldman Sachs, Hilton, and Intel to conduct both pre-recorded and live interviews, all online.

Kevin Parker, chairman & CEO of HireVue HireVue

Carlyle offers portfolio companies a way to hire through the crisis

With new deals paused because of economic turmoil, a near-term challenge for private-equity firms is helping out with operations at their own businesses. PE firms have been busy communicating with their existing portfolio companies about how to maneuver the fluid situation, Business Insider has reported. 

Carlyle bought a majority stake in HireVue last October. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Carlyle currently controls HireVue's board. Prior to Carlyle's investment last October, HireVue had raised $93 million in VC cash from investors including Sequoia Capital and TCV.

During the pandemic, HireVue is offering its platform for free to fellow Carlyle Group portfolio companies.

HireVue's platform will come in handy for Carlyle's finance and business services companies, like NetMotion, TCW Group, and Veritas Holdings. Now's the time when they're typically doing undergraduate and MBA recruiting, but for now, they're not unable to conduct spring interviews on campuses.

"Clearly no one's on campus, so it's really hard to do campus recruiting right now. But campus recruiting has been an area where HireVue has a lot of great customers," Ashley Evans, principal in the technology, media, and telecom group at Carlyle and member of the HireVue board.

In 2016, Goldman Sachs announced it would no longer travel to college campuses to conduct interviews. Instead, all first-round interviews for undergraduates are now conducted via HireVue's pre-recorded video platform.

"There's been a very measurable transition from that in-person experience on campus to more of a virtual experience," said Parker.

Goldman Sachs said that by using HireVue, the firm is able to interview a broader range of candidates outside of its typical Ivy League recruiting network.

And Parker thinks that online interviews will continue to catch on.

"I think the vast majority of campus recruiting for corporate America will transition to a video-based solution," said Parker.

In addition to its video platform, HireVue offers AI-driven assessment tools for recruiters and hiring managers to evaluate candidates. The startup, which facilitated 4.5 million interviews last year alone, also uses its own store of data to suggest effective interview questions.

"It's not enough just having a video connection to someone. You need intelligence and you need structured interviews," said Anderson. "You need ways to help recruiters and employers and interviewers deal with the scale of demand for jobs."

HireVue is currently free for hospitals, and it's supporting thousands of interviews daily

While the coronavirus pandemic has left a record number of Americans jobless, some industries, like healthcare and grocery stores, are rushing to hire.

Hospitals will also be offered HireVue's platform at no cost during the pandemic. 

"With as many people that are going to be looking for work as are right now, it was an easy decision for us," said Parker. 

The platform supports over 1 million interviews on a quarterly basis, and now, it's seeing those numbers climb.

"The business has the ability to deploy quickly and scale quickly," said Evans.

Grocery stores, the company said, are interviewing 15,000 candidates a day, using both live and pre-recorded interviews, for jobs like stocking shelves. And telecom providers whose call centers have been shut down due to the pandemic are hiring to re-insource things like customer service, and they're using HireVue to conduct interviews.

While candidates are typically given a few days to complete their interviews, HireVue has seen a 40% increase in the number of candidates sending in their videos the same day an employer offers an interview.

Remote interviews enable companies to hire during a lockdown

As unemployment rises due to coronavirus-related layoffs and business closures, more people are looking for jobs online.

While there's no shortage of candidates for jobs in hospitals, call centers, and grocery stores, companies may struggle to assess workers' transferable skills, said Matt Anderson, chief digital officer of Carlyle.

"Hourly workers make up the vast majority of the jobs in the country, and many don't have resumes," said Anderson. 

And this issue is made more acute in the current environment where hospitality and restaurant workers are largely out of work. They're turning to places like grocery stores to find new jobs, and while the skills can be transferable, it can be hard for hiring managers to sift through individual applications. 

"Suddenly you have grocers and healthcare systems that need people to come and do different work," said Anderson. "But a lot of the skills and abilities and underlying ways that we work can be extended into those types of applications."

HireVue's AI-driven platform can help companies scan candidates' skills and evaluate their potential, even without an exact match in prior experience.

Ashley Evans, principal at The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group

Online recruiting will continue to grow as it enables job mobility

"As the familiarity with tools like this increases, I think the willingness to adopt them will go up," said Evans. 

But a shift in our norms takes time, and HireVue needs to make sure that companies understand the benefits of moving recruiting online.

"A big underpinning of our investment thesis was to break apart some of those preconceived notions that exist at employers and have people acknowledge that this is actually a great, more fair, more efficient way to acquire talent," said Evans.

Efficiency is a big selling point of HireVue, as recruiters can spend less time in transit and more time evaluating candidates online. What's more, recruiting online can also broaden a company's talent pool and increase mobility for workers.

"Even before the crisis, I think there was a belief that any worker could go and apply for any job and that just really wasn't true," said Anderson.

"Labor mobility and wage mobility, those were concepts that we talked about but they weren't really a reality," Anderson said.

For many, finding a new job requires not only dedicated time for the job search but possibly time off from their current jobs to sit interviews.

With HireVue's pre-recorded video platform, candidates get the flexibility to record their interviews at any time.

"Virtual interviewing is going to play a key role and I think it will probably play a key role from this point forward," said Anderson.

Original author: Shannen Balogh

A baseless, already-debunked rumor linking the novel coronavirus and 5G broadband technology is spreading across the UK and appears to have caused physical damage this week.A cellphone mast in Birmingham, England, is believed to have been set ablaze by anti-5G arsonists, and telecommunications engineers have reportedly been abused in the street by people who believe in the theory.Facebook has already removed one group where users were being encouraged to send in footage of them destroying mobile phone apparatus, The Guardian reported.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A baseless conspiracy theory linking the novel coronavirus to 5G broadband technology is spreading across the UK, has apparently caused physical damage this week.

A 70-foot cellphone mast in Birmingham, England, went up in flames this week and is reportedly being blamed on people who allegedly believe in the bogus rumor, The Guardian reported.

EE, the network operator, told the newspaper that it is still investigating the fire but that it "looks likely at this time" to be the work of arsonists.

"To deliberately take away mobile connectivity at a time when people need it more than ever to stay connected to each other, is a reckless, harmful and dangerous thing to do," the company said, according to The Guardian.

Another fire was found by a 5G phone tower near Liverpool, England, late Friday night, the Liverpool Echo reported.

The cause of the fire is not clear, but hours earlier, Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson had condemned the "bizarre" conspiracy theories that 5G was a plot to spread the coronavirus, according to the Liverpool Echo.

 

Anderson had said: "I'm amazed that there are people out there who saying things like this — that COVID-19 is somehow linked to 5G. It's bizarre."

Elsewhere in England, telecommunications engineers are reportedly facing verbal abuse and threats of violence from people who believe in the spurious theory.

According to the MailOnline, an unidentified woman approached two workers laying cable in a London street, and blamed them for killing families.

"We're all going to be in hospital on breathing apparatus. It's because of this wire here," she said, according to the news site.

"How do you feel? Do you have children? Do you have parents? How do you feel? When they turn that switch on, you can say 'bye bye mama,'' she reportedly said. "Are you content to continue doing that job? Are you paid enough to kill her?"

The engineers were employed by Community Fibre and do not use 5G technology, according to the company.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Full Fact, the UK's independent fact-checking nonprofit, has already debunked the myth that there is any link between the 5G network in Wuhan, where the coronavirus broke out, and the disease.

"The main implication of the claim — that 5G can impact immune systems — is totally unfounded. There is no evidence linking the new coronavirus to 5G," Full Fact said.

Nonetheless, the rumors have spread rapidly on social media. According to The Guardian, Facebook has already removed one group where users were being encouraged to send in footage of them destroying mobile phone apparatus.

An online petition claiming that it was dangerous to live close to a 5G mast because it would enhance the chance of COVID-19 infection was shared by Amanda Holden, a judge on "Britain's Got Talent," according to The Guardian. The post was later taken down.

Original author: Julian Kossoff

The novel coronavirus excels at spreading because it's contagious when there are few or no symptoms.That's why governments are resorting to lockdowns, travel bans, and other economy-crippling restrictions.A team of 130 volunteer researchers just rolled out a technology framework that aims to help people return to work using an epidemiological principle called contact tracing.Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing would use Bluetooth low-energy (which nearly all smartphones have) to anonymously detect close encounters with infected users and warn those who were exposed.The group says it built the framework with anonymity and privacy as a cardinal rule.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Dana is engrossed in the music piping through her Bluetooth headphones on her commute to work — a grocery-store worker, her job is considered essential — when a man sits down behind her on the bus.

She doesn't notice that he's come within 6 feet, and she doesn't hear him cough into his elbow.

But days later, a free app on Dana's smartphone alerts her to news she'd been dreading since installing it: She was likely exposed to someone with COVID-19.

Dana got the alert because the man on the bus saw a doctor, tested positive, and was given a special code to type into the same free app. Once he did, his phone uploaded a list of encrypted codes to a central server — strings of letters and numbers that anonymously represent every close interaction he's had with other app users over the past 21 days. The server then notified all the users that generated those codes of possible exposure, including Dana.

This is the future envisioned by a team of more than 130 European scientists and technologists. On Wednesday, after three weeks of near-continuous volunteer work, the group unveiled a framework (and a nonprofit organization) to support the scheme, called the Pan-European Privacy-Preserving Proximity Tracing project, or PEPP-PT.

The project scientists believe their initiative can get people back to work with minimized risk by using smartphone-to-smartphone wireless signals to detect who has been exposed to someone with COVID-19 and alert them. PEPP-PT relies on Bluetooth low energy, or BLE — a common mobile wireless technology — to perform what epidemiologists call "contact tracing." The process involves figuring out who came into contact with a sick person, then instructing those people to quarantine themselves.

"We all live in a global world, or we used to live in a global world, and we need to get back there if we don't want to break our livelihood completely," Hans-Christian Boos, an artificial-intelligence and computer-science researcher who helped organize the effort, told Business Insider.

PEPP-PT's teams focused on building an anonymous, easy-to-implement, internationally scalable, and essentially free phone-based approach that would not sacrifice privacy in the same way as other tracing initiatives used in countries like China, Israel, Singapore, and South Korea.

"We said, 'We need to do something, but we can't do it the way that China has done it.' Because if we did, we would at the same time just throw away freedom," Boos said.

Why anonymous digital contact tracing may help fight the pandemic

Original author: Dave Mosher

The two Boeing 737 Max plane crashes that killed 346 people have been attributed to a faulty automated system that pilots say they were not aware of.The crashes have sparked a huge crisis for Boeing, causing it to lose billions, face lawsuits, come under Congressional and regulatory scrutiny, lose plane orders, and lose its status as the world's largest plane maker.There is a cruel irony in Boeing's crisis, as the company has a reputation for being traditionally less in favor of automated systems than Airbus, its biggest rival.And even though Boeing has used automation for a long time, pilots and experts say the company's philosophy was always to keep pilots informed and give them ultimate control."I think why the pilots were understandably so upset with Boeing because, historically, Boeing insisted that they would keep the pilots in the loop," a former US aircraft crash investigator told Business Insider.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The global aircraft industry is essentially a duopoly — a decades-long transatlantic rivalry between the US' Boeing and France's Airbus which, as trends change or one is hit by hardship, have continually overtaken each other to temporarily reign as the biggest in the world.

And over those decades, it has been certain philosophies in design and management that have kept the two distinct. The fundamental difference comes down to how those philosophies cause pilots to fly those planes.

Over history, Boeing was known for embracing pilot control over fully automated systems, while Airbus, its French-headquartered, but pan-European rival, pioneered such technology. Both viewed their strategy as fundamental to safety, ending up with similar safety records as a result.

But now, a new automated system that helped bring down two of Boeing's 737 Max planes, and pilots' claims that the company didn't tell them about that system, have caused the biggest crisis in the manufacturer's history. It hemorrhaging cash and trying to appease angry airlines and lawmakers, who could use the crashes to change the rules of aviation forever.

When an automated system failed, killing 346 people on two planes, pilots questioned Boeing's philosophy.

When the first Boeing 737 Max plane crashed in Indonesia in October 2018, killing all 189 people on board, pilots were concerned.

Families of the victims of Lion Air flight JT 610, visit an operations centre to look for personal items of their relatives in October 2018. Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images

They saw news reports and preliminary information from the investigation that noted that a new automated system in the Max planes had misfired, leaving the pilots on board panicked and unable to regain control of the plane.

In the US, pilots from the Allied Pilots Association, the union that represents American Airlines pilots, turned their anger to Boeing executives, saying they had no idea the automated system was on the planes they were flying.

One pilot said: "I would think that there would be a priority of putting explanations of things that could kill you."

The purpose of the technology — called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS — was, of course, not to kill pilots.

The system was actually designed to help keep the 737 Max level in the air and prevent the plane's nose from pointing upwards risking engine stalls. It was installed because the 737 Max featured newer, heavier engines than previous 737 models, which had the potential to cause the issue.

Employees walk by the end of a 737 Max aircraft at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, US, in March 2019. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson/File Photo

Boeing then offered assurances that a second crash would not happen, audio from that meeting showed, and said that it had not wanted to "overload the crews with information that's unnecessary" about the plane.

But then, five months later, a second 737 Max plane crashed in Ethiopia, killing the 157 people onboard

Separate investigations into both crashes found that MCAS malfunctions meant the pilots simply could not control the plane, with the final report into the Lion Air crash finding the pilots tried more than 20 times to stop the plane's nose pointing down before it crashed into the sea at 450 mph (724.2 kph).

The findings brought representatives for pilots and cabin crew to Congress, where they told lawmakers that Boeing not giving pilots enough information about the MCAS system was the company's "final fatal mistake."

Family members of those who died aboard Ethiopian Airlines plane sit with pictures of their loved ones during a Senate Commerce Committee hearing in October 2019 as then-Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg testified about the crashes. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Such hearings prompted flight crews to say they didn't want to fly on the plane anymore, even when it returns to the sky after its updates are approved by global aviation regulators.

The irony is that Boeing's philosophy was to put the pilot in control

In addition to the wider questions about automation in the industry that the MCAS has raised, a cruel irony has emerged in the aftermath of the crashes: Boeing was known as the planemaker that shunned very powerful automated systems, and trusted the skill of pilots.

An Airbus A350-1000 and a Boeing sign at the 2019 Paris Air Show. REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol

Najmedin Meshkati, an engineering professor at the University of Southern California who studies the role humans play in aviation safety, described the companies as traditionally having "two design philosophies."

"The level of control they give to the pilot and transparency — they're totally different. That's why I was unpleasantly surprised when the Max crashes happened. I thought Boeing even violated its own kudos and design philosophy."

An Ethiopian police officer walks past debris of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash in March 2019. REUTERS/Baz Ratner

And Christine Negroni, an air-safety specialist and the author of "The Crash Detectives," a book about aviation disasters, said "the great irony is that it was Boeing who held back and had this idea that 'We feel the human in control is the best way to go about it. That's our philosophy.'"

Boeing has embraced automation for years, but the MCAS system appears to have been a fundamental break in its philosophy

To suggest that Boeing has not embraced automation would be deeply misleading. The company uses it across its fleet, and has done so for decades. The two plane makers have similar safety records, and aviation has only become safer since new technology has been introduced.

But experts say the key difference is this idea of pilot communication, as well as how had long wanted pilots to ultimately be in control.

Now, they say, MCAS appears to have totally overthrown that commitment.

The cockpit of a 737 Max plane. Associated Press

Alan Diehl, a former investigator with both the US's National Transportation Safety Board and FAA, told Business Insider: "I think why the pilots were understandably so upset with Boeing because, historically, Boeing insisted that they would keep the pilots in the loop."

Pilots and aviation industry experts describe the fundamental difference between Boeing and Airbus as being one about pilot control.

"Boeing always wanted to keep the pilots more in the loop," Diehl said.

"I think so many of the pilots felt they were betrayed by Boeing when they found out about the MCAS because they didn't know really what the function was, or how it worked, and most importantly how to shut it off, or when to shut it off."

Indeed, with the Max, Boeing maintains that pilots were able to override the automatic actions and disable MCAS with manual switches. But pilots say they were unaware of the system itself, never mind how to disable it.

Diehl noted that "automation has crept in to Boeing products" over time. He described MCAS as "a new level of, I don't want to say dis-information, but lack of information. "

"It was almost a total information blackout," he said. 

Chris Clearfield, founder of risk management consulting firm System Logic, a licensed pilot, and co-author of "Meltdown," a book about handling catastrophes, noted that "both Airbus and Boeing planes have an incredible amount of automation."

"Both are really fundamentally highly automated aircraft. I think the difference is that Boeing's design philosophy has always been that the pilots have direct access to the flight controls. Airbus has always put a lot of filtering between that."

Undelivered Boeing 737 Max planes are parked idly in a Boeing property in Seattle, Washington, on August 13, 2019. David Ryder/Getty Images

Mark Goodrich, an aviation lawyer and former aeronautical engineer and test pilot who focuses on automation, said that Boeing and Airbus' philosophies had been coming together long before MCAS.

"The philosophies were dramatically different. But they're not dramatically different anymore. And they have come together. Boeing took a very traditional approach for a long time," he said.

In comparison, Airbus is known for being all-in with automation

Airbus' A320 plane, unveiled in the 1980s, was the first plane to have two highly influential pieces of technology — called fly-by-wire and flight envelope protection — still used to automate parts of flight.

Fly-by-wire — a system that allows pilots to input plane commands into a computer instead of a using mechanical levers or dials — and flight envelope protection, which stops pilots from pushing the plane beyond certain control limits, have now become more or less standard in the industry.

But Michel Guerard, Airbus' vice president for product safety, told Business Insider that when Airbus introduced them "you had people who didn't like it."

"There was an argument about this in the early days," he said.

An Airbus assembly plant in Seville, southern Spain. Reuters

But now versions of fly-by-wire and flight envelope protection can be found on Boeing planes, and Guerard said that most planes now, including from Boeing and Airbus, "pretty much look the same in terms of automation. "

What people think about when it comes to the difference between Airbus and Boeing, then, comes from those early approaches, Guerard said.

"The story about our philosophy being different from Boeing," he said, "comes from the days when we had the A320, which was the first fly-by-wire and flight envelope protected aircraft."

But even as Boeing embraced some automated systems, it is still holding back more than Airbus.

Fly-by-wire on Boeing planes still has physical levers and gives feedback to the pilot that feel like older, manual controls.

And when it comes to flight envelope protection, for example, Boeing can pilots can "push the envelope" — bringing the plane beyond those limits with a lot of effort.

Guerard describes the envelope system as born from the idea that there a range of controls and actions that are safe to do during a flight, and a range of controls and actions that are not.

A worker fits a part to a wing of a partially-finished passenger plane of the A320 series in an assembly hall at the Airbus factory on July 14, 2017 in Hamburg, Germany. Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Pilots have control within those limits, but cannot totally override the plane's authority to go beyond them, because there is apparently no safe reason for them to do so: "The crew is not permitted to crash the aircraft, basically."

Both approaches have fans and detractors in the industry, and both have been credited for both saving lives and contributing to accidents.

John Lauber, the former Chief Product Safety Officer at Airbus, told Business Insider that much criticism of automated technology in planes is "nonsense," and that Airbus data shows that "each succeeding generation of aircraft is safer than its predecessors" as a result of it.

But, he said, automation poses its own challenges for safety if not designed and implemented properly, or if pilots are not properly trained. "But the safety record clearly shows that properly done cockpit automation significantly enhances the safety of aircraft operations," he said.

The 737 Max crisis has allowed Airbus to regain the title of the world's biggest planemaker. But the boost to Airbus has been minimal thanks to the nature of nature of the industry, where planes are ordered years in advance.

Boeing is fixing the Max, but whatever it does now could prove its philosophy has changed for good.

Boeing has spent months working on updates to the MCAS system, so it will take information from more than one plane sensor and can only activate once during flight. Boeing also reversed its position after long arguing that simulator training was not necessary for pilots.

The updates mean giving pilots more control, changing MCAS so it "will never provide more input than the pilot can counteract using the control column alone." Boeing says it will make it one of the safest-ever plane.

Investigators look at the debris from the crashed Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max plane in March 2019. Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Boeing is also reflecting more widely on the very way it builds planes, establishing a committee to review its design and development of planes, including reexamining how the company designs cockpits and expects pilots to interact with controls.

Peter Pedraza, a Boeing spokesman, said it has resulted in "immediate action" to strengthen safety.

But the fallout from the Max crashes may ultimately be overshadowed by a new crisis for Boeing, as countries around the world lock down their borders and demand for travel plunges due to the coronavirus, threatening the world's airlines and potentially causing them to cancel orders or stop placing new ones.

The virus, combined with its existing Max problems, has already pushed Boeing to offer voluntary layoffs to employees and note that it is in "uncharted waters."

Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun at a ceremony at the White House in January 2020. MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

Boeing could also take this moment as a basis to turn to automation more than ever before.

In November, when he was still the company's chairman, Dave Calhoun, Boeing's new CEO, said: "We are going to have to ultimately almost — almost — make these planes fly on their own."

 

Original author: Sinéad Baker

The chaos of "Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem, and Madness" is the perfect distraction from quarantine blues. Netflix

If you're hoping to forget your COVID-19 fears and get swept up in the niche drama of big cat captivity in the United States, there's no better quarantine activity than watching Netflix's newest docuseries "Tiger Cat: Murder, Mayhem and Madness."

The hit documentary chronicles the escalating conflict between big cat breeders who own private zoos and animal rights activists — a conflict that culminates in an alleged murder-for-hire plot. Ultimately, though, the appeal of "Tiger King" comes from the chaotic energy of its bizarre and compelling cast. 

Accordingly, the #TigerKing hashtag has dominated Twitter since the documentary premiered and celebrities are already angling to score roles in a potential movie remake. 

You don't have to experience the magic and chaos of "Tiger King" by yourself. Netflix Party, an increasingly popular feature from the streaming service, allows users to download a Google Chrome browser extension that facilitates group-watching. After downloading the extension, you are free to invite friends to watch content simultaneously — and everyone can share their thoughts in a virtual chat. 

For those who have already binged the series, Netflix's endless catalog of docuseries has other options, from "Making a Murderer" to "The Staircase." 

If the real-life drama of tiger breeding and captivity isn't your preferred genre of entertainment, you can peruse the streaming service's selection of sci-fi movies, from "The Matrix" to "The Lobster," or you can check out some of the more popular tear-jerkers for a change of pace. 

 

 

Original author: Margot Harris and Palmer Haasch

Amazon told employees in a voicemail on Thursday that a person who had been inside the warehouse in Springfield, Virginia, had subsequently been diagnosed with COVID-19, a source told Business Insider.The company confirmed the incident in a statement to Business Insider, saying it was "supporting the individual, who is recovering."Earlier on Thursday, the company told employees at another warehouse in Jeffersonville, Indiana, that a person with COVID-19 had been in the building on March 26. Business Insider previously reported that an image from that facility appeared to show some ignoring social-distancing guidelines.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Employees at an Amazon warehouse outside Washington, DC, were told Thursday that a person infected with the novel coronavirus was inside the building on March 31, a source told Business Insider. 

The company has confirmed the incident. "We are supporting the individual, who is recovering," Amazon spokesperson Timothy Carter told Business Insider.

In a recorded phone call on April 2, the online retailer informed workers at its fulfillment center in Springfield, Virginia, just outside the nation's capital, that someone who had been in the building earlier in the week had subsequently been diagnosed with COVID-19. 

A person who received the message said that they felt conditions inside the warehouse were conducive to the spread of the virus.

"I feared for my safety," the source told Business Insider, requesting anonymity. "So many people [were] not being good about complying with physical distancing."

The Virginia location was not the only Amazon facility to report a positive test of COVID-19 on Thursday. Earlier in the day, the company informed employees at a warehouse in Jeffersonville, Indiana, that someone last in the building on March 26 was later found to have been infected.

The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday evening that Amazon had, in the last 24 hours, confirmed four additional infections at warehouses in Southern California.

Amazon has declined to reveal just how many facilities, in total, have reported positive test results among workers. However, there have been reports of COVID-19 cases at no less than 30 company facilities nationwide.

While Amazon has implemented a number of measures to promote health and safety during the pandemic, Business Insider reported Wednesday that managers at the Indiana location appeared to be failing to heed the stated policy of requiring employees to remain at least six feet apart.

Have a news tip? Email this reporter: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Original author: Charles Davis

A wave of startup layoffs prompted by the coronavirus pandemic appears to have hit almost every sector — travel companies like TripActions, child-care startup Wonderschool and electric scooter startup Bird have all been forced to lay off workers in recent weeks.

Venture-backed startups are grappling with a new economic reality brought by the coronavirus pandemic — plans to raise funding are dissolving rapidly as the threat of a recession grows. Already, funding for private companies has fallen by 12% according to CB Insights and it seems likely to dry up further.  There are also reports from founders saying investors are using the COVID-19 pandemic to renege on deals, Business Insider previously reported.

So as startups begin to draft emergency plans to conserve cash this week, job cuts across the ecosystem have ramped up further, even as the coronavirus outbreak prompts historic layoff activity across the entire US economy. 

Business Insider is tracking the layoffs and what's happening at each company. The numbers are based on our own reporting as well as media reports elsewhere. 

Original author: Bani Sapra

Zoom is improving the security settings on its app, after facing backlash from users.Starting April 5, Zoom will require passwords if a user tries to enter a meeting using just the meeting ID instead of the meeting invite link.It will also turn virtual waiting rooms on by default, so the meeting host will have to manually allow others to join the meeting.These changes are meant to prevent trolls or hackers from entering Zoom calls to share indecent messages or harass users — incidents called "Zoombombing."The new security enhancements come after Zoom CEO Eric Yuan apologized for the many privacy and security issues users found with the app and said the company will take steps to address it.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Zoom is taking steps to make its app more secure, after facing backlash from users about the privacy and security settings of its product. 

Starting April 5, Zoom will require passwords if a user tries to enter a meeting using just the meeting ID instead of the meeting invite link. It will also make virtual waiting rooms on by default, so the meeting host had to manually allow others to join the meeting. These two changes will apply to free users and people who have personally upgraded their account to the first level of a paid plan. 

"We're always striving to deliver our users a secure virtual meeting environment. Effective April 5, we are enabling passwords and ​virtual waiting rooms by default ​for our Free Basic and Single Pro users. We strongly encourage all users to implement passwords for all of their meetings," Zoom said in a statement.

This comes after so-called "Zoombombing" incidents, where hackers or trolls will enter random Zoom calls to share indecent messages or other spam, became a frequent occurrence. Zoombombing affected online classes, corporate gatherings, and even virtual Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

In an email sent to users on Friday the company said: "we've chosen to enable passwords on your meetings and turn on Waiting Rooms by default as additional security enhancements to protect your privacy." It also said previously scheduled meetings will have passwords enabled as well.

The company also explained how to find meeting passwords. "For meetings scheduled moving forward, the meeting password can be found in the invitation. For instant meetings, the password will be displayed in the Zoom client. The password can also be found in the meeting join URL," the email to users said. 

The new security enhancements come after Zoom CEO Eric Yuan apologized for the many privacy and security issues users found with the app and said the company will take steps to address it. One of those steps is stopping the implementation of any new features so the company can focus on solving existing privacy and security concerns.

The rise of Zoombombing prompted the FBI to warn users about the problem earlier this week, and the New York Attorney General to send a letter to Zoom asking what new security measures the company has put in place, if any, to protect user privacy amid its huge surge in usage.

The problem stems from the fact that anyone can join any open Zoom call if they find the meeting ID. Hackers have come up with tools to create giant lists of random meeting IDs, giving them a wide set of calls to crash in on, without knowing what they're walking into. 

The only ways to prevent it are to put a password on the meeting, or to use a virtual waiting room so the host can vet those who are joining. 

Yuan has said that its privacy struggles are rooted in the fact that it was originally intended for businesses, not consumers. But with shelter-in-place and social distancing mandates across the globe to help stop the spread of coronavirus, Zoom's user base has grown exponentially — 200 million daily free and paying users in March, up from 10 million at the end of December.

Got a tip? Contact this reporter via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Signal at 925-364-4258. (PR pitches by email only, please.) You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

Original author: Paayal Zaveri

Apple has begun offering a $100 reimbursement to store employees working from home and a new mental health benefit.The benefits signal that Apple is continuing to invest in its retail workforce as its stores remain closed.The offerings also come as other major retail chains are resorting to layoffs and furloughs as nonessential businesses across the US remain closed.Apple Stores outside of China have been temporarily closed until further notice since the middle of March.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

As Apple begins asking some retail employees to work from home while stores remain closed, the company is offering workers reimbursements for purchasing work-from-home equipment and a new digital resource for managing stress, according to three current employees. 

Taken together, the benefits signal that Apple is continuing to invest in its brick-and-mortar workforce as retail chains across the country are suffering and resorting to furloughs and layoffs to cut costs amidst the coronavirus pandemic. 

Apple is offering a $100 reimbursement for retail staff who need to purchase equipment like an office chair or desk, the people said. Apple may also offer reimbursements for those who need to upgrade their internet plan.

The tech giant also added a new wellness tool for retail employees in recent weeks through Sanvello, a digital service for managing stress and anxiety. It's the latest mental wellness perk for Apple workers, as the company had already been offering access to the meditation app Ten Percent Happier.

Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on the additional resources for workers. 

Apple said on March 13 that it would temporarily close all retail stores outside of Greater China to protect employees and customers as the coronavirus pandemic spread. That was just before states across the country began issuing policies to close nonessential businesses.  

Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a memo published on March 13 that all hourly employees will continue to receive normal pay, and Apple also recently said it intends to continue paying contract workers as well, as The Wall Street Journal reported. 

It recently began asking retail staff to work from home to help manage the influx of customers seeking assistance with their devices, as Bloomberg first reported. 

The move comes as the coronavirus pandemic has sent ripples through the retail, travel, and restaurant industries and has shaken the global economy as 90% of Americans are under orders to stay at home. Hundreds of thousands of retail workers are being furloughed or laid off at major chains like Macy's, JCPenny, the Gap, and others. Companies hit hard by the pandemic, like Amtrak, La-Z-Boy, and Mattress Firm are cutting 401(k) contributions to save cash, according to The Wall Street Journal.

A record number of 6.64 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits in the week that ended on Saturday, coming after the figure spiked to an unprecedented 3.28 million the previous week.

Apple has not yet said when it plans to reopen its retail stores, but a report from Bloomberg suggests stores will remain closed until May. 

Are you currently an Apple Store employee? Business Insider wants to hear from you. Contact this reporter at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Original author: Lisa Eadicicco

Original author: Michelle Rae Uy

San Francisco police has begun ticketing some who are violating the regionwide shelter-in-place order directing people to stay in their homes to slow the spread of the coronavirus disease.A business and at least one person have been issued a citation within the past 24 hours.Since the city's shelter-in-place went into effect on March 17, law enforcement has relied upon resident compliance to enforce the order.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

After primarily relying on voluntary compliance and education to enforce a shelter-in-place order, San Francisco is now issuing citations to those violating the order's guidelines.

"The last time I was in front of you I predicted there would come a time where we have to cite," San Francisco police chief Bill Scott said at a Friday press conference, according to the San Francisco Examiner. "That time has come, and we have begun citing."

Scott said that a citation was given to a business and "at least one" person within the past 24 hours, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The order directs residents to stay home as much as possible, to only leave for essential needs, and to practice social distancing. It also requires nonessential businesses, which includes nightclubs and dine-in restaurants, to close.

"We understand that not everybody is watching the news," Scott said on Friday. "That's why we are giving the benefit of the doubt."

But, he said, "we have to abide by these public health orders." He said police are warning residents, but will not warn them more than once.

The San Francisco Bay Area is on week 3 of a shelter-in-place order that went into effect on March 17. It was originally set to expire on April 7, but has since been extended to May 3. That extension that could eventually be pushed back even further.

In the region, as well as elsewhere, there have been incidents of residents failing to adapt to the order and remain home, limiting unnecessary trips into public. On the first weekend after the order went into effect, mass outings were observed at parks and beaches as people sought some fresh air following a week spent indoors.

Stricter rules have since been put in place, like the closure of dog parks and playgrounds, and parking areas at some open spaces have been shut down.

There are currently 497 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in San Francisco, with 7 reported deaths.

Original author: Katie Canales

Actors union SAG-AFTRA recently reached a new agreement with the ad industry that loosens the union's rules about who can work with union talent, according to a leaked memo.This change is a compromise for the union, which previously forbade agencies that hadn't signed its commercials contract from working with the 160,000 professionals represented by SAG-AFTRA.Most agencies and brands that launched in the digital age did not sign the contract. The memo suggests working with union talent will remain difficult but not impossible for these companies.It's unclear how these rules will apply to non-traditional, influencer campaigns that are becoming increasingly popular with advertisers.Click here for more BI Prime stories.

This week, the world's biggest media union changed its rules about who can work with union talent.

New rules took effect April 1 regarding how SAG-AFTRA will work with agencies and advertisers that have not signed its commercials contract, which covers compensation for union members.

SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) represents about 160,000 actors, musicians, voiceover artists, journalists, and other professionals, according to its website.

An internal memo sent to employees at top PR firm Weber Shandwick on March 12 and obtained by Business Insider details the ways these new rules will affect talent relations moving forward. The full memo is printed below.

These new regulations could have wide-reaching effects on how marketers spend their money. Many agencies and brands that launched in the digital age did not sign the contract, which requires members to use almost exclusively union talent in commercial productions ranging from influencer campaigns to big-budget broadcast ads.

"These are important changes that will have an impact for brands and our industry at large," said a Weber Shandwick spokesperson. "We're taking the necessary steps to ensure we're in full compliance with the new rules, so that we can continue to seamlessly deliver for our clients."

SAG-AFTRA declined to comment beyond a March 16 blog post stating that it had not rolled back any requirements, despite claims from "some in the commercials industry."

These rules represent a new phase in the long-running battle between the union and ad industry

SAG-AFTRA and the agencies that produce commercials have a history of clashes.

Ad, PR, and talent management firms, facing pressure from clients to create content faster and cheaper, reached an agreement with SAG-AFTRA last April after arguing that elements of the union's previous contracts — like holding fees that actors earned each time ads aired — were cost prohibitive.

But the union and agencies still had unresolved issues. 

SAG-AFTRA previously organized strikes and picket lines outside the offices of non-signatories like Droga5 as well as Publicis Groupe's BBH, which tried to withdraw from the commercials contract in 2017. BBH claimed that the union's conditions placed it at a disadvantage because they allowed competitors who hadn't signed the contract to pitch their services to brands at lower rates.

A judge ruled against BBH last year.

According to the memo, SAG-AFTRA compromised on plans to prevent union talent from working with agencies that haven't signed its contract

In 2018, SAG-AFTRA began targeting third-party signatories, or production and talent management companies that have signed the contract and are then hired by non-signatories so the latter can work with union talent on "co-produced" campaigns.

The union revoked the status of the six largest such companies in May 2019, accusing them of serving as front organizations that didn't actually employ anyone but let agencies and brands that hadn't signed the contract bypass union rules.

SAG-AFTRA scored a legal victory by getting these companies to agree to a strict letter of agreement that took effect on Jan 1.

That letter, according to an analysis from law firm Davis & Gilbert, which represents advertising companies like WPP, was designed to get non-union agencies to become signatories by preventing the third-party companies from working with them and thereby cutting off the non-union agencies' access to union talent.

The new rules leave open questions, especially regarding PR and influencer campaigns

According to the memo, the new rules are a result of further negotiations between SAG-AFTRA and unnamed "industry participants" regarding those third-party production and talent management companies that signed the contract, which the memo calls "signatory co-producers" or "SCPs."

The most important changes allow non-union agencies and their clients to participate in certain key activities like choosing actors or influencers, negotiating contracts, hiring production companies, and reviewing scripts — as long as the third-party companies are directly involved and use union talent.

Previously, only union members could participate in those activities.

It's unclear how these rules will apply to the non-traditional campaigns that brands increasingly use — especially those involving celebrities or influencers who are not members of SAG-AFTRA but work with brands and production companies or agencies that are.

As Brian Murphy and Candice Kersh, partners at law firm Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, wrote in a March 8 blog post, "Can you imagine telling Kim Kardashian that your third-party signatory needs to come to her mansion while she is shooting her social video?"

Read the full memo below.

Critical Changes to Working With Talent

Effective April 1, 2020, SAG-AFTRA is changing their rules regarding how non-signatory agencies and brands work with union talent. In December 2019, we alerted you to this change. Since then, industry participants have negotiated roll-backs to the rules concerning the use of Signatory Co-Producers ("SCPs"), which will make it easier for non-signatory agencies to continue to work with SCPs.

As originally proposed, the rules would have made it practically impossible for non-signatories to work with SCPs. The recent roll-backs provide a path forward for using them. That said, the manner in which we collaborate with SCPs must evolve to accommodate the new rules.

Note: As with the original proposal, the new rules do not apply when working for clients that are signatories, unless the client advises that they are unable to list themselves as signatory for union purposes. While uncommon, it does happen from time-to-time for business reasons.

New Framework
At the heart of the rule change is the notion that when non-signatory agencies and brands use an SCP to engage union talent, the SCP must be the employer of talent under the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract, as evidenced by the performance of 10 mandatory talent employer activities.

While this is still the case, SAG-AFTRA has agreed to 3 important changes:

Non-signatory agencies may now be involved in the employer activities, whereas this was prohibited under the original rules.The agency and the advertiser are no longer required to certify their non-involvement.SAG-AFTRA has acknowledged that certain of these activities may not apply to all productions (such as influencer content) or may have been performed prior to the engagement of an SCP (such as in multi-service endorsement agreements common in public relations, where talent is selected before all elements of the program are determined). In those cases, SCPs must obtain waivers from SAG-AFTRA, and the union agrees to discuss those waivers in good faith. Accordingly, non-signatory agencies must ensure all necessary waivers are sought as soon as possible in order to confirm that SCPs can be used as a means of achieving compliance with union rules.

Though the rules have been relaxed, they still require important changes in how we work with SCPs.

Impacts on Process
The good news is that some of these activities are already being performed by SCPs. Others are to be done "in collaboration with [the] client" or simply require "participation" by the SCPs.

For those activities, the rules do not spell out the level of involvement or control SCPs must have to be in compliance, but it does appear that SAG-AFTRA does not expect SCPs to own these activities in their entirety. However, because the rules are ultimately binding on the SCPs (not agencies or advertisers), each SCP may have its own standards as to how much control they will need to achieve compliance for "shared" employer activities. At a minimum, we expect that non-signatory agencies will need to copy their SCP contract on all emails relating to those "shared" talent employer activities. 

As noted above, agencies will need to get in the habit of looping in SCPs as early as possible in projects involving union talent, both by copying their SCP contact by email on all conversations with clients concerning union talent and including them on calls where employment activities are discussed. 

Under the new framework, short turnaround engagements with union talent will be considerably more difficult to coordinate, and it is critical that teams plan in advance.

Also, SCPs should review scripts/storyboards prior to production, and may require copies of videos prior to publication. If pre-publication review is technologically impossible (e.g. livestreams), a substitute process should be agreed with the SVP well in advance of the production day.

Alternative Approaches
While a path forward is available to continue working with SCPs, from time-to-time circumstances may prohibit agencies from working with them (e.g. too many employer activities have taken place prior to SCP involvement and the union will not grant waivers). In those instances, non-signatory agencies will need to collaborate with another agency that is a SAG signatory if they wish to employ union talent. The details of those collaborations such as division of labor and compensation would need to be worked out between the signatory agency and the non-signatory agency, but it should be noted that the new SCP rules do not apply to collaborations between agencies.

Conclusion
Everyone at non-signatory agencies working on union production needs to be aware of the changing landscape and update their processes to comply with the new rules.

We will be offering short training sessions in the weeks ahead to brief client teams on the rules and how to comply. I encourage you to make this mandatory for anyone who works with talent.

Please reach out to your legal contact if you have any questions about these changes.

10 Mandatory Employer Activities

Securing casting agent in collaboration with client (n.b. This will not be applicable if no casting agent is used);Resolving all cast clearance issues (n.b. We understand this to mean managing the Station 12 and Taft-Harley processes); Hiring and contracting with performers in collaboration with client;Having personnel on-set for each and every production except voiceover sessions or foreign shoots (defined as shoots taking place outside of the United States). Those on-set personnel must be able to address any issues arising under the SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract for any shoot days; Ensuring proper payment of session fees and residuals of all performers and be available to promptly engage with SAG-AFTRA staff to resolve any claims at the time of production or thereafter; Attending pre-production meetings (in person or via conference call) if employer activities are discussed (n.b. Attendance will not be applicable if employer activities are not discussed); Participating in selection of a production company;Reviewing scripts and storyboards for purposes of determining number of performers to employ; (n.b. This will not be applicable if there are no scripts, storyboards or other performers)Being involved in selection of performers; andNegotiating union talent agreements with performer representatives in collaboration with client.

Got more information about this story or another ad industry tip? Contact Patrick Coffee on Signal at (347) 563-7289, email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., or via Twitter DM @PatrickCoffee. You can also contact Business Insider securely via SecureDrop.

Original author: Patrick Coffee

Tweed Roosevelt, the great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, penned an opinion column in defense of the commander of the US Navy aircraft carrier who was relieved of his command, Capt. Brett Crozier of the USS Theodore Roosevelt.In the opinion column, Roosevelt explains that Crozier "risked" his career and "deserved our deepest gratitude" for raising awareness of the coronavirus outbreak aboard his ship.Roosevelt wrote that he believed his great-grandfather, who commanded troops during the Spanish-American War in 1898, would have agreed with Crozier.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

The great-grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt penned an opinion column in defense of the commander of the US Navy aircraft carrier who was relieved of his command on Thursday, Capt. Brett Crozier of the USS Theodore Roosevelt.

Tweed Roosevelt, who leads the Theodore Roosevelt Institute at Long Island University, wrote the column published in the New York Times, titled "Captain Crozier Is A Hero." In it, he explains that Crozier "risked" his career and "deserved our deepest gratitude."

The US Navy announced Crozier's dismissal on Thursday, three days after the San Francisco Chronicle published a leaked letter he addressed to Navy leaders. In the four-page letter, Crozier urged a "political solution" and "immediate and decisive action" as his crew dealt with the coronavirus outbreak. Now, 137 sailors of the ship's roughly 4,800 crew members have been diagnosed with the coronavirus as of Friday.

"We are not at war. Sailors do not need to die," Crozier wrote in his letter. "If we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our Sailors."

In removing Crozier during the crew's shift ashore for quarantining, Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said he did not know how the letter was leaked to the media but noted the captain should not have sent a "blast out" email to 20 or 30 recipients.

"The letter was sent over non-secure, unclassified email even though that ship possesses some of the most sophisticated communications and encryption equipment in the fleet," Modly said Thursday.

The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. REUTERS/U.S. Navy/Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Anna Van Nuys/Handout

Tweed Roosevelt reasoned that Crozier's actions were justified because he "felt he had to act immediately if he was to save his sailors."

"I suppose it is too much to hope that the Navy, if only for its own benefit, will see its way to reverse this unfortunate decision," Roosevelt wrote. "But it is probably too late to save Captain Crozier's career."

Roosevelt wrote that he believed his great-grandfather, who commanded troops during the Spanish-American War in 1898, would have agreed with Crozier. The late Roosevelt dealt with a yellow fever and malaria outbreak within the ranks and wanted to bring his troops home, despite the then-secretary of war's opposition. Theodore then wrote a letter to news organizations, which widely published its contents, prompting the secretary of war to bring the troops to New York.

"In this era when so many seem to place expediency over honor, it is heartening that so many others are showing great courage, some even risking their lives," Roosevelt wrote. "Theodore Roosevelt, in his time, chose the honorable course. Captain Crozier has done the same."

Original author: David Choi

Companies and countries alike are desperately trying to track the spread of the coronavirus.Israeli technology firm NSO Group is piloting a platform with dozens of countries that could allow governments to get very granular views into the outbreak. But the software is raising concerns among privacy advocates, one of which says it could be used for "highly nefarious means." Follow all of Business Insider's latest updates on the coronavirus here. Click here for more BI Prime stories.

Governments and companies alike are desperately trying to learn what areas the coronavirus may spread to next and how it's already moving through hard-hit zones. 

And different countries are taking varying approaches to that. China, for example, has mandated that its residents download an application that tracks their health status. And in the US, advertisers are supplying the federal government with information to allow it to monitor millions of individuals through their cell phones. 

Now, one company is piloting a system in dozens of countries around the world that could allow officials to quickly monitor the growth of outbreaks and track individuals that have the virus, to learn who else may be at risk.

Such insight would give the government (or another client using the platform) the ability to put protective measures in place or potentially test someone who may not be aware they're at risk — ultimately slowing the progression of the virus. 

NSO Group, the provider of the system, is an Israeli software firm that is perhaps best known for its Pegasus tool, a software that gives clients the ability to infiltrate cell phones and access information such as location or text messages. 

The goal is to stop terrorists and other criminals, but the software has drawn scrutiny after revelations it was used to track journalists and activists. One lawsuit even linked the tool to the death of Jamal Khashoggi.

Criticism aside, NSO's products have been used in times of crisis. It helped Brazilian officials, for example, track 51 missing people who were trapped under a mudslide after the Brumadinho Dam collapsed.

The company is now selling governments on the new platform specific to the coronavirus outbreak. And Business Insider got a first-hand look at how the potentially game-changing system works.  

To be sure, the technology firm has no access to any of the data used to power the application. It merely provides the software and clients are responsible for inputting information. 

Government health care databases, for example, combined with location information via cell phones or mobile applications, can give users a granular view into who has the virus, where they are going or have been, if citizens are violating social distancing guidelines, or where the next outbreaks may occur. 

While NSO declined to discuss the details of any of the pilot projects under way, such a system is very possible. Carriers in Italy, Germany, and other countries, for example, are already sharing location data with the governments.  

The tool could be a powerful resource in helping to mitigate the deadly virus that has already claimed the lives of thousands and is estimated to lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths overall. 

Health experts, for example, say individuals who visit locations like supermarkets are at risk if someone with the virus spent 15 minutes or longer there.  

NSO's platform could, theoretically, filter down available data to track the people that were in that establishment at the same time or even hours after (since the virus can live on some surfaces for up to several days). That gives the government or health agency the chance to identify potential cases quickly to mitigate any further spread. 

A snapshot of NSO's platform that highlights who may have come in contact with a coronavirus patient. NSO

Or say a person infected with the virus routinely traveled to another area of town that currently has relatively few individuals that have tested positive. Using NSO's system, officials can pinpoint where the coronavirus may spread based on that tracking information.

It could also pull up a confirmed patient's close contacts — family members, coworkers, etc. — so health workers could proactively test them. 

Another snapshot that highlights a coronavirus patient's close connections. NSO

All those examples highlight how helpful the system can be in battling the outbreak. And the extent to which governments or other customers can use it is dependent on what information is inputted — and how often it is updated. 

But privacy advocates are ringing the alarm over just how much data is being compiled and how difficult it could be to turn the dial back to stricter privacy measures once the pandemic subsidies. 

"Even if the data is not held by the company, governments are equally able to misuse the data," Sam Woodhams, digital rights lead at research firm Top10VPN, told Business Insider. "This is particularly significant given that, even when aggregated and anonymised, location data could still be used by governments for highly nefarious means." 

Original author: Joe Williams and Isobel Asher Hamilton

Good morning! This is the tech news you need to know this Friday.

An activist holds up a mask depicting Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, during a protest against the opening of a new Amazon office in Berlin, Germany, February 22, 2020. REUTERS/Michele Tantussi A  leaked memo obtained by Vice revealed Amazon's efforts to mount a smear campaign against a worker it fired. The memo was written by Amazon's top lawyer and described the fired worker, Chris Smalls, as "not smart or articulate."Zoom's CEO apologized to the video conferencing app's millions of users over privacy concerns. "We recognize that we have fallen short of the community's — and our own — privacy and security expectations," founder Eric Yuan said in a blog post.Japanese mega-investor SoftBank confirmed it's abandoning a plan to buy $3 billion worth of WeWork shares, citing 'significant' criminal and civil investigations. The decision nixes an offer to buy $3 billion worth of shares from other WeWork investors and employees, including nearly some $970 million worth from former CEO Adam NeumannApple appeared to accidentally leak details of an unreleased iPhone accessory that would help you find lost items with your phone. Apple posted and quickly removed a video tutorial that mentioned an unreleased and long-rumored product called AirTags.Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will donate $100 million to help food banks that are facing shortages due to the coronavirus outbreak. Bezos wrote that food insecurity in American households is an important problem that will be worsened by COVID-19.Disney will furlough employees during the coronavirus crisis. The furloughing will begin April 19 after the company's theme parks, cruise lines, retail stores, and film productions have all been hit by the pandemic. Bill Gates has said the US needs a nationwide shutdown for at least 10 more weeks to fight coronavirus. The Microsoft founder called for a "consistent nationwide approach to shutting down" to combat the spread of the coronavirus. Airbnb has reportedly dropped its internal valuation to $26 billion as the coronavirus halts travel worldwide. That's a 16% drop from the company's previous valuation of $31 billion, according to PitchBook.Venture capital-backed startups will become eligible for $350 billion in small business loans guaranteed by the federal government. Coronavirus stimulus provides forgivable loans of up to $10 million for companies with fewer than 500 employees but contained an affiliation rule which would have excluded small businesses with venture capitalists as shareholders. The CEO of Voi, a European rival to $2.5 billion scooter startup Bird, revealed the firm has furloughed and laid off staff to cope with COVID-19. The company has laid off and furloughed most of its staff in an attempt to manage the ongoing pandemic. 

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Original author: Callum Burroughs

The CEO of Booking Holdings Inc. announced on Thursday that he tested positive for the coronavirus.Glenn Fogel was tested last week after developing a fever and flu-like symptoms. The online travel company could be hit hard since travel bookings have significantly decreased. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Glenn Fogel, the CEO of Booking Holdings Inc., announced that he tested positive for coronavirus in a statement this week.

Fogel said he started having a fever and flu-like symptoms early last week and got tested for the novel coronavirus not long after. 

"I am very fortunate in that I only had a mild set of symptoms and can now say that I feel fine. While I feel grateful for myself, of course, I feel terrible for those who are facing much more difficult times at this very moment," Fogel wrote. 

The CEO of the online travel company said on Thursday that he understands why people may not be quick to book travel in light of the outbreak, CNBC reported. 

"You have people that are more concerned about, 'Am I going to have a job?' They're thinking about that a lot more than, 'Am I going to go away in July somewhere or not?'" Fogel told CNBC. 

According to CNBC, Booking Holdings, which operates Priceline.com, Kayak.com, and other travel sites, has suspended all non-essential travel. While some hotel and travel companies have furloughed or fired staff members due to decreased revenue, Booking Holdings is freezing hiring. 

Fogel wrote in his statement that when the pandemic is over, his organization will continue their "mission to make it easier for everyone to experience the world. Until then, please stay safe."

He urged people to take the coronavirus seriously and practice social distancing. 

"There will be difficult days ahead, and for most of us, things will get worse before they get better — but, I know we will weather the storm," he said. 

Original author: Sarah Al-Arshani

While Memojis — the personalized 3D emojis native to the iPhone and iPad — can be a lot of fun to use, not everyone is into them. 

If Memojis aren't your thing, letting them take up so much space on your emoji keyboard can be annoying. In those cases, it's probably easier to disable the feature altogether. 

While you can just ignore the Memoji options on your keyboard, disabling it will mean Memojis won't appear as an option, and won't be available for you to use. You can re-enable the Memoji feature at any time.

Here's how to complete both options on your iPhone or iPad running iOS 13 or iPadOS. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Apple)

iPad (From $399.99 at Walmart)

How to turn off Memoji in iOS 13 or iPadOS

1. From your device's homescreen, tap the Settings app icon. 

2. Tap "General," then "Keyboard." 

Original author: Jennifer Still

It's easy to edit your Memoji in iOS 13 after you've created your character on an iPhone.To access the Memoji edit menu, you'll have to open Messages and select the Memoji tab from the keyboard.Select the Memoji you wish to change and then tap the three dots to open its details.If you don't have the Memoji option on your phone, then you have to update your iPhone to iOS 13.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

It's easy to create a new Memoji — and just as easy to edit it on your iPhone.

You can edit your Memojis to make both big and small changes, from altering their hair color to adding new glasses. 

To access the Memoji menu, you'll first have to open Messages and select the Memoji tab above your keyboard.

Select the Memoji you wish to change and tap the three dots to open its details. There you'll find the "Edit" option, which will bring you to the menu you saw when you first made your creation.

Memojis were previously only available to iPhone X owners, followed by iPhone XS and XR. With the launch of the iOS 13 operating system (and release of the iPhone 11 models), any iPhone now has the option to create customizable moving characters.

Here's how to edit them. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Apple)

How to edit a Memoji in iOS 13 on an iPhone

To edit Memojis, you'll first have to update your iPhone to iOS 13. Double-check in your iPhone Settings before proceeding with the following steps.

1. Open your Messages app. Tap to open a current conversation with a single contact or a group chat. You can also tap to start a new message.

2. Tap the Apps icon and then tap the Memoji tab above your iPhone keyboard.

Open the Memoji menu. Marissa Perino/Business Insider

3. Tap to select the Memoji you wish to change.

4. Tap the three dots in the far left corner.

Access your Memoji edit menu. Marissa Perino/Business Insider

5. Tap "Edit" to begin making changes.

Edit. Marissa Perino/Business Insider

6. Browse through Memoji options to make changes, such as changing hair color or adding glasses and jewelry.

7. Tap "Done" to complete the process.

Make changes. Marissa Perino/Business Insider

8. This will close the menu and bring you back to the Memoji keyboard. Your changes should be reflected immediately.

Your updated Memoji. Marissa Perino/Business Insider

 

Original author: Marissa Perino

You can change your default search engine in Firefox on mobile and desktop.Firefox users can choose between search engines like Google and even Wikipedia.Here's how to change your default search engine in Firefox.Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Choosing a default search engine can be a fraught issue for the web browsing company.

In fact, the matter was so fraught for browser Mozilla Firefox that it ended in multiple lawsuits over their decision to dump Yahoo in favor of Google as its default search engine. 

While Firefox executives clearly felt one way about what should be the default search engine on its platform, you might feel an entirely different way.

Fortunately, you're not locked into the default search engine of their choosing. 

Here's how to personalize your default search engine in Firefox on both desktop and mobile. 

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Apple)

Samsung Galaxy s10 (From $859.99 at Walmart)

Lenovo IdeaPad 130 (From $469.99 at Walmart)

Apple Macbook Pro (From $1299.00 at Apple)

How to change your search engine in Firefox on your computer 

1. Open Firefox on your Mac or PC.

Original author: Emma Witman