Tech Security Update

• Patagonia is ending its decades-old practice of adding corporate logos to its clothing.
• The company cited environmental concerns for the move.
• "Adding an additional non-removable logo reduces the life span of a garment," the company said.
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

The unofficial uniform of finance bros everywhere is about to be sunset: Patagonia is officially ending its long tradition of adding corporate logos to its clothing.

It's the second and final step in a process that Patagonia began two years ago when it stopped accepting new corporate clients. At the time, the outdoor clothing company said it only wanted to work with "more mission-driven companies that prioritize the planet."

Patagonia's fleeces have become synonymous with a certain type of man, usually involved in the financial industry, typified by the "Silicon Valley" character Jared Dunn (Zach Woods). Before the pandemic, walking around Wall Street at lunch time was like swimming through a sea of fleece.

In its announcement this week, Patagonia said it's no longer producing its clothing with additional corporate logos because, "adding an additional non-removable logo reduces the life span of a garment, often by a lot, for trivial reasons."

Read more: Should I buy a house right now? 5 things to know about the wild property market as homes sell for sky-high prices in under a week.

More specifically, the company said people are less likely to pass on Patagonia clothing to another person due to the logo.

"People change jobs, and the extra logo makes for an awkward re-gift," the statement said. "People tend not to pass logo'd gear down to their kids, and not everyone wants to be an advertisement on weekends, even if they're proud to go into work on weekdays."

As a result, that clothing goes unused. "Or worse, gets tossed in the trash," the statement said.

Patagonia has repeatedly made major donations to environmental causes, and is certified as a "B" corporation - meaning it meets a certain balanced criteria of environmental responsibility against profits. The company also donates 1% of all sales to environmental causes.

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• Boeing's infamous 737 Max, which was involved in two fatal crashes, has a new issue.
• Boeing said Friday that some jets have "a potential electrical issue," and recommended they not be flown.
• At least 16 airlines are impacted, including Southwest, United, and American.
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

Dozens of Boeing's infamous 737 Max plane, which was involved in two fatal crashes, have another issue.

The company said Friday that some of the planes are facing "a potential electrical issue." As a result, the plane maker recommended 16 airlines immediately ground their affected models so the issue can be resolved.

"We are working closely with the US Federal Aviation Administration on this production issue," Boeing said. "We are also informing our customers of specific tail numbers affected and we will provide direction on appropriate corrective actions."

Boeing did not specify which airlines are impacted, but Southwest Airlines, United, and American Airlines confirmed separately that they're impacted. 30 planes owned by Southwest, 17 owned by American, and 16 owned by United were impacted, the companies said.

Boeing's 737 has been in production since the late '60s, but the most recent model - the 737 Max - has been notoriously problem-riddled. It was involved in two fatal crashes, with 346 fatalities, and was grounded worldwide for more than a year as Boeing worked with the Federal Aviation Administration and international regulators to sort out the plane's issues.

It was recertified for flight in late 2020, and Boeing recently began delivering new models to waiting customers.

Shares of Boeing fell slightly, about 1.4% in early trading Friday following the announcement.

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• Facebook was running ads featuring voter fraud conspiracies up until Wednesday.
• The ads were paid for by Restoration Action, a conservative super PAC.
• The ads echo election fraud conspiracies that former President Trump has pushed.
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

As recently as this Wednesday, Facebook was running ads featuring voter fraud conspiracy language like, "Every illegal vote cancels a legitimate vote."

The ads were from the conservative super PAC Restoration Action, a group that paid Facebook over $380,000 to run ads "about social issues, elections or politics" between April 7 and May 7. The vast majority of those ads focused on Democrat-led election reform legislation that intends to expand voter registration, voting by mail, and early voting, as well as strengthen election security systems. The legislation has already successfully passed through the House, and must now pass through the Senate.

Republican leaders have repeatedly attacked the legislation, and former President Donald Trump referred to it as "a monster" during a speech in March. "It virtually eliminates voter ID requirements nationwide, effectively ends all registration deadlines - can you believe this?" he said.

Many of the Facebook ads from Restoration Action echo Trump's sentiment, and at least one features him directly:

The most recent ads, though, have all been pulled by Facebook for violating advertising policies.

The most recent one, which claimed that "every illegal vote cancels a legitimate vote," violated Facebook's misinformation policy, a Facebook representative told Insider.

Facebook pulls advertisements, "that include claims debunked by third-party fact checkers or, in certain circumstances, claims debunked by organizations with particular expertise," according to the company's ad policy. It's unclear which specific claims were found to be false in Restoration Action's ads, but statements about voter fraud appear to be the culprit.

Voter fraud in the US is extremely rare, according to the database of election fraud maintained by conservative American think tank the Heritage Foundation. It's so rare, in fact, that an American is more likely to be struck by lightning than to commit election fraud.

Former President Trump refused to accept the results of the presidential vote for weeks after it was decided, and continues to push the false narrative that the 2020 presidential election was rigged. Trump and his campaign filed dozens of lawsuits after the results of the election declared President Joe Biden the winner. None of those suits were successful.

Got a tip? Contact Insider senior correspondent Ben Gilbert via email ([email protected]), or Twitter DM (@realbengilbert). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by email only, please.

• Apple CEO Tim Cook envisions a future where Americans can cast their ballots through their iPhone.
• "We do our banking on phones. We have our health data on phones," he said. "And so why not?"
• Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose called the idea "preposterous" in a Fox News interview.
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

Apple CEO Tim Cook's hopes for a future where Americans can vote on their iPhones is "preposterous," according to Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose.

In an interview with Fox News, LaRose said the idea is, "a classic example of one of these, kind of, elites, thinking they have a simple solution to a complex problem."

Cook suggested the concept in a recent interview with The New York Times, published just days after Cook joined a growing coalition of business leaders who criticized a restrictive new Georgia voting law.

"I would dream of that, because I think that's where we live," Cook said when asked if tech would be the answer to some modern voting issues, like accusations of fraud. "We do our banking on phones. We have our health data on phones. We have more information on a phone about us than is in our houses. And so why not?"

Read more: The 11 biggest hacks and breaches of the past decade that are still causing reverberating damage

LaRose's major criticisms ranged from identifying the phone's user to technological competence. "You have to have the technological competence to do it right," he said in reference to America's biggest smartphone maker and one of the world's most profitable companies. "And that may exist sometime in the near future, but it is more complicated than people realize."

In the Times interview, Cook argued that current voting systems in America are "pretty arcane," and that allowing people to vote on their smartphone could expand the reach and accessibility of voting to more Americans.

"I think we're probably all having the wrong conversation on voting rights. We should be talking about using technology," he said.

Of the voting age population in the US, just shy of 67% voted in the 2020 presidential election - the highest percentage of any election in over 100 years.

"How can we make it so simple that our voting participation gets to 100? Or it gets really close to 100. Maybe we get in the 90s or something," Cook said.

While LaRose agreed with Cook on expanding voting availability, he wasn't convinced that iPhones are the path forward.

"Trying something untested, like voting on iPhones," he said, could result, "in a loss of confidence" among voters.

Though voting through smartphone could expand accessibility for some voters, cybersecurity experts speaking to CBS News last November listed a number of ways it could also disenfranchise other voters: Security issues, the cost of iPhones, internet access, and voter identification were all among the main issues cited.

Got a tip? Contact Insider senior correspondent Ben Gilbert via email ([email protected]), or Twitter DM (@realbengilbert). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by email only, please.

• Facebook data from over 533 million users was leaked, Insider reported last week.
• Now the company won't notify impacted users, a representative told Reuters on Wednesday.
• Facebook isn't notifying impacted users because the company isn't sure whose data was leaked.
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

In the wake of news that personal information from over 533 million Facebook users leaked online, the company said it won't inform impacted users.

The social media giant isn't informing users because it isn't sure which users were impacted, a Facebook spokesperson told Reuters. Moreover, since users are unable to fix the issue and the data is already public, Facebook is choosing not to identify and inform users.

The data leak included phone numbers, full names, locations, email addresses, and biographical information of over 533 million Facebook users from 106 countries. US users made up the majority with over 32 million users impacted, with users in the UK and India representing the second- and third-most impacted regions.

The breach wasn't disclosed by Facebook, and the company didn't address it until Insider reported on the data trove's appearance on a hacking forum last week.

Read more: Leaked Amazon documents detail a controversial system that insiders say forces managers to give bad reviews to good employees

In a blog post on Tuesday, Facebook product management director Mike Clark said it didn't disclose the breach because of the way that the leaked data was obtained. Rather than a hack, Facebook said the data was obtained, "by scraping it from our platform prior to September 2019."

In short: Hackers didn't break into Facebook's servers and steal a bunch of user data. Instead, the data was pulled from publicly available Facebook pages.

That may also be key to why Facebook isn't able to determine which users were impacted. Clark said that the data is suspected to have been scraped using Facebook's contact importer tool, which was available to all users.

Without Facebook telling its impacted users about the data breach, third-party services like "Have I been pwned" have filled the void - here's how to see if you were impacted in the breach.

Got a tip? Contact Insider senior correspondent Ben Gilbert via email ([email protected]), or Twitter DM (@realbengilbert). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by email only, please.

• Facebook and Google are among a group of major companies that donated to a GOP group in 2021.
• Facebook donated $50,000 and Google donated $20,000 to the Republican State Leadership Committee.
• The RSLC promotes voter suppression laws like the one that was recently passed in Georgia.
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

In the first quarter of 2021, Facebook, Google, and several other major American companies donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to a Republican political group that advocates for voter suppression laws around the United States.

Facebook donated $50,000, and Google donated $20,000, according to a new report from Popular Information, alongside a $50,000 donation from AT&T and $100,000+ donations from two major pharmaceutical companies: Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca.

The organization that received those donations - the Republican State Leadership Committee - describes itself as, "the largest national organization focused on electing Republicans to state offices in every corner of the nation."

-Republican State Leadership Committee (@RSLC) December 12, 2020

The RSLC supports Republican candidates that have supported voter suppression laws, and itself advocates for said laws.

According to the Popular Information report, Republican leaders have introduced 361 bills across 47 states that could restrict voting.

Voting restrictions are often introduced under the guise of "election integrity" and as "anti-cheating" measures, despite voting fraud being extremely rare. It's so rare, in fact, that you're more likely to be struck by lightning than to commit the act.

A Facebook representative referred to the donation to RSLC as "membership dues" that it pays to both major political parties. "It is standard practice for us to support organizations like this on both sides of the aisle," the statement said. "While earlier this year we paused spending from FBPAC, we use corporate funds to pay membership dues like these to the Republican Lieutenant Governors' Association as we do in our support for the Democratic Lieutenant Governors' Association. None of these funds were used in the passage of voting legislation in Georgia."

Both Facebook and Google have spoken out against a controversial new voting law in Georgia that enacts a variety of voter restrictions.

Read more: These 10 high-profile Republicans who dumped Trump are mostly wary to back Biden's re-election. At least for now.

Much of the current push for "election integrity" stems from the repeatedly disproven claim from former President Donald Trump that the 2020 US presidential election was "rigged." Trump and his campaign filed dozens of lawsuits after the results of the election declared President Joe Biden the winner. None of those suits were successful.

Google did not respond to a request for comment as of publishing.

Got a tip? Contact Insider senior correspondent Ben Gilbert via email ([email protected]), or Twitter DM (@realbengilbert). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by email only, please.

• Apple CEO Tim Cook envisions a future where Americans cast cast their ballot through their iPhone.
• "We do our banking on phones. We have our health data on phones," he said. "And so why not?"
• Last week, Cook joined a group of executives who criticized a restrictive new Georgia voting law.
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

Would you feel comfortable voting via iPhone?

Apple CEO Tim Cook suggested that concept in a new interview with The New York Times, published just days after Cook joined a growing coalition of business leaders who criticized a restrictive new Georgia voting law.

"I would dream of that, because I think that's where we live," Cook said when Swisher asked if the tech would be the answer to some modern voting issues, like fraud. "We do our banking on phones. We have our health data on phones. We have more information on a phone about us than is in our houses. And so why not?"

America's voting systems are notoriously low-tech, which stands in glaring contrast to modern systems of banking, commerce, and healthcare.

"It's pretty arcane," Cook said of America's voting apparatus. "I think we're probably all having the wrong conversation on voting rights. We should be talking about using technology."

Read more: The 11 biggest hacks and breaches of the past decade that are still causing reverberating damage

Incorporating updated technology - like iPhones - in the voting process could expand the reach and accessibility of voting to more Americans, he argued.

Of the voting age population in the US, just shy of 67% voted in the 2020 presidential election - the highest percentage of any election in over 100 years.

"How can we make it so simple that our voting participation gets to 100? Or it gets really close to 100. Maybe we get in the 90s or something," Cook said.

Though voting through smartphone could expand accessibility for some voters, cybersecurity experts speaking to CBS News last November listed a number of ways it could also disenfranchise other voters: Security issues, the cost of iPhones, internet access, and voter identification were all among the main issues cited.

Got a tip? Contact Insider senior correspondent Ben Gilbert via email ([email protected]), or Twitter DM (@realbengilbert). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by email only, please.

• Former Southwest Airlines pilot Michael Haak was charged with exposing his genitals mid-flight.
• The act is said to have occured in August 2020 on a flight from Philadelphia to Orlando.
• Federal prosecutors charged Haak with indecent exposure on April 2.
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

A Southwest Airlines pilot "intentionally committed an act of lewd, indecent and obscene exposure of his genitals in a public place" while captaining a flight from Philadelphia to Orlando in August 2020, the Department of Justice alleges.

Michael Haak, who is no longer a pilot for Southwest, was criminally charged with exposing his genitals mid-flight, according to documents filed April 2 in Maryland federal court.

Notably, Haak was in charge of flying the plane in question, Southwest flight WN 6607 from Philadelphia to Orlando.

Haak is accused of a "lewd, indecent, or obscene" act on an aircraft "of which he was the pilot in command." He's being charged in federal court because events that occur mid-flight are under federal jurisdiction.

If convicted, Haak could face up to 90 days in prison and/or a fine of up to $500.

It's unclear at what point during the flight Haak is accused of exposing his genitals. A non-stop flight between Philadelphia and Orlando on Southwest takes about 2.5 hours. Few details of the event are included in the one-page court filing.

A Southwest representative told ABC News that the company was unaware of the incident until it was contacted by investigators, at which time Haak no longer worked for the company.

The airline told Insider it is complying with federal investigators and, "takes all matters related to workplace conduct very seriously."

Haak could not be reached for comment.

Got a tip? Contact Insider senior correspondent Ben Gilbert via email ([email protected]), or Twitter DM (@realbengilbert). We can keep sources anonymous. Use a non-work device to reach out. PR pitches by email only, please.

• Apple CEO Tim Cook has been running the company for just shy of 10 years.
• In another 10 years, though, Cook expects to have stepped down from his role.
• In a new interview, Cook said he didn't know what's next after Apple.
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

Tim Cook became the CEO of Apple just shy of 10 years ago, following the death of cofounder Steve Jobs.

And in another 10 years, Cook doesn't expect to still be at the company, he said in a new interview with The New York Times.

"Ten more years? Probably not," Cook said. "I can tell you that I feel great right now. And the date's not in sight. But 10 more years is a long time, and probably not 10 more years."

Cook has been with Apple for over 20 years. He joined in the late '90s and helped it to rethink operations. When Jobs died in 2011, Cook took over executive duties and became the new face of the company.

Since then, Cook has unveiled new iPhones, Apple Watches, and other products.

He oversaw Apple's incredible rise in value: Its market cap is just over $2 trillion. He's also taken on the role of government liaison and appeared multiple times with President Donald Trump.

As for what he'll do after Apple, Cook appeared to be just as in the dark as everyone else.

"I don't have a clue," he said in the Times interview, "because I love this company so much that it's hard to imagine my life without it."

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• Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 at CVS was wildly efficient and easy.
• From signing up to checking in to the shot itself, the process was organized and concise.
• The experience helped me to understand why CVS has already vaccinated over 10 million Americans.
• Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.

On Thursday morning, CVS announced an important milestone in the race to vaccinate Americans against the coronavirus: 10 million shots delivered, and capacity to administer up to 25 million shots per month.

Later that morning, I walked into a CVS on Staten Island and became one of the next 10 million.

The process of getting vaccinated at CVS was so friendly, so efficient, and so well organized that it helped me understand why the pharmacy chain is able to vaccinate so many folks so quickly.

Earlier this week, when vaccine appointment eligibility opened to anyone in New York 30 years of age and older, I went to the CVS scheduling tool, plugged in my information, and found a surprising number of open appointments for Staten Island locations.

I scheduled an appointment for Thursday morning, and received a confirmation email soon after.

As someone who's been trying, and failing, to buy a PlayStation 5 for months, it was a surprisingly glitch-free experience using the CVS scheduling tool. I was able to simply enter information, select a time, and confirm my selection.

On Thursday morning, before embarking on the lengthy drive from the middle of Brooklyn to the middle of Staten Island, I got a text message from CVS with a link to digitally check in when I arrived at the store:

An hour-plus later, I parked my car and digitally signed in. Having told CVS I was at the store, I turned off my car and walked inside.

Before I could even begin to be confused as to where I should go, I spotted a check-in desk.

Immediately to the right of the entryway doors, CVS employees had created a temporary check-in desk for vaccinations:

There was no line, and check-ins were being handled simply: With a highlighter on paper.

After I gave my name, I was instructed to proceed down the adjacent aisle where a handful of people were already lined up on socially-distanced squares marked on the ground.

As we waited, another CVS employee with a clipboard walked down the line, took IDs, and filled out each person's coveted CDC vaccination card with information about their first shot - it's the card that everyone takes selfies with, even though you probably shouldn't.

By the time I'd received my card, I was moving to the next step of the process: Checking in for a second time with an employee behind a computer who confirmed my address.

At this point, I could see the full operation. Employees had essentially set up a flexible assembly line for vaccinating people, and it was moving rapidly.

From where I was, the next step was getting vaccinated, and then waiting the requisite 15 minutes just in case I had a reaction.

Employees had smartly used self checkout dividers to turn their pharmacy lobby into a socially distanced waiting room. "Endcap" products were displaced for seated patients who were able to sit directly next to each other due to the dividers.

The shot itself was quick, and relatively painless, as expected.

The man who gave me the shot asked if I had any questions, and I blurted out a silly question that I already knew the answer to ("When will I be fully vaccinated?"), and he kindly answered something he's assuredly answered a thousand times already ("You'll receive the full benefits of the vaccination two weeks after your second shot.").

The same employee who gave me my CDC vaccination card ushered me over to the seating area and asked how I was, so I enthusiastically said I was "feeling great." The truth, of course, is I was feeling unbelievably happy and hopeful for the first time in what feels like forever. It's been over a year, folks! There's no getting that time back!

She handed me a 15 minute timer, and I took a seat.

About halfway through my 15-minute wait, an employee came over to ask how I was feeling once again, and I marveled at how swift and efficient their process was. She relayed how happy it made her to help people get vaccinated, and said it makes the day go all the faster.

My appointment was scheduled for 10:45 a.m., and I was back in my car on the way out of the parking lot by 11:21 a.m. I may or may not have bought Easter candy at CVS before leaving, which assuredly added a minute or two.

All in, the process took a little over half an hour from start to finish, and everyone was a delight along the way. From what I saw, it makes perfect sense that CVS is rolling through so many vaccinations so quickly - they're doing it very well.

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