Jan 2, 2018 - Economy & Business

FTC approves settlement with Lenovo over advertising software

Eric Risberg / AP

The Federal Trade Commission said on Tuesday it has given a final approval to a settlement with Lenovo regarding the company's practice of preinstalling an advertising software program on some laptops that caused "serious security vulnerabilities" in order to show ads to consumers.

What this means: In its decision, the FTC said Lenovo is prohibited from misrepresenting any features of software it preinstalled on laptops that would "inject advertising into consumers' Internet browsing sessions or transmit sensitive consumer information to third parties."

  • If Lenovo preinstalls this type of software, the company would be required to get consumers' consent before the software runs on their laptops, the FTC said in a statement.
  • The company is also mandated for 20 years to implement a software security program for most consumer software preloaded on its laptops. The security program will be subjected to third-party audits, the FTC said.

Go deeper

Alexi McCammond, Margaret Talev
13 mins ago - Politics & Policy

Democrats' mail voting pivot

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

Democrats spent the early months of the coronavirus pandemic urging their base to vote absentee. But as threats of U.S. Postal Service delays, Team Trump litigation and higher ballot rejection rates become clearer, many are pivoting to promote more in-person voting as well.

Why it matters: Democrats are exponentially more likely to vote by mail than Republicans this year — and if enough mail-in ballots are lost, rejected on a technicality or undercounted, it could change the outcome of the presidential election or other key races.

Go deeper (2 min. read)Arrow
Margaret Talev, David Nather
23 mins ago - Politics & Policy

New interactive tool shows Biden's mail voting danger

Data: SurveyMonkey; Chart: Danielle Alberti/Axios

Voters who disapprove of President Trump most strongly are by far the most likely to vote by mail in the presidential election, according to an Axios analysis of exclusive data from SurveyMonkey and Tableau.

Why it matters: The new data shows just how strongly the mail-in vote is likely to favor Joe Biden — with potentially enormous implications in the swing states due to the greater risk of rejection with mail ballots.

Go deeper (3 min. read)Arrow
Caitlin Owens, author of Vitals
52 mins ago - Health

Reopening the ACA debate is politically risky for GOP

Data: Kaiser Family Foundation, The Cook Political Report; Notes: Those losing insurance includes 2020 ACA marketplace enrollment and 2019 Medicaid expansion enrollment among newly-eligible enrollees. Close races are those defined as "Toss up" or "Lean R/D"; Table: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

The sudden uncertainty surrounding the future of the Affordable Care Act could be an enormous political liability for Republicans in key states come November.

Between the lines: Millions of people in crucial presidential and Senate battlegrounds would lose their health care coverage if the Supreme Court strikes down the law, as the Trump administration is urging it to.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow

Get Axios AM in your inbox

Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!