The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is planning to fire the “vast majority” of employees at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), agency employees — some using pseudonyms for fear of retaliation — told a federal court in sworn declarations.
Seven current and five former CFPB employees submitted the declarations as part of the National Treasury Employees Union case against Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought, who’s currently serving as the acting director of the CFPB. The union is seeking to halt the already in-progress dismantling of the financial services watchdog, which fields thousands of consumer complaints each week about financial products, and as of 2023, had returned $17.5 billion to consumers over 12 years through things like monetary compensation and canceled debts. Earlier this month, The Verge reported that roughly 20 technologists at the agency were suddenly fired on a weeknight, amid a broader swath of layoffs. The court has temporarily barred the CFPB from making further cuts.
Four of the seven current employees declined to provide their names publicly but offered to identify themselves to the court under seal. In the declarations, provided under penalty of perjury, the employees described a hasty firing process orchestrated by DOGE, with cursory thought as to who would handle consumer protection issues and CFPB data once the agency was gutted. The stop-work order at the agency has prevented staffers from even conducting necessary work “to maintain the security and stability of the CFPB’s computer systems,” according to one of the declarations.
One current employee, using the pseudonym Alex Doe, says that, around February 13th, their team “was directed to assist with terminating the vast majority of CFPB employees as quickly as possible.” Alex Doe described a three-phase approach: first, firing probationary employees who are newer to the agency; second, firing “approximately 1,200 additional employees, by eliminating whole offices, divisions, and units”; and third, terminating most of the remaining employees within 60-90 days, “leaving a Bureau that could not actually perform any functions, or no Bureau at all.”
The speed of the recent layoffs necessitated “bypassing several ordinary procedures, safeguards, and rules”
The CFPB is responsible for ensuring that companies offering financial services are not misleading consumers or skirting the law. Consumers could submit complaints to the agency about credit cards and loans, and the agency could also initiate enforcement actions and rulemakings, like the one it previously finalized to monitor large digital payment providers as it does banks.
The speed of the recent layoffs necessitated “bypassing several ordinary procedures, safeguards, and rules,” according to Alex Doe, who says that the timeline of the terminations was specifically dictated by DOGE employee Jordan Wick. Only a court order that temporarily prevented further firings stopped the remaining terminations from going through on Valentine’s Day, they add. The CFPB and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a meeting after the court order, CFPB chief operating officer Adam Martinez told staff that “he did not yet know what agency would perform a similar role for the CFPB or whether the Bureau itself would technically continue to exist with a small staff to perform those functions,” according to Alex Doe.
A second current employee, using the pseudonym Blake Doe, disputes Martinez’s declaration to the court that consumers who would have been served by the CFPB’s now-eliminated Student Loan Ombudsman could just turn to the agency’s general Ombudsman office. “That is not possible, however, because the employees of the general Ombudsman Office have been ordered not to perform any work,” writes Blake Doe. Contrary to Martinez’s declaration, Blake Doe says they’ve seen evidence that the CFPB was in communication with the Federal Reserve about how to return money there or to the Treasury.
“The hasty termination of almost all of the Bureau’s contracts resulted in systems and services being turned off before CFPB or contract personnel returned CFPB data.”
Other declarations raise issues about DOGE staffers’ privacy and security training to handle CFPB systems and concerns about where agency data — which could include HR and reasonable accommodation records — might end up.
A CFPB contracting officer going by the name of Charlie Doe says that contract termination notices they saw did not include the usual data preservation notices to ensure CFPB data is not lost. Between February 11th and 14th, the agency issued termination notices for over a hundred contracts, Charlie Doe says, including ones that maintain the consumer complaint database and ensure it’s scrubbed of personally identifiable information, ignoring feedback from employees about which contracts were necessary to keep to follow the law.
“The hasty termination of almost all of the Bureau’s contracts resulted in systems and services being turned off before CFPB or contract personnel returned CFPB data,” a fourth employee, Drew Doe, writes. “Because not all systems have off-line backups, some of the CFPB’s data may have been deleted. Among other things, this data may include CFPB Human Resource records, Reasonable Accommodation records, Ombudsman records, and Equal Employment Opportunity records. The data may not be recoverable and as of February 25th, CFPB is trying to now figure out which systems and services have records.”
Some of the seemingly hasty work is apparently deliberate. CFPB director of digital services Adam Scott submitted an email exchange he was copied on to the court, in which the agency’s chief information officer, Christopher Chilbert, told an employee that it was his understanding that the CFPB’s deleted homepage was a decision made by Vought, “and it was not an error made by the members of the DOGE team.”
Drew Doe claims that DOGE staffers “were given full privileged access to CFPB systems and data, without following the process that the CFPB ordinarily requires to do so,” including signing documents about the governance of CFPB systems and data. In meetings over the past couple of weeks, they add, senior executives told agency staff “that the CFPB would exist in name only.”
Steam Next Fest is going on until March 3rd, and Iâve spent a considerable amount of time wading through a seemingly endless carousel of games, filling up my Steam Deckâs internal and external memory looking for the Good Shitâ¢. Iâve landed on four standout game demos that are worth your time now and whenever their full games release.
The best way to describe The Talos Principle: Reawakened is if Portal was harder, less funny, and written by C.S. Lewis if he knew what a robot was. Reawakened is a remaster of 2014âs The Talos Principle. But according to the developers at Croteam, Reawakened doesnât just take the original and slap on a next-gen coat of paint; it also adds new story content and a new puzzle editor so players can create their own challenges.Â
Reawakened strikes the perfect difficulty balance â not too simple, not too frustrating â that makes its puzzles delightful to figure out. In the demo, you play as a robot tasked with solving puzzles using lasers, signal jammers, and your own burgeoning sentience. The game gives you no tutorial on how exactly to use the tools youâre given. And while that can be annoying if t …
Mozilla introduced its first Terms of Use for Firefox this week, but the company has already had to post an update to address criticisms of language that appeared to give Mozilla overly broad ownership over user data.
Specifically, some users took issue with this line in the terms, as reported by TechCrunch: “When you upload or input information through Firefox, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use that information to help you navigate, experience, and interact with online content as you indicate with your use of Firefox.”
In response, Mozilla added this update to its blog post. “We need a license to allow us to make some of the basic functionality of Firefox possible,” Mozilla says. “Without it, we couldn’t use information typed into Firefox, for example.
The company adds that “it does NOT give us ownership of your data or a right to use it for anything other than what is described in the Privacy Notice.” (In the Privacy Notice, Mozilla spells out how it uses your data for things like the core functionality of Firefox and its features, as well as how to adjust what data you provide.)
To TechCrunch, Mozilla shared its reasoning over some of the language in the terms:
Mozilla also further clarified why it used certain terms, saying that the term “nonexclusive” was used to indicate that Mozilla doesn’t want an exclusive license to user data, because users should be able to do other things with that data, too.
“Royalty-free” was used because Firefox is free and neither Mozilla nor the user should owe each other money in exchange for handling the data in order to provide the browser. And “worldwide” was used because Firefox is available worldwide and provides access to the global internet.
Mozilla spokesperson Kenya Friend-Daniel also told TechCrunch that “these changes are not driven by a desire by Mozilla to use people’s data for AI or sell it to advertisers. As it says in the Terms of Use, we ask for permission from the user to use their data to operate Firefox ‘as you indicate with your use of Firefox.’ This means that our ability to use data is still limited by what we disclose in the Privacy Notice.”
In its original blog post, Mozilla said that “some optional Firefox features or services may require us to collect additional data to make them work, and when they do, your privacy remains our priority.” The company added that “we intend to be clear about what data we collect and how we use it.”
Friday afternoon’s roundup of Google Play deals for your Android devices are now ready to go down below. On your way down be sure to scope out the ongoing offers on the new S25, S25+, and S25 Ultra as well as our roundup of the best cases for them, and then dive into the deals we have today on ASUS’ latest Chromebook Plus Expertbook CX54, Google’s white Nest WiFi Pro router, and the current-gen Bose QuietComfort ANC headphones. As for the apps, highlights include titles like Dungeons of Dreadrock 2, Candy Disaster, ARIDA: Backland’s Awakening, Boxville, and more. Head below for a closer look.
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eufy cameras have long been some of the best options for outdoor HomeKit cameras. I had the original model of the in my old house, and I loved them. They were a breeze to install, and the battery life was fantastic. They worked great with HomeKit Secure Video, but they also worked great as HomeKit motion sensors and recording back to the eufy base station. Overall, I had zero complaints. I recently picked up the eufy E30, and it’s a fantastic HomeKit camera if you’re looking for an indoor camera that supports HomeKit Secure Video.
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Intel announced that it's further delaying plans to open two chip fabrication facilities in Ohio, pushing their completion out to 2030. The company originally announced its plans for Ohio in 2022, with an ambitious opening set for 2025.
Intel says it completed the "basement" level of its Ohio One project last quarter, which allows above-ground construction to get underway now. The $20 billion dollar project is technically split across two different chip fabs, dubbed Mod 1 and Mod 2, which won't be completed at the same time. Mod 1 is now set to open in 2030, to "align the start of production of our fabs with the needs of our business and broader market demand," according to Intel. Mod 2 will be completed the following year in 2031.
The justification is financial: Intel says it's taking a "prudent approach" that will ensure the chip fabs are completed in a "financially responsible manner." Intel previously told the state of Ohio that it was delaying the fabs until 2027. It also delayed the groundbreaking of the project seemingly to incentivize the passing of the CHIPS Act in 2022, according to a report from The Washington Post.
More delays add to what's been a tumultuous period for Intel as a company. In December, former CEO Pat Gelsinger was pushed out, likely because he wasn't pulling-off Intel's aggressive plans to expand chip production. Prior to that, the funding the company was set to receive through the CHIPS Act was reduced by $600 million. Add in layoffs and the continued dominance of chip makers like AMD, and Intel remains in a tricky spot.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/intel-once-again-delays-its-long-awaited-ohio-chip-fabrication-facilities-185516274.html?src=rss©
© Reuters / Reuters
Electric vehicle charging network EVgo changed its terms of service Thursday to include new language explicitly prohibiting the use of high-speed DC extension cables and breakaway adapters at the company’s stations. The terms, which go into effect March 8th, are another bump in the road for enterprising companies looking to cash in on EV charging accessories.
EVgo added the following terms in bold to the Authorized Charging Adapters section of its Terms of Service: “EVgo prohibits the use of all other adapters, including break-away adapters and DC extension cords (“Unauthorized Equipment”) on EVgo’s network and Charging Stations.” The company continues to authorize “automaker-manufactured charging adapters” (such as J3400 “NACS” to CCS1) and have UL2252 certification.
Another bump in the road for enterprising companies looking to cash in on EV charging accessories
Tesla’s Terms of Use for its Superchargers similarly prohibit any adapter not “sold or provided by Tesla or by other automakers,” without specifically calling out specific types.
EV accessory maker A2Z EV recently put up for preorder its $248 6ft-plus DC extension cord that lets you plug an EV into a short-corded fast-charging station. EV owners may want this to charge their non-Teslas at Tesla Superchargers using supported NACS adapters without blocking out multiple charging stalls. Superchargers are known for their short cords that can’t reach around to varying port locations on different EV makes. Some early testing by YouTube channel State of Charge shows the extension cable working without overheating.
Last year, a startup called EVject built a breakaway adapter designed to let you drive away from a Tesla Supercharger (or other station) without getting out of your car in case of a dangerous situation. However, Tesla sued the company after the automaker’s testing found that the adapter could overheat. Tesla eventually dropped the case later in the year, and EVject maintains that its product is safe.
However, should other competing EV accessory makers decide to make cheaper versions of extension cables and breakaway adapters for people to buy, it may not work as safely. And if both EVgo and Tesla networks are saying no to these accessories, then others might join — which means companies like A2Z EV and EVject might have a tough time selling their solutions.
Apple has released some of the first video ads for the iPhone 16e on its release day, including six new shorts plus a traditional video ad. The videos hit on a variety of talking points and feature promotions, but all seemingly supporting a single message: the iPhone 16e is the best iPhone for the average person.
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Fubo TV is bringing in more subscribers and revenue but still losing loads of money. Ahead of its proposed Hulu + Live TV merger, the broadcast streaming service increased its subscriber count by about four percent in Q4 2024 and its quarterly revenue by eight percent from a year earlier. And hey, it only lost about $41 million in the quarter, so things aren't too shabby!
The streaming service ended Q4 with 1.676 million paid subscribers. That's up from 1.61 million in Q3 and 1.45 million in Q2, so the company is doing something right in attracting new customers. Its total revenue has also grown: nearly $1.59 billion for the year (up 19 percent from 2023) and $433.8 million for the quarter (up eight percent from Q4 2023). Not too shabby!
But Fubo is losing boatloads of money — just less than before. It posted a net loss of nearly $178 million for the year, more than enough to ruin most individuals and small- or medium-sized businesses. But since this is corporate America, things are looking up there, champ! That's because Fubo improved its losses by over $115 million from a year earlier.
The company is headed for some big changes. Pending shareholder and regulatory approval, Disney will buy a 70 percent stake in the company and merge it with Hulu + Live TV. The deal would create a new entity to manage the two brands, although the plan is for them to continue as separate services (at least at first).
Fubo is arguably the best live TV service for sports, but it still has some notable missing pieces. For starters, you won't find any Warner Bros. Discovery content. That means subscribers will miss out on a bunch of NBA games (before TNT's deal with the league expires at the end of the season) and MLB games on TBS.
It also recently increased its prices, with the cheapest plan coming in at $85, slightly more than YouTube TV. Like the traditional cable it's gunning to replace, live streaming TV is increasingly an expensive hot mess.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/streaming/fubo-grows-its-subscribers-and-revenue-as-disney-deal-looms-183344157.html?src=rss©
© Fubo
“Thousands” of complaints about the volume of TV commercials have flooded the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in recent years. Despite the FCC requiring TV stations, cable operators, and satellite providers to ensure that commercials don’t bring a sudden spike in decibels, complaints around loud commercials “took a troubling jump” in 2024, the government body said on Thursday.
Under The Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation (CALM) Act, broadcast, cable, and satellite TV providers are required to ensure that commercials “have the same average volume as the programs they accompany,” per the FCC. The FCC’s rules about the volume of commercials took effect in December 2012. The law also requires linear TV providers to use the Advanced Television Systems Committee's (ATSC’s) recommended practices. The practices include guidance around production, post production, metadata systems usage, and controlling dynamic range. If followed, the recommendations “result in consistency in loudness and avoidance of signal clipping,” per the ATSC [PDF]. The guidance reads:
If all programs and commercials were produced at a consistent average loudness, and if the loudness of the mix is preserved through the production, distribution, and delivery chain, listeners would not be subjected to annoying changes in loudness within and between programs.
As spotted by PC Mag, the FCC claimed this week that The Calm Act initially reduced complaints about commercials aggressively blaring from TVs. However, the agency is seeing an uptick in grievances. The FCC said it received "approximately" 750 complaints in 2022, 825 in 2023, and "at least" 1,700 in 2024 [PDF].
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Intel’s big bet on chipmaking in Ohio is facing yet another setback. The company has delayed the completion of its first semiconductor factory to 2030—five years later than originally planned, local media outlet The Columbus Dispatch reported on Friday. The […]
The post Intel delays $28 billion Ohio chip factory to 2030 amid financial challenges first appeared on Tech Startups.
