- 3 years ago
These tech scandals were impossible to ignore. For this list, we’ll be looking at legal disputes and controversies that sent shockwaves throughout the tech industry.
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00:00 very open to understanding how we can be helpful.
00:02 I told you how you can be helpful. You can meet their humanitarian needs.
00:06 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 tech scandals.
00:11 At that point, I knew it's just unacceptable what this company is doing.
00:15 For this list, we'll be looking at legal disputes and controversies that send
00:18 shockwaves throughout the tech industry. Think we missed any? Let us know in the comments below.
00:24 Hey, Mojoholics! For a chance to win cash prizes, play our live daily trivia challenges every day
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00:35 In 2015, some of the biggest names in tech, including Apple, Google, Intel, and Adobe,
00:47 dished out a hefty $450 million to settle an anti-poaching lawsuit.
00:52 Around 64,000 employees of the tech giants accused them of conspiring to limit their careers
00:58 and salaries by agreeing to not hire each other's employees, locking them out of better-paying jobs.
01:02 Emails between late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt
01:08 that reportedly contained plans to avoid recruiting each other's employees were
01:12 said to be a large basis of the case.
01:14 The companies admitted that they had agreements not to hire each other's staff in some cases.
01:18 They disputed the accusation that it had been done to keep wages down,
01:22 but opted to settle the suit out of court for a very considerable sum.
01:25 It's been closely watched because of the possibility that big damages might be awarded,
01:29 and for the opportunity to peek into the world of some of the United States' elite tech firms.
01:33 9. The Google-Pentagon Contract
01:36 In 2018, Google signed a contract with the U.S. Department of Defense that had the tech
01:40 giants' employees up in arms. The contract was for Project Maven, which aimed to develop AI
01:45 technology for drone use. Several thousand employees signed a petition in protest,
01:50 and over a dozen resigned. The petition letter highlighted that the employees
01:54 believed Project Maven was damaging Google's reputation and violating its ethical responsibilities.
01:59 Some employees at Google feel like the company shouldn't be involved with the military at all.
02:04 There are other employees that feel that using artificial intelligence in this context is
02:08 particularly risky. They foresee a future where eventually you have a computer making the decision
02:14 of whether or not to carry out a drone strike.
02:16 The backlash ultimately forced Google to rethink its involvement in the project,
02:20 and the company announced that it would not renew its contract with the Pentagon.
02:23 We determined the company saying that there were portions of the contract
02:27 that were out of scope with our current government certifications.
02:31 8. Foxconn
02:32 Do you have any comments on what's going on at Foxconn because of all the press around?
02:36 Oh sure, yeah, we're pretty on top of that.
02:38 If you're an avid tech user, you've probably used a device manufactured by Foxconn.
02:42 The Taiwanese electronics company manufactures gadgets for tech giants like Apple, Nintendo, and HP.
02:48 What do you want the people who end up buying this to know about you?
02:51 I want them to know me, she says. I want them to know we put a lot of effort into
02:56 this product and when they use it, please use it with care.
02:59 However, Foxconn's reputation took a major hit in 2010 when at least 14 workers took
03:04 their own lives, exposing inhumane management practices and harsh working conditions.
03:09 You can be honest.
03:10 Steve Jobs defended the company as pretty nice,
03:13 evidently not a sentiment that its employees shared as they stood for 12-hour shifts a day,
03:17 six days a week.
03:18 An exhausted workforce, people sleeping on their breaks, others falling asleep as they work.
03:25 In response to the tragedy, Foxconn installed safety nets to catch employees,
03:29 had them sign pledges not to take their own lives, and increased wages.
03:32 7. Exploding Samsung Note 7S
03:36 In 2016, the Samsung Note 7 took the world by storm before going up in flames.
03:41 Because to make it big, you don't just need a big smartphone,
03:45 you need a smartphone that thinks big.
03:47 A month after Samsung released the device, disaster struck.
03:51 The phone's batteries were defective, causing the phone to overheat and catch fire.
03:55 Samsung recalled the phone and switched battery suppliers.
03:58 However, the replacement phones also started catching fire.
04:01 The device's lithium-ion batteries exploding or igniting,
04:05 the company says, sparking as many as 35 reported fires.
04:10 Memes were born, and Samsung's reputation went up in smoke.
04:13 But the company persevered through the controversy.
04:15 In October, they recalled the device and ceased production.
04:19 The mistake was projected to cost them US$17 billion in revenue.
04:23 It's fair to say other companies have had issues with batteries,
04:26 others have had software problems with phones,
04:28 but nothing on the scale of the disaster that hit the Galaxy Note 7.
04:34 Number 6. Dieselgate
04:36 Talk about being caught red-handed.
04:37 The list of suspects keeps on growing.
04:40 At the heart of it all, diesel engines.
04:42 In the mid-2010s, German automaker Volkswagen was caught cheating on diesel emission tests
04:48 by installing software that detected when the cars were being tested
04:51 and altered engine performance to meet EPA standards.
04:53 So this cheat, this lie, was born out of an absolute ruthless ambition
04:59 to be the number one automaker in the world.
05:02 Executed ruthlessly.
05:04 However, outside of test mode,
05:06 the engines spewed out pollutants up to 40 times the allowed limit.
05:09 But the company's problems are bigger than that.
05:11 It admits the problem is global in scale, affecting 11 million cars worldwide.
05:16 The scandal forced Volkswagen to recall millions of vehicles
05:19 and ultimately cost them $33.3 billion.
05:22 Their attempt to put profits ahead of environmental concerns massively backfired
05:26 and tarnished their name for years to come.
05:28 That's some pretty serious deception,
05:30 and that's why Volkswagen is in such serious trouble.
05:32 Number 5.
05:33 Cambridge Analytica Facebook Data Scandal
05:36 The Cambridge Analytica scandal of 2018 jolted the tech industry,
05:40 revealing how a British consulting firm collected personal data
05:43 from millions of Facebook users without their consent for political advertising.
05:46 The problem was the company was not authorized to have this data,
05:50 which they got through a Facebook app.
05:52 This did not help with privacy concerns.
05:55 The fallout was major.
05:57 Facebook was fined $5 billion,
05:59 and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testified before Congress.
06:02 The scandal sparked public outcry and raised awareness
06:05 about the importance of privacy in tech.
06:07 They say it was their data and their research
06:10 that gave President Trump the winning margin.
06:12 The outrage continued with a 2020 ad boycott in protest of Facebook's failure
06:16 to prevent hate speech and a 2021 whistleblower
06:19 who claimed Facebook knowingly puts profits before user safety.
06:22 The Cambridge Analytica scandal was a wake-up call
06:25 that revealed how user data is sold and exploited
06:27 and the need for greater oversight.
06:29 You are playing with an entire country,
06:32 the psychology of an entire country without their consent or awareness.
06:36 Number 4. Yahoo Journalist Scandal
06:39 Chinese journalist Shi Tao was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2005
06:43 after communicating government restrictions
06:45 on reporting to a human rights group the previous year.
06:47 This was already controversial,
06:49 but it also emerged that Yahoo had played a role in his arrest and prosecution.
06:53 The company provided Shi's email account information to the Chinese government,
06:56 which was then used in his arrest.
06:58 But Yahoo points out that it is only obeying Chinese law,
07:01 and their presence there allows the system to be transformed from the inside
07:04 as internet revolutionizes access to information in the country.
07:08 Search engines like Google and Yahoo often emit political or religious information
07:12 from users in China to comply with government regulation.
07:15 This case drew fresh attention to the issue of complicity
07:18 and collaboration between tech giants and the state.
07:21 This was inexcusably negligent behavior.
07:25 While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies.
07:32 Number 3. HP Spying Candle
07:34 Think your boss is spying on you?
07:36 Well, sometimes it does happen.
07:38 In 2006, HP chairwoman Patricia Dunn hired security experts
07:42 to investigate an information leak.
07:44 These experts recruited private investigators
07:46 who used a shady tactic known as pretexting.
07:49 Specifically, they impersonated board members and journalists
07:52 to obtain confidential phone records.
07:54 Once the scheme was exposed,
07:56 Dunn claimed not to have known what methods were being used.
07:59 An investigation led to criminal charges,
08:01 although almost all the charges were eventually dismissed.
08:03 The scandal contributed to a new law in California against pretexting.
08:07 Number 2. Theranos
08:09 I worked for Steve Jobs.
08:11 I saw some crazy things,
08:12 but Elizabeth took it to a level that I've never seen before.
08:17 Elizabeth Holmes was once touted as the next Steve Jobs.
08:20 She dropped out of Stanford at 19 to start Theranos,
08:23 a healthcare company that claimed to revolutionize blood testing.
08:26 She was named one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people.
08:31 Wired called her work "mind-blowing."
08:33 However, the technology was not as revolutionary as she claimed.
08:37 In 2015, an article in The Wall Street Journal
08:39 exposed the fraudulent claims made by Holmes and her company,
08:42 leading to her indictment on charges of fraud
08:44 and an 11-year prison sentence.
08:46 The scandal shocked the tech world
08:48 and inspired Hulu's hit drama miniseries, The Dropout.
08:51 I'm going to drop out.
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09:07 Number 1. Global Surveillance Disclosures
09:12 In 2013, whistleblower Edward Snowden made international headlines
09:16 by leaking classified information about global surveillance programs,
09:20 including those in the NSA.
09:21 Snowden said he saw firsthand and became increasingly concerned
09:25 about the reach of the NSA's electronic surveillance of innocent Americans.
09:30 Even if you're not doing anything wrong, you're being watched and recorded.
09:33 And that's why he said he chose to expose secret U.S. programs
09:37 that collect the phone records of Americans
09:40 and monitor overseas internet emails.
09:42 This wasn't the first time the NSA was accused of overreaching.
09:45 In 2006, it was revealed that AT&T allowed the NSA
09:49 to wiretap internet traffic.
09:51 The information Snowden leaked revealed that the NSA was sucking up emails,
09:55 text messages, and even video chats with the help of tech giants,
09:58 or by hacking into them.
10:00 I think that the public is owed an explanation of the motivations
10:03 behind the people who make these disclosures
10:05 that are outside of the democratic model.
10:08 These included domestic as well as foreign communications.
10:11 Snowden fled the U.S. to avoid prosecution and remains in Russia,
10:14 praised as a hero by some and condemned as a traitor by others.
10:18 He has said previously that having this Russian citizenship
10:22 would allow him to be able to cross borders more freely.
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10:33 [Outro Music]
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