Major tech players Google, Apple, and Snap are unhappy about redactions on slides presented by Meta during its antitrust trial today. The errors left room for easy removal of sensitive information, with attorneys calling the disclosures “egregious.”
Apple’s representative expressed concern that it may not trust Meta to handle internal information in the future. Google’s attorney also accused Meta of jeopardizing its data after the mistake. Snap’s attorney claimed Meta had a “cavalier approach” to redaction and questioned whether it would have applied similar non-disclosure measures if it were handling its own confidential info.
In earlier comments, Snap had expressed concerns over shared confidential information during opening statements, without specifying which was sensitive. Meta’s lead attorney maintained that he didn’t reveal any confidential info, but the company’s other lawyer disagreed. The companies were upset because Meta failed to inform them of the redaction plan beforehand, citing that Snap is working closely with the FTC as a competitor.
The unredacted slides revealed some minor details about iPhone user preferences and Snapchat’s performance in 2020. However, the main concern for tech giants is not the level of detail but rather the fact that Meta openly referenced confidential information from its competitors.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/news/649834/meta-redactions-apple-google-snap-angry-ftc-antitrust-trial