Tech Giants Around It Privacy Wall, Then Let Facebook ... · 19/12/2018 · But the documents, as...

VOL. CLXVIII . . . No. 58,181 © 2018 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2018

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WASHINGTON — Hackers in-filtrated the European Union’sdiplomatic communications net-work for years, downloading thou-sands of cables that reveal con-cerns about an unpredictableTrump administration and strug-gles to deal with Russia and Chinaand the risk that Iran would re-vive its nuclear program.

In one cable, European diplo-mats described a meeting be-tween President Trump and Pres-ident Vladimir V. Putin of Russiain Helsinki, Finland, as “success-ful (at least for Putin).”

Another cable, written after aJuly 16 meeting, relayed a detailedreport and analysis of a discussionbetween European officials andPresident Xi Jinping of China,who was quoted comparing Mr.

Trump’s “bullying” of Beijing to a“no-rules freestyle boxing match.”

The techniques that the hackersdeployed over a three-year periodresembled those long used by anelite unit of China’s People’s Liber-ation Army. The cables were cop-ied from the secure network andposted to an open internet sitethat the hackers set up in thecourse of their attack, accordingto Area 1, the firm that discoveredthe breach.

Area 1 made more than 1,100 ofthe hacked European Union ca-bles available to The New YorkTimes. The White House NationalSecurity Council did not have animmediate comment on Tuesday.

The compromised material pro-vides insight into Europe’s strug-

In Hacked Cables, E.U. FretsOver Russia, China and Trump

By DAVID E. SANGER and STEVEN ERLANGER

Continued on Page A12

A portion of a cable describing a private meeting in July betweenEuropean officials and Xi Jinping, the Chinese president.

JOSH HANER/THE NEW YORK TIMES

With warming seas causing a drop in the sardine population, sea lions on Isabela Island are now preying on tuna.Climate change is imperiling the unique creatures of the natural laboratory that inspired Charles Darwin. Page A8.

GALÁPAGOS ISLANDS FACE A CLIMATE CRISIS

For years, Facebook gave someof the world’s largest technologycompanies more intrusive accessto users’ personal data than it hasdisclosed, effectively exemptingthose business partners from itsusual privacy rules, according tointernal records and interviews.

The special arrangements aredetailed in hundreds of pages ofFacebook documents obtained byThe New York Times. Therecords, generated in 2017 by thecompany’s internal system fortracking partnerships, providethe most complete picture yet ofthe social network’s data-sharingpractices. They also underscorehow personal data has become themost prized commodity of the dig-ital age, traded on a vast scale bysome of the most powerful compa-nies in Silicon Valley and beyond.

The exchange was intended tobenefit everyone. Pushing for ex-plosive growth, Facebook gotmore users, lifting its advertisingrevenue. Partner companies ac-quired features to make theirproducts more attractive. Face-book users connected with friendsacross different devices and web-sites. But Facebook also assumedextraordinary power over the per-sonal information of its 2.2 billionusers — control it has wieldedwith little transparency or outsideoversight.

The social network allowedMicrosoft’s Bing search engine to

see the names of virtually allFacebook users’ friends withoutconsent, the records show, andgave Netflix and Spotify the abil-ity to read Facebook users’ pri-vate messages.

The social network permittedAmazon to obtain users’ namesand contact information throughtheir friends, and it let Yahoo viewstreams of friends’ posts as re-cently as this summer, despitepublic statements that it hadstopped that type of sharing yearsearlier.

Facebook has been reeling froma series of privacy scandals, setoff by revelations in March that apolitical consulting firm, Cam-bridge Analytica, improperlyused Facebook data to build toolsthat aided President Trump’s 2016campaign. Acknowledging that ithad breached users’ trust, Face-book insisted that it had institutedstricter privacy protections longago. Mark Zuckerberg, the chiefexecutive, assured lawmakers inApril that people “have completecontrol” over everything theyshare on Facebook.

But the documents, as well asinterviews with about 50 formeremployees of Facebook and itscorporate partners, reveal thatFacebook allowed certain compa-nies access to data despite thoseprotections. They also raise ques-tions about whether Facebook ranafoul of a 2011 consent agreementwith the Federal Trade Commis-sion that barred the social net-

Facebook Offered UsersPrivacy Wall, Then Let

Tech Giants Around ItInternal Documents Reveal Partnerships

to Share Personal Information

This article is by Gabriel J.X.Dance, Michael LaForgia and Nich-olas Confessore.

Continued on Page A22

The Donald J. Trump Founda-tion, once billed as the charitablearm of the president’s financialempire, agreed to dissolve onTuesday and give away all its re-maining assets under court super-vision as part of a continuing in-vestigation and lawsuit by theNew York attorney general.

The foundation was accused bythe attorney general, Barbara Un-derwood, of “functioning as littlemore than a checkbook to serveMr. Trump’s business and politicalinterests,” and of engaging in “ashocking pattern of illegality” thatincluded unlawfully coordinatingwith Mr. Trump’s 2016 presiden-tial campaign.

In addition to shuttering thecharity, her office has pursued alawsuit that could bar PresidentTrump and his three oldest chil-dren from the boards of other NewYork charities, as well as force thepayment of millions in restitutionand penalties.

“This is an important victoryfor the rule of law, making clearthat there is one set of rules for ev-eryone,” Ms. Underwood said inannouncing the agreement.

The closing of the foundation isa milestone in what has been atwo-year investigation after thenonprofit’s management and giv-ing patterns emerged as a flashpoint in the 2016 campaign. Whatassets remain after penalties willbe directed to charities that mustbe approved by the attorney gen-eral’s office, and the process willbe subject to judicial supervision.

Ms. Underwood and a lawyerfor the Trump foundation signedthe stipulation agreeing to the dis-solution.

“We’ll continue to move our suitforward,” Ms. Underwood said,

TrumpCharityAgrees to EndAmid Lawsuit

By SHANE GOLDMACHER

Continued on Page A16

WASHINGTON — A federaljudge transformed a seeminglystraightforward sentencing hear-ing for Michael T. Flynn, Presi-dent Trump’s first national securi-ty adviser, into a dramatic show-down on Tuesday, expressing “dis-gust” at Mr. Flynn’s efforts tomislead federal investigators anddismissing suggestions he hadbeen treated unfairly.

In an extraordinary two-hoursession in Federal District Courtin Washington, the judge, EmmetG. Sullivan, left no doubt that heviewed Mr. Flynn’s crimes as seri-ous enough to warrant prison timedespite a recommendation fromprosecutors that he receive a le-nient sentence.

But Judge Sullivan gave Mr.Flynn the option of postponing hissentencing so he had additionaltime to prove the value of his co-operation with federal prosecu-tors. Mr. Flynn promptly took upthe offer, delaying a decision onhis fate at least until March.

The hearing underscored thegravity of the inquiry by the spe-cial counsel, Robert S. Mueller III,and the enormous consequencesfor those ensnared in it.

Mr. Flynn, 59, a retired three-star general whose military ca-reer spanned 33 years, pleadedguilty a year ago to lying to F.B.I.

agents about his conversationswith the Russian ambassador,Sergey I. Kislyak, in the month af-ter Mr. Trump’s election. He alsoacknowledged that he lied in doc-uments he filed with the JusticeDepartment about his lobbying ef-forts on behalf of the Turkish gov-ernment before the election.

“This is a very serious offense,”Judge Sullivan said. “A high-rank-ing senior official of the govern-ment making false statements tothe Federal Bureau of Investiga-tion while on the physical prem-ises of the White House.”

At one point, Judge Sullivanasked whether Mr. Flynn couldhave been charged with addi-tional crimes. Later, he even

Flynn Was Looking for Leniency;Judge Gave Him a Stern Rebuke

By SHARON LaFRANIEREand ADAM GOLDMAN

Michael T. FlynnCHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES

Continued on Page A14

Late Edition

ABC, VIA GETTY IMAGES

Penny Marshall, left, TV’s “Laverne & Shirley” and later the di-rector of “Big” and other movies, died at 75. Page A28.

She Did It Her Way (Yes, Her Way)

Lives of exclusion and poverty areforcing indigenous Guatemalans tomake a dangerous journey. PAGE A4

INTERNATIONAL A4-12

Child’s Death Deepens Despair

Xi Jinping marked 40 years of economicliberalization by arguing that Commu-nist control must not waver. PAGE A12

China’s Leader Lauds PartyThe famous nanny smiles a lot in “MaryPoppins Returns,” but Manohla Dargiscalls the film largely charmless. PAGE C1

Uplift, but Well Short of Bliss

The Red Cat, a classic Manhattanrestaurant for nearly two decades, isbowing out this month in style. PAGE D1

FOOD D1-8

A Bittersweet EndingSteven Spielberg is expanding themission of his Shoah Foundation tocombat an uptick in extremism. PAGE C1

ARTS C1-8

Director Shines Light on HatePresident Trump might be ready to givein on his demand for $5 billion for aborder wall, but a spending deal re-mained stalled. PAGE A17

NATIONAL A13-24

Retreat, No Truce, on Funding

A black doctor’s rejection by an all-white club drew anger in a city hopingto transcend racial divides. PAGE A13

Bias at the Rifle Club

A Brooklyn man faced danger to get hisfamily out of Yemen. The State Depart-ment is still an obstacle. PAGE A25

NEW YORK A25-27

Separated by a Travel Ban

French health officials halted the sale oftextured breast implants made byAllergan that have been linked to anunusual type of cancer. PAGE B4

BUSINESS DAY B1-7

Europe Recalls Breast Implants

José Mourinho had long coveted achance to work at the club, but as man-ager he struggled to connect with Unit-ed’s young stars. PAGE B8

SPORTSWEDNESDAY B8-11

A Firing at Manchester United

Thomas L. Friedman PAGE A31

EDITORIAL, OP-ED A30-31

WASHINGTON — The Senateoverwhelmingly approved onTuesday the most substantialchanges in a generation to thetough-on-crime prison and sen-tencing laws that ballooned thefederal prison population and cre-ated a criminal justice system thatmany conservatives and liberalsview as costly and unfair.

The First Step Act would ex-pand job training and other pro-gramming aimed at reducing re-cidivism rates among federal pris-oners. It also expands early-re-lease programs and modifiessentencing laws, including man-datory minimum sentences fornonviolent drug offenders, tomore equitably punish drug of-fenders.

But the legislation falls short ofbenchmarks set by a more expan-sive overhaul proposed in Con-gress during Barack Obama’spresidency and of the kinds ofchanges sought by some liberaland conservative activists target-ing mass incarceration.

House leaders have pledged topass the measure this week, andPresident Trump, whose supportresuscitated a yearslong overhauleffort last month, said he wouldsign the bill.

Even as both sides acknowl-edged concessions, Tuesday’svote was an important first stepfor the unlikely coalition of liber-als and conservatives — includingthe American Civil Liberties Un-ion, the American ConservativeUnion, Koch brothers and the lib-eral Center for AmericanProgress — who locked arms inrecent years and pushed lawmak-ers to reconsider the way the fed-eral government administers jus-tice three decades after the war oncrime peaked. In one of this Con-gress’s final acts, every Democratand all but 12 Republicans voted infavor of the legislation — an out-come that looked highly unlikelythis month amid skepticism fromRepublican leaders.

SENATE APPROVESPRISON OVERHAUL

Something for Everyonein a Bipartisan Bill

By NICHOLAS FANDOS

Continued on Page A18

BUMP STOCK BAN A new regula-tion on guns gives owners 90 daysto get rid of the devices. PAGE A18

A Harvard addiction medicinespecialist is getting calls from dis-traught parents around the coun-try. A Stanford psychologist is get-ting calls from rattled school offi-cials around the world. A federalagency has ordered a public hear-

ing on the issue.Alarmed by the addictive na-

ture of nicotine in e-cigarettes andits impact on the developing brain,public health experts are strug-gling to address a surging newproblem: how to help teenagersquit vaping.

Until now, the storm over e-cig-arettes has largely focused on how

to keep the products away fromminors. But the pervasiveness ofnicotine addiction among teen-agers who already use the devicesis now sinking in — and there is noclear science or treatment to helpthem stop.

“Nobody is quite sure what todo with those wanting to quit, as

Teenagers Can’t Quit Vaping. Experts Can’t Help.By JAN HOFFMAN

Continued on Page A24

Today, sunny to partly cloudy, sea-sonably cold, high 42. Tonight,partly cloudy, low 36. Tomorrow,sunshine, then increasing clouds,high 46. Weather map, Page B12.

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