Data breach will cost Uber $148M

Uber will pay $148 million to settle a nationwide investigation into a 2016 data breach, in which a hacker managed to gain access to information belonging to 57 million riders and drivers. The breach included names and driver’s license numbers for 600,000 drivers.

The investigation, led by state attorneys general across the United States, focused on whether Uber had violated data breach notification laws by not informing consumers that their information had been compromised. Rather than disclosing the breach when it occurred, Uber paid the hacker $100,000 through its bug bounty program, which financially rewards hackers for discovering and disclosing software flaws.

FCC puts feds in charge of 5G

The next wave of cellular technology, known as 5G, will roll out on a timeline and budget determined by the federal government, not local officials, the Federal Communications Commission decided on Wednesday. The new rules are meant to speed up the installation of 5G equipment, which delivers wireless internet at speeds far faster than the current standard.

The signal range for the new transmissions is much shorter, meaning that cell providers must install hundreds of thousands of small stations, if not millions, across neighborhoods. The new FCC rules set a clock of 60 to 90 days for local officials to approve or reject installation requests from wireless carriers.

Fox sells stake in Sky to Comcast

Twenty-First Century Fox agreed to sell its 39 percent stake in the British broadcaster Sky to Comcast on Wednesday in a deal worth $15 billion, ending Rupert Murdoch’s yearslong ambition to take full ownership of the satellite service he helped found three decades ago.

Murdoch, the executive co-chairman of Twenty-First Century Fox, sold most of his empire to the Walt Disney Co. this summer.

Student debt program panned

An initiative designed to help college graduates who choose low-paying public-service jobs pay off their student loans is run in a confusing and piecemeal fashion, according to a government report. As a result, many borrowers are left wondering whether their federal student loans can be forgiven.

Only a small number of people have had their debt discharged under the program, according to the Government Accountability Office, despite large numbers of college graduates applying for loan forgiveness.

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was introduced in 2007 to encourage students to pursue public-service careers without being hobbled by debt.

— Bulletin wire reports