Business News at a Glance

Facebook Introduces Central Page for Privacy and Security Settings

Facebook said it will roll out a centralized system for its users to control their privacy and security settings in response to an outcry over the way it has handled personal data. The system, to be introduced over the coming weeks, will allow people to change their privacy and security settings from one place rather than having to go to roughly 20 separate sections across the social media platform. Users can control their political preferences or interests, and download and review a file of data Facebook has collected. Facebook also will clarify what information related apps are gathering.

Walmart Pulls Cosmo From Checkout, and an Anti-Porn Group Claims Victory

Walmart customers looking for the latest issue of Cosmopolitan magazine will have to search the superstore a little harder. The retailer has decided to remove the magazine from its checkout aisle displays in its 5,000-plus U.S. stores, in a move announced by a nonprofit anti-pornography group. The magazines will be placed on racks elsewhere, varying by store. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation, an advocacy group that has campaigned against what it calls Cosmopolitan’s “hypersexualized and sexually objectifying” content, took some credit for the move Tuesday, citing its “collaborative dialogue” with Walmart.

Executive Who Sold Self-Driving Truck Startup to Uber Departs

One of the founders of Otto, a self-driving truck company founded by former Google employees and acquired by Uber, has left the ride-hailing service. Lior Ron — who along with Anthony Levandowski sold Otto to Uber in 2016 — was in charge of Uber Freight, a truck shipment booking service. Most of Uber Freight’s business does not involve the company’s autonomous trucks. The departure followed a fatal crash involving an Uber self-driving car in Tempe, Arizona. An Uber spokesman said the departure was unrelated to the crash in Tempe, but he would not elaborate on the timing of his exit.

Boeing Possibly Hit by ‘WannaCry’ Malware Attack

Boeing said Wednesday that it was hit by a cyberattack that some executives identified as the same WannaCry computer virus that struck computer systems in more than 70 countries last year. In an internal memo, Mike VanderWel, chief engineer of Boeing Commercial Airplane production engineering, said the attack was “metastasizing” and he worried it could spread to Boeing’s production systems and airline software. WannaCry is a particularly vicious form of ransomware — malware that locks up victims’ computers and data with encryption, until attackers’ extortion demands are met, often in the form of the virtual currency bitcoin.

BMW and Daimler, Once Rivals, Join Forces to Fend Off Silicon Valley

The German carmakers Daimler and BMW said on Thursday that they will merge their car-sharing businesses as they try to compete better with Silicon Valley companies. Daimler, the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars, and BMW said they would put their respective mobility services — an array of apps and services that provide transport options for people who may not own cars — into a joint venture. In addition to BMW’s DriveNow and Daimler’s Car2Go, the agreement announced Wednesday includes services that help customers hail taxis, find parking spots, and charge electric vehicles.

$9.5 Billion Purchase by Concho Is Latest Sign of West Texas Oil Boom

Two Texas oil companies joined forces Wednesday in the biggest deal yet in the Southwestern oil patch, one that should add momentum to the rush to produce more oil as prices rise. Production in the region is expanding so fast that pipeline construction is barely keeping up. The move by Concho Resources to purchase RSP Permian for $9.5 billion will make it the biggest shale oil and natural gas producer in the Permian Basin, the oil-rich area straddling West Texas and New Mexico. With 27 rigs, the company said it would have the area’s largest drilling and hydraulic fracturing operation.