Category: Global Domination

Iran’s Secret Manual for Controlling Protesters’ Mobile Phones

Posted on by Robin Edgar

As furious anti-government protests swept Iran, the authorities retaliated with both brute force and digital repression. Iranian mobile and internet users reported rolling network blackouts, mobile app restrictions, and other disruptions. Many expressed fears that the government can track their activities through their indispensable and ubiquitous smartphones. Iran’s tight grip on the country’s connection to the Read more about Iran’s Secret Manual for Controlling Protesters’ Mobile Phones[…]

Meta fined measly $24.6m over political ad non disclosure and disinformation

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Despite warnings of Chinese and Russian mischief and manipulation ahead of the US midterm elections, it seems American companies and citizens are perfectly capable of denting democracy on their own. A Washington judge fined Meta $24.6 million this week after ruling that Facebook intentionally broke [PDF] the state’s campaign finance transparency laws 822 times. This Read more about Meta fined measly $24.6m over political ad non disclosure and disinformation[…]

Anti-Cheat Software Continues To Be The New DRM In Pissing Off Legit Customers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] if you’ve been paying attention over the last couple of years, anti-cheat software is quickly becoming the new DRM. Access to root layers of the computer complaints, complaints about performance effects, complaints about how the software tracks customer behavior, and now finally we have the good old “software isn’t letting me play my game” Read more about Anti-Cheat Software Continues To Be The New DRM In Pissing Off Legit Customers[…]

Did PayPal Just Reintroduce Its $2,500 ‘Misinformation’ / ‘I disagree with you’ / ‘I find this offensive’ Fine, Hoping We Wouldn’t Notice?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

“On October 8th, PayPal updated its terms of service agreement to include a clause enabling it to withdraw $2,500 from users’ bank accounts simply for posting anything the company deems as misinformation or offensive,” reports Grit Daily. “Unsurprisingly, the backlash was instant and massive,” causing the company to backtrack on the policy and claim the Read more about Did PayPal Just Reintroduce Its $2,500 ‘Misinformation’ / ‘I disagree with you’ / ‘I find this offensive’ Fine, Hoping We Wouldn’t Notice?[…]

Google’s Privacy Settings Finally Won’t Break It’s Apps Anymore, require using My Ad Center

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] It used to be that the only way to prevent Google from using your data for targeted ads was turning off personalized ads across your whole account, or disabling specific kinds of data using a couple of settings, including Web & App Activity and YouTube History. Those two settings control whether Google collects certain Read more about Google’s Privacy Settings Finally Won’t Break It’s Apps Anymore, require using My Ad Center[…]

Texas sues Google for allegedly capturing biometric data of millions without consent

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Texas has filed a lawsuit against Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google for allegedly collecting biometric data of millions of Texans without obtaining proper consent, the attorney general’s office said in a statement on Thursday. The complaint says that companies operating in Texas have been barred for more than a decade from collecting people’s faces, voices or other Read more about Texas sues Google for allegedly capturing biometric data of millions without consent[…]

Ring Cameras Are Being Used To Control and Surveil Overworked Delivery Workers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Networked doorbell surveillance cameras like Amazon’s Ring are everywhere, and have changed the nature of delivery work by letting customers take on the role of bosses to monitor, control, and discipline workers, according to a recent report (PDF) by the Data & Society tech research institute. “The growing popularity of Ring and other networked doorbell Read more about Ring Cameras Are Being Used To Control and Surveil Overworked Delivery Workers[…]

TikTok joins Uber, Facebook in Monitoring The Physical Location Of Specific American Citizens

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The team behind the monitoring project — ByteDance’s Internal Audit and Risk Control department — is led by Beijing-based executive Song Ye, who reports to ByteDance cofounder and CEO Rubo Liang. The team primarily conducts investigations into potential misconduct by current and former ByteDance employees. But in at least two cases, the Internal Audit team Read more about TikTok joins Uber, Facebook in Monitoring The Physical Location Of Specific American Citizens[…]

iOS 16 VPN Tunnels Leak Data, Even When Lockdown Mode Is Enabled

Posted on by Robin Edgar

AmiMoJo shares a report from MacRumors: iOS 16 continues to leak data outside an active VPN tunnel, even when Lockdown mode is enabled, security researchers have discovered. Speaking to MacRumors, security researchers Tommy Mysk and Talal Haj Bakry explained that iOS 16’s approach to VPN traffic is the same whether Lockdown mode is enabled or Read more about iOS 16 VPN Tunnels Leak Data, Even When Lockdown Mode Is Enabled[…]

Shein Owner Fined $1.9 Million For Failing To Notify 39 Million Users of Data Breach – Slashdot

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Zoetop, the firm that owns Shein and its sister brand Romwe, has been fined (PDF) $1.9 million by New York for failing to properly disclose a data breach from 2018. TechCrunch reports: A cybersecurity attack that originated in 2018 resulted in the theft of 39 million Shein account credentials, including those of more than 375,000 Read more about Shein Owner Fined $1.9 Million For Failing To Notify 39 Million Users of Data Breach – Slashdot[…]

Meta’s New $1499 Headset Will Track Your Eyes for Targeted Ads

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Earlier this week, Meta revealed the Meta Quest Pro, the company’s most premium virtual reality headset to date with a new processor and screen, dramatically redesigned body and controllers, and inward-facing cameras for eye and face tracking. “To celebrate the $1,500 headset, Meta made some fun new additions to its privacy policy, including one titled Read more about Meta’s New $1499 Headset Will Track Your Eyes for Targeted Ads[…]

Android Leaks Some Traffic Even When ‘Always-On VPN’ Is Enabled – Slashdot

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Mullvad VPN has discovered that Android leaks traffic every time the device connects to a WiFi network, even if the “Block connections without VPN,” or “Always-on VPN,” features is enabled. BleepingComputer reports: The data being leaked outside VPN tunnels includes source IP addresses, DNS lookups, HTTPS traffic, and likely also NTP traffic. This behavior is Read more about Android Leaks Some Traffic Even When ‘Always-On VPN’ Is Enabled – Slashdot[…]

Judge Ruling That YouTube Ripping Tool May Violate Copyright Law goes nuts on argumentation

Posted on by Robin Edgar

There are a number of different tools out there that let you download YouTube videos. These tools are incredibly useful for a number of reasons and should be seen as obviously legal in the same manner that home video recording devices were declared legal by the Supreme Court, because they have substantial non-infringing uses. But, Read more about Judge Ruling That YouTube Ripping Tool May Violate Copyright Law goes nuts on argumentation[…]

Book Publishing Giant Wiley Pulls Nearly 1400 Ebook Titles From GW Library Forcing Students To Buy Them Instead

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] George Washington University libraries have put out an alert to students and faculty that Wiley, one of the largest textbook publishers, has now removed 1,379 textbook titles that the library can lend out. They won’t even let the library purchase a license to lend out the ebooks. They will only let students buy the Read more about Book Publishing Giant Wiley Pulls Nearly 1400 Ebook Titles From GW Library Forcing Students To Buy Them Instead[…]

Why Reddit Is Losing It Over Samsung’s New Privacy Policy – it’s an incredible data grab

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Samsung recently updated it privacy policy for all users with a Samsung account, effective Oct. 1. One Redditor read the policy, did not like what they saw, and shared it to r/android, highlighting what they consider to be the doc’s worst policy points. The thread blew up, with Android users aplenty decrying Samsung’s new policy. Read more about Why Reddit Is Losing It Over Samsung’s New Privacy Policy – it’s an incredible data grab[…]

The Onion defends right to parody in very real supreme court brief supporting local satirist vs Police who were made fun of

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Onion, the long-running satirical publication, has filed a very real legal document with the US supreme court, urging it to take on a case centered on the right to parody. And in order to make a serious legal point, the filing does what the Onion does best, offering a big helping of total nonsense. Read more about The Onion defends right to parody in very real supreme court brief supporting local satirist vs Police who were made fun of[…]

Publishers Lose Their Shit After Authors Push Back On Their Attack On Libraries, start fake newsing

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On Friday, we wrote about hundreds of authors signing a letter calling out the big publishers’ attacks on libraries (in many, many different ways). The publishers pretend to represent the best interests of the authors, but history has shown over and over again that they do not. They represent themselves, and use the names of Read more about Publishers Lose Their Shit After Authors Push Back On Their Attack On Libraries, start fake newsing[…]

EA Announces New Anti-Cheat Tech That Operates At The Kernel Level ie takes over your PC, can read and write everything on it

Posted on by Robin Edgar

It seems anti-cheat technology is the new DRM. By that I mean that, with the gaming industry diving headfirst into the competitive online gaming scene, the concern over piracy has shifted into a concern over cheating making those online games less attractive to gamers. And because the anti-cheat tech that companies are using is starting Read more about EA Announces New Anti-Cheat Tech That Operates At The Kernel Level ie takes over your PC, can read and write everything on it[…]

Blizzard really really wants your phone number to play its games – personal data grab and security risk

Posted on by Robin Edgar

When Overwatch 2 replaces the original Overwatch on Oct. 4, players will be required to link a phone number to their Battle.net accounts. If you don’t, you won’t be able to play Overwatch 2 — even if you’ve already purchased Overwatch. The same two-factor step, called SMS Protect, will also be used on all Call Read more about Blizzard really really wants your phone number to play its games – personal data grab and security risk[…]

Neil Gaiman, Cory Doctorow And Other Authors Publish Letter Protesting Lawsuit Against Internet Library

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A group of authors and other creative professionals are lending their names to an open letter protesting publishers’ lawsuit against the Internet Archive Library, characterizing it as one of a number of efforts to curb libraries’ lending of ebooks. Authors including Neil Gaiman, Naomi Klein, and Cory Doctorow lent their names to the letter, which Read more about Neil Gaiman, Cory Doctorow And Other Authors Publish Letter Protesting Lawsuit Against Internet Library[…]

Open internet at stake in UN ITU secretary-general election

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…]  this year’s event has become a geopolitical football – and possibly a turning point for internet governance – thanks to the two candidates running in an election for the position of ITU secretary-general. […] The USA has put forward Doreen Bogdan-Martin for the gig. […] Russia has nominated Rashid Ismailov for the job. A Read more about Open internet at stake in UN ITU secretary-general election[…]

Subreddit Discriminates Against Anyone Who Doesn’t Call Texas Governor Greg Abbott ‘A Little Piss Baby’ To Highlight Absurdity Of Content Moderation Law Designed for White Supremacists

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Last year, I tried to create a “test suite” of websites that any new internet regulation ought to be “tested” against. The idea was that regulators were so obsessively focused on the biggest of the big guys (i.e., Google, Meta) that they never bothered to realize how it might impact other decently large websites that Read more about Subreddit Discriminates Against Anyone Who Doesn’t Call Texas Governor Greg Abbott ‘A Little Piss Baby’ To Highlight Absurdity Of Content Moderation Law Designed for White Supremacists[…]

This Controversial Artist Matches Influencer Photoshoots With Surveillance Footage

Posted on by Robin Edgar

It’s an increasingly common sight on vacation, particularly in tourist destinations: An influencer sets up in front of a popular local landmark, sometimes even using props (coffee, beer, pets) or changing outfits, as a photographer or self-timed camera snaps away. Others are milling around, sometimes watching. But often, unbeknownst to everyone involved, another device is Read more about This Controversial Artist Matches Influencer Photoshoots With Surveillance Footage[…]

Fitbit accounts are being replaced by Google accounts

Posted on by Robin Edgar

New Fitbit users will be required to sign-up with a Google account, from next year, while it also appears one will be needed to access some of the new features in years to come. Google has been slowly integrating Fitbit into the fold since buying the company back in November 2019. Indeed, the latest products Read more about Fitbit accounts are being replaced by Google accounts[…]

Meta ordered to pay $175 million in patent infringement case

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A federal judge in Texas has ordered the company to pay Voxer, the developer of app called Walkie Talkie, nearly $175 million as an ongoing royalty. Voxer accused Meta of infringing its patents and incorporating that tech in Instagram Live and Facebook Live. In 2006, Tom Katis, the founder of Voxer, started working on a Read more about Meta ordered to pay $175 million in patent infringement case[…]