Category: Global Domination

Banks, ISPs Increasingly Embrace ‘Voice Print’ Authentication Despite Growing Security Risk

Posted on by Robin Edgar

While it’s certainly possible to sometimes do biometrics well, a long line of companies frequently… don’t. Voice print authentication is particularly shaky, especially given the rise of inexpensive voice deepfake technology. But, much like the continued use of text-message two-factor authentication (which is increasingly shown to not be secure), it apparently doesn’t matter to a Read more about Banks, ISPs Increasingly Embrace ‘Voice Print’ Authentication Despite Growing Security Risk[…]

Why our electronics break: what we can learn from nearly 10 years of repairs over 50k broken items

Posted on by Robin Edgar

We now have data on over 21,000 broken items and what was done to fix them. This information comes from volunteers at our own events and others who use our community repair platform, restarters.net. Thanks to our partners in the Open Repair Alliance who also collect this kind of data, we were able to include Read more about Why our electronics break: what we can learn from nearly 10 years of repairs over 50k broken items[…]

Apple Removes All References to Controversial CSAM Scanning Feature – where they would scan all the pictures you took

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Apple has quietly nixed all mentions of CSAM from its Child Safety webpage, suggesting its controversial plan to detect child sexual abuse images on iPhones and iPads may hang in the balance following significant criticism of its methods. Apple in August announced a planned suite of new child safety features, including scanning users’ iCloud Photos Read more about Apple Removes All References to Controversial CSAM Scanning Feature – where they would scan all the pictures you took[…]

Scott Morrison urged to end ‘lunacy’ and push UK and US for Julian Assange’s release by Australian PMs

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Australian parliamentarians have demanded the prime minister, Scott Morrison, intervene in the case of Julian Assange, an Australian citizen, after the United States won a crucial appeal in its fight to extradite the WikiLeaks founder on espionage charges. “The prime minister must get Assange home,” the Australian Greens leader, Adam Bandt, told Guardian Australia on Read more about Scott Morrison urged to end ‘lunacy’ and push UK and US for Julian Assange’s release by Australian PMs[…]

The European Commission is making its software open source to benefit society – considering it was paid for by the tax payers it’s the least they could do and should have done this years ago

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The European Commission has announced that it’s adopting new rules around open source software which will see it release software under open source licenses. The decision follows a Commission study that found investment in open source software leads on average to four times higher returns. There has also been a push for this type of Read more about The European Commission is making its software open source to benefit society – considering it was paid for by the tax payers it’s the least they could do and should have done this years ago[…]

Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules, changes mind because US tells judge to.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange can be extradited from the UK to the US, the High Court has ruled. The US won its appeal against a January UK court ruling that he could not be extradited due to concerns over his mental health. Judges were reassured by US promises to reduce the risk of suicide. His Read more about Julian Assange can be extradited to the US, court rules, changes mind because US tells judge to.[…]

Report: VPNs Are Often a Mixed Bag for Privacy

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] Consumer Reports, which recently published a 48-page white paper on VPNs that looks into the privacy and security policies of 16 prominent VPN providers. Researchers initially looked into some 51 different companies but ultimately honed in on the most prominent, high-quality providers. The results are decidedly mixed, with the report highlighting a lot of Read more about Report: VPNs Are Often a Mixed Bag for Privacy[…]

Prisons snoop on inmates’ phone calls with speech-to-text AI

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Prisons around the US are installing AI speech-to-text models to automatically transcribe conversations with inmates during their phone calls. A series of contracts and emails from eight different states revealed how Verus, an AI application developed by LEO Technologies and based on a speech-to-text system offered by Amazon, was used to eavesdrop on prisoners’ phone Read more about Prisons snoop on inmates’ phone calls with speech-to-text AI[…]

Executive at Swiss Tech Company Said to Operate Secret Surveillance Operation

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The co-founder of a company that has been trusted by technology giants including Google and Twitter to deliver sensitive passwords to millions of their customers also operated a service that ultimately helped governments secretly surveil and track mobile phones, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing former employees and clients. From the report: Since it started in 2013, Read more about Executive at Swiss Tech Company Said to Operate Secret Surveillance Operation[…]

Life360 Reportedly Sells Location Data of Families and Kids

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Life360, a popular tracking app that bills itself as “the world’s leading family safety service,” is purportedly selling location data on the 31 million families and kids that use it to data brokers. The chilling revelation may make users of the Tile Bluetooth tracker, which is being bought by Life360, think twice before continuing to Read more about Life360 Reportedly Sells Location Data of Families and Kids[…]

Documents Shows Just How Much The FBI Can Obtain From Encrypted Communication Services

Posted on by Robin Edgar

There is no “going dark.” Consecutive FBI heads may insist there is, but a document created by their own agency contradicts their dire claims that end-to-end encryption lets the criminals and terrorists win. Andy Kroll has the document and the details for Rolling Stone: [I]n a previously unreported FBI document obtained by Rolling Stone, the Read more about Documents Shows Just How Much The FBI Can Obtain From Encrypted Communication Services[…]

U.S. Indicts Two Men for Running a $20 Million YouTube Content ID Scam – after 4 years of warnings

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Two men have been indicted by a grand jury for running a massive YouTube Content ID scam that netted the pair more than $20m. Webster Batista Fernandez and Jose Teran managed to convince a YouTube partner that the pair owned the rights to 50,000+ tracks and then illegally monetized user uploads over a period of Read more about U.S. Indicts Two Men for Running a $20 Million YouTube Content ID Scam – after 4 years of warnings[…]

Qualcomm’s new always-on smartphone camera is always looking out for you

Posted on by Robin Edgar

“Your phone’s front camera is always securely looking for your face, even if you don’t touch it or raise to wake it.” That’s how Qualcomm Technologies vice president of product management Judd Heape introduced the company’s new always-on camera capabilities in the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor set to arrive in top-shelf Android phones early Read more about Qualcomm’s new always-on smartphone camera is always looking out for you[…]

WhatsApp privacy policy tweaked in Europe after record fine

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Following an investigation, the Irish data protection watchdog issued a €225m (£190m) fine – the second-largest in history over GDPR – and ordered WhatsApp to change its policies. WhatsApp is appealing against the fine, but is amending its policy documents in Europe and the UK to comply. However, it insists that nothing about its actual Read more about WhatsApp privacy policy tweaked in Europe after record fine[…]

The Amazon lobbyists who kill U.S. consumer privacy protections

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In recent years, Amazon.com Inc has killed or undermined privacy protections in more than three dozen bills across 25 states, as the e-commerce giant amassed a lucrative trove of personal data on millions of American consumers. Amazon executives and staffers detail these lobbying victories in confidential documents reviewed by Reuters. In Virginia, the company boosted political Read more about The Amazon lobbyists who kill U.S. consumer privacy protections[…]

South Korea Is Giving Millions of Photos of all foreign travelers since 2019 to Facial Recognition Researchers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The South Korean Ministry of Justice has provided more than 100 million photos of foreign nationals who travelled through the country’s airports to facial recognition companies without their consent, according to attorneys with the non-governmental organization Lawyers for a Democratic Society. While the use of facial recognition technology has become common for governments across the Read more about South Korea Is Giving Millions of Photos of all foreign travelers since 2019 to Facial Recognition Researchers[…]

Which governments censor the tech giants the most?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Note: these numbers do not take into account the amount of secret removal requests from governments, which are probably most in the US (also see https://www.linkielist.com/global-domination/us-judge-rules-twitter-cant-be-transparent-about-amount-of-surveillance-requests-processed-per-year-due-to-national-security-of-the-4th-reich/) In 2009, Google started recording the number of content removal requests it received from courts and government agencies all over the world, disclosing the figures on a six-month basis. Read more about Which governments censor the tech giants the most?[…]

Does Copyright Give Companies The Right To Search Your Home And Computer?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

One reason why copyright has become so important in the digital age is that it applies to the software that many of us use routinely on our smartphones, tablets and computers. In order to run those programs, you must have a license of some kind (unless the software is in the public domain, which rarely Read more about Does Copyright Give Companies The Right To Search Your Home And Computer?[…]

Microsoft blocks workaround that let Windows 11 users avoid its Edge browser – browser wars are on again

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Microsoft plans to update Windows 11 to block a workaround that has allowed users to open Start menu search results in a browser other than Edge. The loophole was popularized by EdgeDeflector, an app that allows you to bypass some of the built-in browser restrictions found in Windows 10 and 11. Before this week, companies Read more about Microsoft blocks workaround that let Windows 11 users avoid its Edge browser – browser wars are on again[…]

Portugal: Proposed law tries to sneak in biometric mass surveillance.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Whilst the European Parliament has been fighting bravely for the rights of everyone in the EU to exist freely and with dignity in publicly accessible spaces, the government of Portugal is attempting to push their country in the opposite direction: one of digital authoritarianism. […] Eerily reminiscent of the failed attempts by the Serbian government Read more about Portugal: Proposed law tries to sneak in biometric mass surveillance.[…]

Woman Allegedly Made $57,000 From Unofficial Demon Slayer Cakes

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A 34-year-old resident of Tokyo’s Shibuya has been arrested on suspicion of violating Japanese copyright law after selling unlicensed Demon Slayer cakes. According to Kyodo News, the women sold the cakes through Instagram, with customers submitting their desired images to be turned into frosting, cream, and sugar. The suspect is said to have charged between Read more about Woman Allegedly Made $57,000 From Unofficial Demon Slayer Cakes[…]

Apple has tight control over states’ digital ID cards

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Apple’s digital ID card support in iOS 15 may be convenient, but it also comes with tight requirements for the governments that use them. CNBC has learned states using Apple’s system are required to not only run the platforms for issuing and checking credentials, but hire managers to handle Apple’s requests and meet the iPhone Read more about Apple has tight control over states’ digital ID cards[…]

Take Two and Rockstar Use DMCA Claims To Remove More GTA Mods

Posted on by Robin Edgar

As players continue to criticize the recently released GTA Trilogy remastered collection, Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive has decided this is the perfect time to use DMCA takedown notices to remove some more GTA mods and fan projects. On November 11, according to the folks over at the GTA modding site LibertyCity, Take-Two contacted Read more about Take Two and Rockstar Use DMCA Claims To Remove More GTA Mods[…]

Latest Windows 11 overrides attempts to avoid using Edge – browser wars again!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Back in 2017, Daniel Aleksandersen created a free helper application called EdgeDeflector to counter behavioral changes Microsoft made in the way Windows handles mouse clicks on certain web links. Typically, https:// links get handled by whatever default browser is set for the system in question. But there are ways to register a custom protocol handler, Read more about Latest Windows 11 overrides attempts to avoid using Edge – browser wars again![…]

Fifth Circuit Says Man Can’t Sue Federal Agencies For Allegedly Targeting and Tormenting Him After He Refused To Be An FBI Informant

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The secrecy surrounding all things national security-related continues to thwart lawsuits alleging rights violations. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has just dumped a complaint brought by Abdulaziz Ghedi, a naturalized American citizen who takes frequent trips to Somalia, the country he was born in. According to Ghedi’s complaint, rejecting the advances of one federal Read more about Fifth Circuit Says Man Can’t Sue Federal Agencies For Allegedly Targeting and Tormenting Him After He Refused To Be An FBI Informant[…]