Category: Global Domination

Mazda’s $10 Subscription For Remote Start Sparks Backlash After Killing Open Source Option

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Mazda recently surprised customers by requiring them to sign up for a subscription in order to keep certain services. Now, notable right-to-repair advocate Louis Rossmann is calling out the brand. He points to several moves by Mazda as reasons for his anger toward them. However, it turns out that customers might still have a workaround. Read more about Mazda’s $10 Subscription For Remote Start Sparks Backlash After Killing Open Source Option[…]

LG Wants to Show You Ads Even When You’re Not Watching TV

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The outlet reveals (via Android Authority) that the ads start playing before the screensaver hits the screen and are usually sponsored messages from LG or its partners. The review highlighted one specific ad for the LG Channels app: LG’s free live TV service with ads. FlatpanelsHD adds that according to LG’s ad division, users will Read more about LG Wants to Show You Ads Even When You’re Not Watching TV[…]

ford cars with human ears on their doors driving on a highway

Ford wants to listen in on you in your car to serve you ads as much as possible

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Someday soon, if Ford has its way, drivers and passengers may be bombarded with infotainment ads tailored to their personal and vehicle data. This sure-to-please-everyone idea comes via a patent application [PDF] filed by Ford Global Technologies late last month that proposes displaying ads to drivers based on their destination, route, who’s in the car, Read more about Ford wants to listen in on you in your car to serve you ads as much as possible[…]

Resistance to Hungarian presidency’s new push for child sexual abuse prevention regulation – because it’s a draconian spying law asking for 100% coverage of digital comms

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Resistance to the Hungarian presidency’s approach to the EU’s draft law to combat online child sexual abuse material (CSAM) was still palpable during a member states’ meeting on Wednesday (4 September). The Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU aims to secure consensus on the proposed law to combat online child sexual abuse material Read more about Resistance to Hungarian presidency’s new push for child sexual abuse prevention regulation – because it’s a draconian spying law asking for 100% coverage of digital comms[…]

Second Circuit Says Libraries Disincentivize Authors To Write Books By Lending Them For Free

Posted on by Robin Edgar

What would you think if an author told you they would have written a book, but they wouldn’t bother because it would be available to be borrowed for free from a library? You’d probably think they were delusional. Yet that argument has now carried the day in putting a knife into the back of the Read more about Second Circuit Says Libraries Disincentivize Authors To Write Books By Lending Them For Free[…]

Internet Archive loses appeal – 4 greedy publishers shut down major library in insane luddite US law system

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Internet Archive’s appeal could spell further trouble for the non-profit, as it is in the middle of a another copyright lawsuit with music publishers that could cost more than $400m if it loses. The Internet Archive has been dealt a serious blow in court, as it lost an appeal case to share scanned books Read more about Internet Archive loses appeal – 4 greedy publishers shut down major library in insane luddite US law system[…]

Dutch DPA fines Clearview €30.5 million for violating the GDPR

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Clearview AI is back in hot — and expensive — water, with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA) fining the company €30.5 million ($33.6 million) for violating the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The release explains that Clearview created “an illegal database with billions of photos of faces,” including Dutch individuals, and has failed to Read more about Dutch DPA fines Clearview €30.5 million for violating the GDPR[…]

Proposal to spy on all chat messages back on European political agenda

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Europe is going to talk again about the possibility of checking all chat messages of citizens for child abuse. On September 4, a (secret) consultation will take place, says Patrick Breyer , former MEP for the Pirate Party. A few years ago, the European Commission came up with the plan to monitor all chat messages Read more about Proposal to spy on all chat messages back on European political agenda[…]

Mozilla removes telemetry service Adjust from mobile Firefox versions – it was spying on you secretly it turns out

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Mozilla will soon remove its telemetry service Adjust from the Android and iOS versions of browsers Firefox and Firefox Focus. It appeared that the developer was collecting data on the effectiveness of Firefox ad campaigns without disclosing that. Mozilla, the developers of Firefox, until recently used the telemetry service Adjust to collect data from its Read more about Mozilla removes telemetry service Adjust from mobile Firefox versions – it was spying on you secretly it turns out[…]

Australian Regulators Decide To Write A Strongly Worded Letter About Clearview’s Privacy Law Violations, leave it at that

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Clearview’s status as an international pariah really hasn’t changed much over the past few years. It may be generating fewer headlines, but nothing’s really changed about the way it does business. Clearview has spent years scraping the web, compiling as much personal info as possible to couple with the billions of photos it has collected. Read more about Australian Regulators Decide To Write A Strongly Worded Letter About Clearview’s Privacy Law Violations, leave it at that[…]

Dutch officials fine Uber €290M for GDPR violations

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Privacy authorities in the Netherlands have imposed a €290 million ($324 million) fine on ride-share giant Uber for sending driver data to servers in the United States – “a serious violation” of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). According to the Dutch Data Protection Authority (DPA), Uber spent years sending sensitive driver information from Read more about Dutch officials fine Uber €290M for GDPR violations[…]

Texas AG Latest To Sue GM For Covertly Selling Driver Data To Insurance Companies

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Last year Mozilla released a report showcasing how the auto industry has some of the worst privacy practices of any tech industry in America (no small feat). Massive amounts of driver behavior is collected by your car, and even more is hoovered up from your smartphone every time you connect. This data isn’t secured, often isn’t encrypted, Read more about Texas AG Latest To Sue GM For Covertly Selling Driver Data To Insurance Companies[…]

UK Once Again Denies A Passport Over Applicant’s Name Due To Intellectual Property Concerns – again

Posted on by Robin Edgar

I can’t believe this, but it happened again. Almost exactly a decade ago, Tim Cushing wrote about a bonkers story out of the UK in which a passport applicant who’s middle name was “Skywalker” was denied the passport due to purported trademark or copyright concerns. The question that ought to immediately leap to mind should Read more about UK Once Again Denies A Passport Over Applicant’s Name Due To Intellectual Property Concerns – again[…]

New U.N. Cybercrime Treaty Could Threaten Human Rights

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The United Nations approved its first international cybercrime treaty yesterday. The effort succeeded despite opposition from tech companies and human rights groups, who warn that the agreement will permit countries to expand invasive electronic surveillance in the name of criminal investigations. Experts from these organizations say that the treaty undermines the global human rights of Read more about New U.N. Cybercrime Treaty Could Threaten Human Rights[…]

Suno & Udio To RIAA: Your Music Is Copyrighted, You Can’t Copyright Styles

Posted on by Robin Edgar

AI music generators Suno and Udio responded to the lawsuits filed by the major recording labels, arguing that their platforms are tools for making new, original music that “didn’t and often couldn’t previously exist.” “Those genres and styles — the recognizable sounds of opera, or jazz, or rap music — are not something that anyone Read more about Suno & Udio To RIAA: Your Music Is Copyrighted, You Can’t Copyright Styles[…]

Chrome Web Store warns end is coming for uBlock Origin

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] With the stable release of Chrome 127 on July 23, 2024, the full spectrum of Chrome users could see the warning. One user of the content-blocking add-on filed a GitHub Issue about the notification. “This extension may soon no longer be supported because it doesn’t follow best practices for Chrome extensions,” the Chrome Web Read more about Chrome Web Store warns end is coming for uBlock Origin[…]

Samsung starts blocking sideloading, so Epic Games pulls Fortnite from the Galaxy Store

Posted on by Robin Edgar

After it was discovered that Samsung would begin blocking any attempt to sideload apps Epic Games has made the decision to remove Fortnite, among other titles, from the Galaxy Store. When the Galaxy Z Fold 6 began to land in the hands of users, the loaded version of One UI touted a brand-new attempt to Read more about Samsung starts blocking sideloading, so Epic Games pulls Fortnite from the Galaxy Store[…]

US Congress Wants To Let Private Companies Own The Law – set standards you must comply with but can’t actually find or see easily

Posted on by Robin Edgar

It sounds absolutely batty that there is a strong, bipartisan push to lock up aspects of our law behind copyright. But it’s happening. Even worse, the push is on to include this effort to lock up the law in the “must pass” National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This is the bill that Congress lights up Read more about US Congress Wants To Let Private Companies Own The Law – set standards you must comply with but can’t actually find or see easily[…]

FTC asks 8 big names to explain surveillance pricing tech

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has launched an investigation into “surveillance pricing,” a phenomenon likely familiar to anyone who’s had to buy something in an incognito browser window to avoid paying a premium. Surveillance pricing, according to the FTC, is the use of algorithms, AI, and other technologies – most crucially combined with personal Read more about FTC asks 8 big names to explain surveillance pricing tech[…]

Google’s reCAPTCHAv2 is just labor exploitation, boffins say

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google promotes its reCAPTCHA service as a security mechanism for websites, but researchers affiliated with the University of California, Irvine, argue it’s harvesting information while extracting human labor worth billions. The term CAPTCHA stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart,” and, as Google explains, it refers to a challenge-response Read more about Google’s reCAPTCHAv2 is just labor exploitation, boffins say[…]

UN Cybercrime Treaty does not define cybercrime, allows any definition and forces all signatories to secretly surveil their own population on request by any other signatory (think totalitarian states spying on people in democracies with no recourse)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] EFF colleague, Katitza Rodriguez, about the Cybercrime Treaty, which is about to pass, and which is, to put it mildly, terrifying: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/07/un-cybercrime-draft-convention-dangerously-expands-state-surveillance-powers Look, cybercrime is a real thing, from pig butchering to ransomware, and there’s real, global harms that can be attributed to it. Cybercrime is transnational, making it hard for cops in any Read more about UN Cybercrime Treaty does not define cybercrime, allows any definition and forces all signatories to secretly surveil their own population on request by any other signatory (think totalitarian states spying on people in democracies with no recourse)[…]

Google isn’t killing third-party cookies in Chrome after all in move that surprises absolutely no-one.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google won’t kill third-party cookies in Chrome after all, the company said on Monday. Instead, it will introduce a new experience in the browser that will allow users to make informed choices about their web browsing preferences, Google announced in a blog post. Killing cookies, Google said, would adversely impact online publishers and advertisers. This Read more about Google isn’t killing third-party cookies in Chrome after all in move that surprises absolutely no-one.[…]

Meta and Apple are Keeping their Next Big AI things Out of the EU – that’s a good thing

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] In a statement to The Verge, Meta spokesperson Kate McLaughlin said that the company’s next-gen Llama AI model is skipping Europe, placing the blame squarely on regulations. “We will release a multimodal Llama model over the coming months,” Mclaughlin said, “but not in the EU due to the unpredictable nature of the European regulatory Read more about Meta and Apple are Keeping their Next Big AI things Out of the EU – that’s a good thing[…]

Firefox’s New ‘Privacy’ Feature Actually Gives Your Data to Advertisers – How and Why to Disable Firefox’s ‘Privacy-Preserving’ Ad Measurements

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Firefox finds itself in a tricky position at times, because it wants to be a privacy friendly browser, but most of its funding comes from Google, whose entire business is advertising. With Firefox 128, the browser has introduced ‘privacy-preserving ad measurement,’ which is enabled by default. Despite the name, the actual implications of the feature Read more about Firefox’s New ‘Privacy’ Feature Actually Gives Your Data to Advertisers – How and Why to Disable Firefox’s ‘Privacy-Preserving’ Ad Measurements[…]

Only 5 years too late: British regulators to examine Big Tech’s digital wallets – and where is the EU?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

British regulators said on Monday they were looking into the soaring use of digital wallets offered by Big Tech firms, including whether there are any competition, consumer protection or market integrity concerns. The Financial Conduct Authority and Payments Systems Regulator is seeking views on the benefits and risks, and will assess the impact digital wallets, Read more about Only 5 years too late: British regulators to examine Big Tech’s digital wallets – and where is the EU?[…]