Daily Archives: October 1, 2024

Dutch oppose Hungary’s approach to EU child sexual abuse regulation – or total surveillance of every smart device

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The Netherlands’ government and opposition are both against the latest version of the controversial EU regulation aimed at detecting online child sexual abuse material (CSAM), according to an official position and an open letter published on Tuesday (1 October).

The regulation, aimed at detecting online CSAM, has been criticised for potentially allowing the scanning of private messages on platforms such as WhatsApp or Gmail.

However, the latest compromise text, dated 9 September, limits detection to known material, among other changes. ‘Known’ material refers to content that has already been circulating and detected, in contrast to ‘new’ material that has not yet been identified.

The Hungarian presidency of the Council of the EU shared a partial general approach dated 24 September and seen by Euractiv, that mirrors the 9 September text but reduces the reevaluation period from five years to three for grooming and new CSAM.

Limiting detection to known material could hinder authorities’ ability to surveil massive amounts of communications, suggesting the change is likely an attempt to reconcile privacy concerns.

The Netherlands initially supported the proposal to limit detection to ‘known’ material but withdrew its support in early September, Euractiv reported.

On Tuesday (1 October), Amsterdam officially took a stance against the general approach, despite speculation last week suggesting the country might shift its position in favour of the regulation.

This is also despite the Dutch mostly maintaining that their primary concern lies with combating known CSAM – a focus that aligns with the scope of the latest proposal.

According to various statistics, the Netherlands hosts a significant amount of CSAM.

The Dutch had been considering supporting the proposal, or at least a “silent abstention” that might have weakened the blocking minority, signalling a shift since Friday (27 September), a source close to the matter told Euractiv.

While a change in the Netherlands’ stance could have affected the blocking minority in the EU Council, their current position now strengthens it.

If the draft law were to pass in the EU Council, the next stage would be interinstitutional negotiations, called trilogues, between the European Parliament, the Council of the EU, and the Commission to finalise the legislation.

Both the Dutch government and the opposition are against supporting the new partial general approach.

Opposition party GroenLinks-PvdA (Greens/EFA) published an open letter, also on Tuesday, backed by a coalition of national and EU-based private and non-profit organisations, urging the government to vote against the proposal.

According to the letter, the regulation will be discussed at the Justice and Home Affairs Council on 11 October, with positions coordinated among member states on 2 October.

Currently, an interim regulation allows companies to detect and report online CSAM voluntarily. Originally set to expire in 2024, this measure has been extended to 2026 to avoid a legislative gap, as the draft for a permanent law has yet to be agreed.

The Dutch Secret Service opposed the draft regulation because “introducing a scan application on every mobile phone” with infrastructure to manage the scans would be a complex and extensive system that would introduce risks to digital resilience, according to a decision note.

Source: Dutch oppose Hungary’s approach to EU child sexual abuse regulation – Euractiv

To find out more about how invasive the proposed scanning feature is, look through the articles here: https://www.linkielist.com/?s=csam

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

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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.

Previously, the Japanese carmaker offered connected services, that included several features such as remote start, without the need for a subscription. At the time, the company informed customers that these services would eventually transition to a paid model.

More: Native Google Maps Won’t Work On New GM Cars Without $300 Subscription

It’s important to clarify that there are two very different types of remote start we’re talking about here. The first type is the one many people are familiar with where you use the key fob to start the vehicle. The second method involves using another device like a smartphone to start the car. In the latter, connected services do the heavy lifting.

Transition to paid services

What is wild is that Mazda used to offer the first option on the fob. Now, it only offers the second kind, where one starts the car via phone through its connected services for a $10 monthly subscription, which comes to $120 a year. Rossmann points out that one individual, Brandon Rorthweiler, developed a workaround in 2023 to enable remote start without Mazda’s subscription fees.

However, according to Ars Technica, Mazda filed a DMCA takedown notice to kill that open-source project. The company claimed it contained code that violated “[Mazda’s] copyright ownership” and used “certain Mazda information, including proprietary API information.” Additionally, Mazda argued that the project included code providing functionality identical to that found in its official apps available on the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

That doesn’t mean an aftermarket remote starter kit won’t work though. In fact, with Mazda’s subscription model now in place, it’s not hard to imagine customers flocking to aftermarket solutions to avoid the extra fees. However, by not opting to pay for Mazda Connected Services, owners will also miss out on things like vehicle health reports, remote keyless entry, and vehicle status reports.

A growing trend

Bear in mind that this is just one case of an automaker trying to milk their customers with subscription-based features, which could net them millions in extra income. BMW, for example, installs adaptive suspension hardware in some vehicles but charges $27.50 per month (or $505 for a one-time purchase) to unlock the software that makes the suspension actually work.

And then there’s Ferrari’s plan to offer a battery subscription for extended warranty coverage on its hybrid models for a measly $7,500 per year!

[…]

sure, you might have paid a considerable amount of money to buy your car, and it might legally be yours, but that does not ensure that you really own all of the features it comes with, unless you’re prepared to pay extra.

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