Author: Robin Edgar

facial recognition ‘epidemic’ across UK private sites in conjunction with the police

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Facial recognition is being extensively deployed on privately owned sites across the UK, according to an investigation by civil liberties group Big Brother Watch. It found an “epidemic” of the controversial technology across major property developers, shopping centres, museums, conference centres and casinos in the UK. The investigation uncovered live facial recognition in Sheffield’s major Read more about facial recognition ‘epidemic’ across UK private sites in conjunction with the police[…]

YouTube shuts down music companies’ use of manual copyright claims to steal creator revenue, troll block videos

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Going forward, copyright owners will no longer be able to monetize creator videos with very short or unintentional uses of music via YouTube’s “Manual Claiming” tool. Instead, they can choose to prevent the other party from monetizing the video or they can block the content. However, YouTube expects that by removing the option to monetize Read more about YouTube shuts down music companies’ use of manual copyright claims to steal creator revenue, troll block videos[…]

UPS Has Been Delivering Cargo in Self-Driving Trucks for Months (with 2 people on board)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The self-driving freight truck startup TuSimple has been carrying mail across the state of Arizona for several weeks. UPS announced on Thursday that its venture capital arm has made a minority investment in TuSimple. The announcement also revealed that since May TuSimple autonomous trucks have been hauling UPS loads on a 115-mile route between Phoenix Read more about UPS Has Been Delivering Cargo in Self-Driving Trucks for Months (with 2 people on board)[…]

Researchers build a heat shield just 10 atoms thick to protect electronic devices

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Excess heat given off by smartphones, laptops and other electronic devices can be annoying, but beyond that it contributes to malfunctions and, in extreme cases, can even cause lithium batteries to explode. To guard against such ills, engineers often insert glass, plastic or even layers of air as insulation to prevent heat-generating components like microprocessors Read more about Researchers build a heat shield just 10 atoms thick to protect electronic devices[…]

Google’s AI can be manipulated into “accidentally” deactivating targetted user accounts

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Jordan B. Peterson had his gmail account deactivated and I had the opportunity to inspect the bug report as a full-time employee. What I found was that Google had a technical vulnerability that, when exploited, would take any gmail account down. Certain unknown 3rd party actors are aware of this secret vulnerability and exploit it. Read more about Google’s AI can be manipulated into “accidentally” deactivating targetted user accounts[…]

Google “open sources” LiveTranscribe – except not really: only gives away android coding examples to connect to Google’s cloud speech products

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Live Transcribe is an Android application that provides real-time captioning for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. This repository contains the Android client libraries for communicating with Google’s Cloud Speech API that are used in Live Transcribe. […] The libraries provided are nearly identical to those running in the production application Live Transcribe. Read more about Google “open sources” LiveTranscribe – except not really: only gives away android coding examples to connect to Google’s cloud speech products[…]

Google  Neural net can spot breast, prostate tumors through microscope

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Google Health’s so-called augmented-reality microscope has proven surprisingly accurate at detecting and diagnosing cancerous tumors in real time. The device is essentially a standard microscope decked out with two extra components: a camera, and a computer running AI software with an Nvidia Titan Xp GPU to accelerate the number crunching. The camera continuously snaps images Read more about Google  Neural net can spot breast, prostate tumors through microscope[…]

Scientists Say They’ve Found a New Organ in Skin That Processes Pain

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Typically, it’s thought that we perceive harmful sensations on our skin entirely through the very sensitive endings of certain nerve cells. These nerve cells aren’t coated by a protective layer of myelin, as other types are. Nerve cells are kept alive by and connected to other cells called glia; outside of the central nervous system, Read more about Scientists Say They’ve Found a New Organ in Skin That Processes Pain[…]

Cut off your fingers: Data Breach in Biometric Security Platform Affecting Millions of Users over thousands of countries – yes unencrypted and yes, editable

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Led by internet privacy researchers Noam Rotem and Ran Locar, vpnMentor’s team recently discovered a huge data breach in security platform BioStar 2.   BioStar 2 is a web-based biometric security smart lock platform. A centralized application, it allows admins to control access to secure areas of facilities, manage user permissions, integrate with 3rd party security Read more about Cut off your fingers: Data Breach in Biometric Security Platform Affecting Millions of Users over thousands of countries – yes unencrypted and yes, editable[…]

Also Facebook Admits Yes, It Was Listening To Your Private Conversations via Messenger

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Facebook outsourced contractors to listen in on your audio messenger chats and transcribe them, a new report reveals. Bloomberg reports that the contractors were not told why they were listening in or why they were transcribing them. Facebook confirmed the reports but said they are no longer transcribing audio. “Much like Apple and Google, we Read more about Also Facebook Admits Yes, It Was Listening To Your Private Conversations via Messenger[…]

Ring Promised Swag to Users Who Narc on Their Neighbors

Posted on by Robin Edgar

On top of turning their doorbell video feeds into a police surveillance network, Amazon’s home security subsidiary, Ring, also once tried to entice people with swag bags to snitch on their neighbors, Motherboard reported Friday. The instructions are purportedly all laid out in a 2017 company presentation the publication obtained. Entitled “Digital Neighborhood Watch,” the Read more about Ring Promised Swag to Users Who Narc on Their Neighbors[…]

Researchers accurately measure blood pressure using phone camera

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A study led by University of Toronto researchers, published today in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, found that blood pressure can be measured accurately by taking a quick video selfie. Kang Lee, a professor of applied psychology and human development at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education and Canada Research Chair in Read more about Researchers accurately measure blood pressure using phone camera[…]

Talk about unintended consequences: GDPR is an identity thief’s dream ticket to Europeans’ data

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In a presentation at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas James Pavur, a PhD student at Oxford University who usually specialises in satellite hacking, explained how he was able to game the GDPR system to get all kinds of useful information on his fiancée, including credit card and social security numbers, passwords, and Read more about Talk about unintended consequences: GDPR is an identity thief’s dream ticket to Europeans’ data[…]

Researchers Bypass Apple FaceID Using glasses to fool liveness detection

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Researchers on Wednesday during Black Hat USA 2019 demonstrated an attack that allowed them to bypass a victim’s FaceID and log into their phone simply by putting a pair of modified glasses on their face. By merely placing tape carefully over the lenses of a pair glasses and placing them on the victim’s face the researchers Read more about Researchers Bypass Apple FaceID Using glasses to fool liveness detection[…]

Deep links to opt-out of data sharing by 60+ companies – Simple Opt Out

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Simple Opt Out is drawing attention to opt-out data sharing and marketing practices that many people aren’t aware of (and most people don’t want), then making it easier to opt out. For example: Target “may share your personal information with other companies which are not part of Target.” Chase may share your “account balances and Read more about Deep links to opt-out of data sharing by 60+ companies – Simple Opt Out[…]

Mysterious, Ancient Radio Signals Keep Pelting Earth. Astronomers Designed an AI to Hunt Them Down..

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Sudden shrieks of radio waves from deep space keep slamming into radio telescopes on Earth, spattering those instruments’ detectors with confusing data. And now, astronomers are using artificial intelligence to pinpoint the source of the shrieks, in the hope of explaining what’s sending them to Earth from — researchers suspect — billions of light-years across Read more about Mysterious, Ancient Radio Signals Keep Pelting Earth. Astronomers Designed an AI to Hunt Them Down..[…]

Apple Is Locking iPhone Batteries to Discourage Repair, showing ominous errors if you replace your battery

Posted on by Robin Edgar

By activating a dormant software lock on their newest iPhones, Apple is effectively announcing a drastic new policy: only Apple batteries can go in iPhones, and only they can install them. If you replace the battery in the newest iPhones, a message indicating you need to service your battery appears in Settings > Battery, next Read more about Apple Is Locking iPhone Batteries to Discourage Repair, showing ominous errors if you replace your battery[…]

Skype, Cortana also have humans listening to you. The fine print says it listens to your audio recordings to improve its AI, but it means humans are listening.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

If you use Skype’s AI-powered real-time translator, brief recordings of your calls may be passed to human contractors, who are expected to listen in and correct the software’s translations to improve it. That means 10-second or so snippets of your sweet nothings, mundane details of life, personal information, family arguments, and other stuff discussed on Read more about Skype, Cortana also have humans listening to you. The fine print says it listens to your audio recordings to improve its AI, but it means humans are listening.[…]

Take-Two Sends Investigators To YouTuber’s House To Crack Down On Borderlands 3 Leaks – wait you can send your own police force to muscle on people in the USA? Kafka-esque experience follows with service shutdowns

Posted on by Robin Edgar

After two weeks of no uploads, a notable Borderlands personality on YouTube returned to the platform yesterday with a video explaining his absence. He said that the game’s publisher Take-Two Interactive hit his channel with several copyright strikes and sent investigators to his home in response to months of Borderlands coverage on his channel, which Read more about Take-Two Sends Investigators To YouTuber’s House To Crack Down On Borderlands 3 Leaks – wait you can send your own police force to muscle on people in the USA? Kafka-esque experience follows with service shutdowns[…]

A reminder why Open Source is so important: Someone audited Kubernetes

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) today released a security audit of Kubernetes, the widely used container orchestration software, and the findings are about what you’d expect for a project with about two million lines of code: there are plenty of flaws that need to be addressed. The CNCF engaged two security firms, Trail of Read more about A reminder why Open Source is so important: Someone audited Kubernetes[…]

Amazon’s Ring Is Teaching Cops How to Persuade Customers to Hand Over Surveillance Footage

Posted on by Robin Edgar

according to a new report, Ring is also instructing cops on how to persuade customers to hang over surveillance footage even when they aren’t responsive to police requests. According to a police memo obtained by Gizmodo and reported last week, Ring has partnerships with “over 225 law enforcement agencies,” Ring is actively involved in scripting Read more about Amazon’s Ring Is Teaching Cops How to Persuade Customers to Hand Over Surveillance Footage[…]