Google is trying out a new “Pilot Program” that puts a row of advertisements on the Android TV home screen. XDA Developers was the first to report on the new phenomenon, saying, “We’re currently seeing reports that it has shown up in Sony smart TVs, the Mi Box 3 from Xiaomi, NVIDIA Shield TV, and Read more about Android TV update puts home-screen ads on multi-thousand-dollar Sony Smart TVs, you can’t get rid of them for long either[…]

The Justice Department has warned the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that its potential rule changes limiting the eligibility of Netflix and other streaming services for the Oscars could raise antitrust concerns and violate competition law. According to a letter obtained by Variety, the chief of the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, Makan Delrahim, wrote Read more about DOJ Warns Academy Over Proposed Oscar Rule Changes that exclude Netflix and other streamers[…]

A group of American hackers who once worked for U.S. intelligence agencies helped the United Arab Emirates spy on a BBC host, the chairman of Al Jazeera and other prominent Arab media figures during a tense 2017 confrontation pitting the UAE and its allies against the Gulf state of Qatar. The American operatives worked for Project Read more about Former NSA spies hacked BBC host, Al Jazeera chairman for UAE[…]

UK cops’ sharing of data with the Home Office will be probed by oversight bodies following a super-complaint from civil rights groups, it was confirmed today. At the heart of the issue is the way that victims’ and witnesses’ data collected by the police are shared with central government immigration teams. Liberty and Southall Black Read more about Cop watchers to probe UK police sharing data on witnesses’ migration status with Home Office[…]

Speed limiting technology looks set to become mandatory for all vehicles sold in Europe from 2022, after new rules were provisionally agreed by the EU. The Department for Transport said the system would also apply in the UK, despite Brexit. Campaigners welcomed the move, saying it would save thousands of lives. Road safety charity Brake Read more about EU set to adopt vehicle speed limiters and mandatory spies following your every move in the car[…]

EU plans to ban the sale of user-moddable radio frequency devices – like phones and routers – have provoked widespread condemnation from across the political bloc. The controversy centres on Article 3(3)(i) of the EU Radio Equipment Directive, which was passed into law back in 2014. However, an EU working group is now about to Read more about Radio gaga: Techies fear EU directive to stop RF device tinkering will do more harm than good[…]

One photojournalist said she was pulled into secondary inspections three times and asked questions about who she saw and photographed in Tijuana shelters. Another photojournalist said she spent 13 hours detained by Mexican authorities when she tried to cross the border into Mexico City. Eventually, she was denied entry into Mexico and sent back to Read more about Leaked Documents Show the U.S. Government Tracking Journalists and Immigration Advocates Through a Secret Database, having them detained at borders[…]

Earlier this month, security researcher Victor Gevers found and disclosed an exposed database live-tracking the locations of about 2.6 million residents of Xinjiang, China, offering a window into what a digital surveillance state looks like in the 21st century. Xinjiang is China’s largest province, and home to China’s Uighurs, a Turkic minority group. Here, the Read more about Massive Database Leak Gives Us a Window into China’s Digital Surveillance State[…]

Samsung is adding bloatware to its 2019 TVs because McAfee is paying them to do so. There is arguably no reason for Samsung to offer third-party antivirus software for an operating system that is developed in-house. Partnering with software vendors is fairly common practice for large hardware manufacturers. Laptop makers frequently pre-install bloatware in return Read more about Samsung is loading McAfee antivirus software on smart TVs – which may be impossible to uninstall[…]

China has blocked millions of “discredited” travellers from buying plane or train tickets as part of the country’s controversial “social credit” system aimed at improving the behaviour of citizens. According to the National Public Credit Information Centre, Chinese courts banned would-be travellers from buying flights 17.5 million times by the end of 2018. Citizens placed Read more about China bans 23m from buying travel tickets as part of ‘social credit’ system.[…]

In January, when news first broke that Facebook had been paying teens in gift cards to let it install what is, by definition, essentially spyware on their phones, it seemed like just another Tuesday. Had it been virtually any other company, the outrage would have been tenfold. After all, paying 13-year-olds to gain access to Read more about Surprise! Facebook Low-Balled the Percentage of young teens It Paid to Install Spyware – by a factor of 4![…]