Category: Global Domination

Revealed: UK Gov’t Plans Publicity Blitz to Undermine Chat Privacy, encryption. Of course they use children. And Fear.

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The UK government is set to launch a multi-pronged publicity attack on end-to-end encryption, Rolling Stone has learned. One key objective: mobilizing public opinion against Facebook’s decision to encrypt its Messenger app. The Home Office has hired the M&C Saatchi advertising agency — a spin-off of Saatchi and Saatchi, which made the “Labour Isn’t Working” Read more about Revealed: UK Gov’t Plans Publicity Blitz to Undermine Chat Privacy, encryption. Of course they use children. And Fear.[…]

Is Microsoft Stealing People’s Bookmarks, passwords, ID / passport numbers without consent?

Posted on by Robin Edgar

received email from two people who told me that Microsoft Edge enabled synching without warning or consent, which means that Microsoft sucked up all of their bookmarks. Of course they can turn synching off, but it’s too late. Has this happened to anyone else, or was this user error of some sort? If this is Read more about Is Microsoft Stealing People’s Bookmarks, passwords, ID / passport numbers without consent?[…]

Suicide Hotline Collected, Monetized The Data Of Desperate People, Because Of Course It Did

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Crisis Text Line, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit support options for the suicidal, is in some hot water. A Politico report last week highlighted how the company has been caught collecting and monetizing the data of callers… to create and market customer service software. More specifically, Crisis Text Line says it “anonymizes” some user Read more about Suicide Hotline Collected, Monetized The Data Of Desperate People, Because Of Course It Did[…]

Google adds new opt out tracking for Workspace Customers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…] according to a new FAQ posted on Google’s Workplace administrator forum. At the end of that month, the company will be adding a new feature—“Workspace search history”—that can continue to track these customers, even if they, or their admins, turn activity tracking off. The worst part? Unlike Google’s activity trackers that are politely defaulted Read more about Google adds new opt out tracking for Workspace Customers[…]

LG Announces New Ad Targeting Features for TVs – wait, wtf, I bought my TV, not a service!

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[… ] there are plenty of cases where you throw down hundreds of dollars for a piece of hardware and then you end up being the product anyway. Case in point: TVs. On Wednesday, the television giant LG announced a new offering to advertisers that promises to be able to reach the company’s millions of Read more about LG Announces New Ad Targeting Features for TVs – wait, wtf, I bought my TV, not a service![…]

How to Download Everything Amazon Knows About You (It’s a Lot)

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[…]To be clear, data collection is far from an Amazon-specific problem; it’s pretty much par for the course when it comes to tech companies. Even Apple, a company vocal about user privacy, has faced criticism in the past for recording Siri interactions and sharing them with third-party contractors. The issue with Amazon, however, is the Read more about How to Download Everything Amazon Knows About You (It’s a Lot)[…]

The IEA wants to make their data available to the public – now it is on governments of the world’s rich countries to make this happen

Posted on by Robin Edgar

To tackle climate change we need good data. This data exists; it is published by the International Energy Agency (IEA). But despite being an institution that is largely publicly funded, most IEA data is locked behind paywalls. […] In 2020 we launched a campaign to unlock this data; we started on Twitter (one example), last Read more about The IEA wants to make their data available to the public – now it is on governments of the world’s rich countries to make this happen[…]

Totally Bogus DMCA Takedowns From Giant Publishers Completely Nuke Book Review Blog Off The Internet

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Just as we’re in the midst of a Greenhouse series all about SOPA, copyright industry lobbyists, and former copyright industry lawyers now running the Copyright Office are conspiring to make copyright law worse and to favor Hollywood and give the big giant legacy copyright companies more control and power over the internet. And, yet, we Read more about Totally Bogus DMCA Takedowns From Giant Publishers Completely Nuke Book Review Blog Off The Internet[…]

WhatsApp Ordered To Help US Agents Spy On Chinese Phones using 1986 pen register act

Posted on by Robin Edgar

U.S. federal agencies have been using a 35-year-old American surveillance law to secretly track WhatsApp users with no explanation as to why and without knowing whom they are targeting. In Ohio, a just-unsealed government surveillance application reveals that in November 2021, DEA investigators demanded the Facebook-owned messaging company track seven users based in China and Read more about WhatsApp Ordered To Help US Agents Spy On Chinese Phones using 1986 pen register act[…]

Canon can’t get enough toner chips, so it’s telling customers how to defeat its DRM

Posted on by Robin Edgar

[.,..]To enforce the use of first-party cartridges, manufacturers typically embed chips inside the consumables for the printers to “authenticate.” But when chips are in short supply, like today, manufacturers can find themselves in a bind. So Canon is now telling German customers how to defeat its printers’ warnings about third-party cartridges. “Due to the worldwide Read more about Canon can’t get enough toner chips, so it’s telling customers how to defeat its DRM[…]

Facebook Pixel Hunt – Mozilla Rally want to track the trackers

Posted on by Robin Edgar

In a collaboration between journalists at The Markup and Mozilla researchers, this study seeks to map Facebook’s pixel tracking network and understand the kinds of information it collects on sites across the web. The Markup will use the data collected in this study to create investigative journalism around the kinds of information Facebook collects about Read more about Facebook Pixel Hunt – Mozilla Rally want to track the trackers[…]

John Deere Hit With Class Action Lawsuit for Alleged Tractor Repair Monopoly

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A class action lawsuit filed in Chicago has accused John Deere of running an illegal repair monopoly. The lawsuit alleged that John Deere has used software locks and restricted access to repair documentation and tools, making it very difficult for farmers to fix their own agricultural equipment, a problem that Motherboard has documented for years Read more about John Deere Hit With Class Action Lawsuit for Alleged Tractor Repair Monopoly[…]

German IT security watchdog: No evidence of censorship function in Xiaomi phones

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Germany’s federal cybersecurity watchdog, the BSI, did not find any evidence of censorship functions in mobile phones manufactured by China’s Xiaomi Corp (1810.HK), a spokesperson said on Thursday. Lithuania’s state cybersecurity body had said in September that Xiaomi phones had a built-in ability to detect and censor terms such as “Free Tibet”, “Long live Taiwan Read more about German IT security watchdog: No evidence of censorship function in Xiaomi phones[…]

Google’s and Facebook’s top execs accused of fixing ads

Posted on by Robin Edgar

The alleged 2017 deal between Google and Facebook to kill header bidding, a way for multiple ad exchanges to compete fairly in automated ad auctions, was negotiated by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, and endorsed by both Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (now with Meta) and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, according to an updated complaint filed in Read more about Google’s and Facebook’s top execs accused of fixing ads[…]

Google and Facebook Fined Big in Russia for Failing to Remove Banned Content – imprisonment threats follow forcing local data storage

Posted on by Robin Edgar

A Russian court fined Alphabet Inc.’s Google 7.2 billion rubles ($98 million) and Meta Platforms Inc. 2 billion rubles Friday for failing to remove banned content, the largest such penalties yet, as the authorities escalate a crackdown on foreign technology companies. The fines were due to the companies’ repeated failure to comply with orders to Read more about Google and Facebook Fined Big in Russia for Failing to Remove Banned Content – imprisonment threats follow forcing local data storage[…]

Snap suing to trademark the word “spectacles” for its smart glasses that no one has ever used or knows much about

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Snap is suing the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for rejecting its application to trademark the word “spectacles” for its digital eyewear camera device. But the USPTO has maintained that “spectacles” is a generic term for smart glasses and that Snap’s version “has not acquired distinctiveness,” as required for a trademark. In its complaint Read more about Snap suing to trademark the word “spectacles” for its smart glasses that no one has ever used or knows much about[…]

This App Will Tell Android Users If an AirTag Is Tracking Them

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Apple’s AirTags and Find My service can be helpful for finding things you lose—but they also introduce a big privacy problem. While those of us on iOS have had some tools for fighting those issues, Apple left those of us on Android without much to work with. A new Android AirTag finder app finally addresses Read more about This App Will Tell Android Users If an AirTag Is Tracking Them[…]

Malaysia in pocket of big business: Passes Bill to Imprison Illegal Streaming (even devices!) for 20 years

Posted on by Robin Edgar

Laws that forbid the illegal uploading and downloading of copyrighted content are common around the world but the rise of streaming has sometimes exposed gaps in legislation. Piracy-equipped Kodi devices, illegal streaming apps, and similar tools have led legal specialists to attempt to apply laws that didn’t envision the technology. In Malaysia, for example, it Read more about Malaysia in pocket of big business: Passes Bill to Imprison Illegal Streaming (even devices!) for 20 years[…]

How China Uses Western Influencers As Pawns In Its Propaganda War

Posted on by Robin Edgar

According to the New York Times, China is recruiting YouTubers to report on the country in a positive light and counter the West’s increasingly negative perceptions. “The videos have a casual, homespun feel. But on the other side of the camera often stands a large apparatus of government organizers, state-controlled news media and other official Read more about How China Uses Western Influencers As Pawns In Its Propaganda War[…]

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[…]