Archive for the 'Surveillance' Category
Facebook Wants People to Invite Its Cameras Into Their Homes
October 8th, 2018Mmm hmm. Via: AP: Facebook is launching the first electronic device to bear its brand, a screen and camera-equipped gadget intended to make video calls easier and more intuitive. But it’s unclear if people will open their homes to an internet-connected camera sold by a company with a questionable track record on protecting user privacy. […]
The Big Hack: How China Used a Tiny Chip to Infiltrate U.S. Companies
October 4th, 2018Update: Apple, Amazon Deny Bloomberg Report on Chinese Hardware Attack — Via: Bloomberg: In 2015, Amazon.com Inc. began quietly evaluating a startup called Elemental Technologies, a potential acquisition to help with a major expansion of its streaming video service, known today as Amazon Prime Video. Based in Portland, Ore., Elemental made software for compressing massive […]
Chinese Armed Drones Now Flying Across Mideast Battlefields
October 3rd, 2018Via: AP: High above Yemen’s rebel-held city of Hodeida, a drone controlled by Emirati forces hovered as an SUV carrying a top Shiite Houthi rebel official turned onto a small street and stopped, waiting for another vehicle in its convoy to catch up. Seconds later, the SUV exploded in flames, killing Saleh al-Samad, a top […]
New Zealand: Travelers Refusing Digital Search Now Face $5000 Customs Fine
October 2nd, 2018Via: Radio New Zealand: Travellers who refuse to hand over their phone or laptop passwords to Customs officials can now be slapped with a $5000 fine. The Customs and Excise Act 2018 – which comes into effect today – sets guidelines around how Customs can carry out “digital strip-searches”. Previously, Customs could stop anyone at […]
DuckDuckGo Traffic
September 29th, 2018Via: DuckDuckGo:
Ex-Google Employee Warns of ‘Disturbing’ China Plans
September 26th, 2018Via: BBC: A former Google employee has warned of the firm’s “disturbing” plans in China, in a letter to US lawmakers. Jack Poulson, who had been a senior researcher at the company until resigning in August, wrote that he was fearful of Google’s ambitions. His letter alleges Google’s work on a Chinese product – codenamed […]
Toyota Agrees to Add Android Auto in Its Cars
September 25th, 2018Via: Bloomberg: Toyota Motor Corp. agreed to add Android Auto to its vehicles, according to a person familiar with the matter, ending years of resistance to the Google infotainment software due to safety and security concerns. For the first time, Toyota will allow Android Auto devices to connect directly to its cars, after announcing compatibility […]
Chrome Is a Google Service that Happens to Include a Browser Engine
September 24th, 2018In other news, Google tells Congress how write data privacy laws. haha Via: Bálint’s Extended Musings: Starting with Chrome 69, logging into a Google Site is tied to logging into Chrome. This is typically the topic where things are complex enough that tweets or 500 character Mastodon toots don’t do it justice. I’d also mention […]
Google Suppresses Memo Revealing Plans to Closely Track Search Users in China
September 21st, 2018Via: The Intercept: Google bosses have forced employees to delete a confidential memo circulating inside the company that revealed explosive details about a plan to launch a censored search engine in China, The Intercept has learned. The memo, authored by a Google engineer who was asked to work on the project, disclosed that the search […]
China’s Chilling ‘Social Credit System’ Is Straight Out of Dystopian Sci-Fi, And It’s Already Switched On
September 20th, 2018Via: Science Alert: It’s been in the pipeline for years: a sprawling, technological mass surveillance network the likes of which the world has never seen. And it’s already been switched on. China’s “Social Credit System” – which is expected to be fully operational by 2020 – doesn’t just monitor the nation’s almost 1.4 billion citizens. […]
