While everyone was focused on the release of the Mueller report Thursday, Facebook quietly notified the public that the passwords of “millions of Instagram users” were stored in an unencrypted format on an internal server, and searchable by any employee. The company had initially said it was “tens of thousands” of Instagram users. That said, […]
Surveillance & Technology
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A Mystery Agent Is Doxing Iran’s Hackers and Dumping Their Code…
Nearly three years after the mysterious group called the Shadow Brokers began disemboweling the NSA’s hackers and leaking their hacking tools onto the open web, Iran’s hackers are getting their own taste of that unnerving experience. For the last month, a mystery person or group has been targeting a top Iranian hacker team, dumping their […]
Redactions Hint at Unseen Depths in Assange Probe…
Not a word of substance was withheld from the U.S. indictment last week of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Federal prosecutors released a 26-page affidavit from an FBI agent almost in its entirety shortly thereafter. The U.S. government pivoted back to secrecy Wednesday, however, in disclosing an intriguing tranche of files that suggest the WikiLeaks probe […]
Thousands of Amazon Workers Listen to Recordings from Alexa…
Alexa is like having your own personal assistant that never asks for a raise. When prompted by a “wake word” the device listens to your commands — and so do thousands of Amazon workers, according to a Bloomberg report. Teams stationed around the world listen to and transcribe recordings, then send them back into the […]
Facebook Put Hidden Messages Like ‘Big Brother Is Watching’ and ‘The Masons Were Here’ in ‘Tens of Thousands’ of Virtual Reality Controllers…
Facebook said it accidentally hid bizarre and “inappropriate” messages inside “tens of thousands” of virtual-reality controllers, including “Big Brother is Watching” and “The Masons Were Here.” Nate Mitchell, the cofounder of Oculus, the Facebook-owned VR company, said on Twitter on Friday that the company inadvertently printed some unusual messages in its Touch controllers, handheld devices […]
Shocking Leak Reveals Facebook Leveraged User Data to Reward Friends, Punish Enemies…
As traders focused on bank earnings and the outlook for global growth, NBC News wrested the market’s attention back toward Facebook by publishing a report on what appears to be the largest leak of internal documents since the data privacy scandal that has dogged the company for more than a year erupted with the first […]
Unsealed Affidavit Tries to Put WikiLeaks in Cahoots With the Taliban, Bin Laden…
On Monday a federal judge in Virginia unsealed the original 2017 affidavit and criminal complaint on which Assange’s extradition request to the US is based, offering new details including chat logs between Assange and former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea (then Bradley) Manning, which attempt to support a single count of “conspiracy to commit computer intrusion” […]
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Electronic Surveillance Isn’t Spying; It’s Much More Powerful…
Attorney General William Barr used the “S” word in front of Congress and the world last week, and organized fainting spells commenced. “I believe the government spied on the Trump campaign,” said Mr. Barr in a town where semantic directness is simply not practiced among the political pharisees and their pilot fish in the media […]
Silicon Valley-Funded Privacy Think Tanks Fight in D.C. to Unravel State-Level Consumer Privacy Protections…
After years of ignoring the issue, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are suddenly engaged in a furious fight over enacting national legislation to establish basic online privacy rights for consumers. As with the crafting of much legislation dealing with complicated issues, legislators are relying on experts to help codify the consumer protections. In a twist that […]
The U.S. Government’s Indictment of Julian Assange Poses Grave Threats to Press Freedom by Glenn Greewald…
The indictment of Julian Assange unsealed today by the Trump Justice Department poses grave threats to press freedoms, not only in the U.S. but around the world. The charging document and accompanying extradition request from the U.S. government, used by the U.K. police to arrest Assange once Ecuador officially withdrew its asylum protection, seeks to […]
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SpaceX Successfully Launches Falcon Heavy…
SpaceX successfully launched its new and improved Falcon Heavy rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Thursday, more than a year after sending up a “red Roadster” in its initial test flight. The updated Falcon Heavy is now the world’s most powerful operation rocket with 27 engines firing at liftoff. It launched into the sky Thursday […]
Google Quietly Pushes Back on Media ‘Blacklist’ Story, but Offers No Specifics…
Google’s communications department took the time Tuesday to tweet criticism of a Daily Caller story on their media “blacklist,” but refused to answer what supposedly makes the story “purposefully misleading.” In a set of three Tweets, Google’s team insisted that the company does not “manipulate” search results “to fit a particular political ideology,” but admitted […]
Why Is Microsoft Working with Chinese Military University?…
Microsoft has been collaborating with researchers linked to a Chinese military-backed university on artificial intelligence, elevating concerns that US firms are contributing to China’s high-tech surveillance and censorship apparatus. Over the past year, researchers at Microsoft Research Asia in Beijing have co-authored at least three papers with scholars affiliated with China’s National University of Defence […]
Creepy AI Monitoring UK Employees’ Work Tasks in Real Time…
Over 130,000 people in the UK and abroad are being monitored by an artificial intelligence system known as Isaak – which scrutinizes staff behavior minute-to-minute…Dozens of UK businesses are using the “Isaak” system which analyzes tasks such as who’s email who, and when, how workers are collaborating, and which staff are “influencers” or “change-makers,” according […]
Watch SpaceX Launch a Falcon Heavy on Its First Real Mission…
A little over a year ago, SpaceX pulled off a showy first launch for its new rocket, the Falcon Heavy. The flight dispatched founder Elon Musk’s cherry-red Tesla convertible, with an empty spacesuit dubbed Starman in the driver’s seat, on a multimillion-year journey around the solar system. After the launch, the rocket’s three first-stage boosters […]
Senior Obama Cyber Official Lobbying for China…
China’s government-linked telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies has hired a senior Obama administration cyber security official as a lobbyist, according to a congressional filing. Samir Jain, former senior director for cybersecurity policy at the White House National Security Council, notified Congress March 27 that he is registering as a lobbyist for the Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies Co., […]
Documents Detailing Google’s ‘News Blacklist’ Show Manipulation of Special Search Results…
Google does manipulate its search results manually, contrary to the company’s official denials, documents obtained exclusively by The Daily Caller indicate. Two official policies dubbed the “misrepresentation policy” and the “good neighbor policy” inform the company’s “XPA news blacklist,” which is maintained by Google’s Trust & Safety team. “T&S will be in charge of updating […]
Radiation Concerns Halt Brussels 5G Development, for Now…
Plans for a pilot project to provide high-speed 5G wireless internet in Brussels have been halted due to fears for the health of citizens, according to reports. In July, the government concluded an agreement with three telecom operators to relax the strict radiation standards in Brussels. But according to the Region, it is now impossible […]
BMW, VW, and Daimler Colluded to Prevent Better Emissions Control Tech…
On Friday, the European Union Commission accused BMW, Daimler, and Volkswagen Group (which makes VW, Audi, and Porsche vehicles) of colluding to limit emissions reduction technology in their diesel and gas vehicles. The commission accused the three manufacturers of coordinating to limit the size and refill ranges of AdBlue tanks on their diesel vehicles made […]
Opinion: On the Imminent Expulsion of Julian Assange by Elizabeth Lea Vos…
According to WikiLeaks, Julian Assange will be expelled from the Ecuadorian embassy in London within “hours to days.” Earlier today, WikiLeaks announced via Twitter: “A high level source within the Ecuadorian state has told WikiLeaks that Julian Assange will be expelled within “hours to days” using the #INAPapers offshore scandal as a pretext–and that it […]