IT gurus warn facial recognition software is backdoor means for surveilling upon Internet users

IT gurus warn facial recognition software is backdoor means for surveilling upon Internet users

Whistleblowers have previously said that the US government has a poor track record in protecting minors, including from trafficking. For instance, in April, Tara Lee Rodas, a whistleblower from the US Department of Health and Human Services, said that the US government has become the “middleman” in the transport of unaccompanied minors across the US-Mexico border.

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Revealed: Experts worry Big Tech is investing in facial age-verification technology to promote child porn

Revealed: Experts worry Big Tech is investing in facial age-verification technology to promote child porn

But the companies also concede that “a third of people in the European Union and the United Kingdom to date have been blocked by facial age estimation,” leading to questions about the true accuracy of the technology. And a February 2022 Sifted article states that the technology “is usually able to accurately estimate age to within a four to six-year range,” and “as recently as 2018, the accuracy wasn’t where it should be on darker skin tones.”

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Ukraine warns Russia to ‘expect more drone attacks’ and ‘more war’ after it hit tower housing ministries

Ukraine warns Russia to ‘expect more drone attacks’ and ‘more war’ after it hit tower housing ministries

While the incidents have not caused casualties or major damage, they have provoked widespread unease and sit awkwardly with the Kremlin’s narrative that Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine is proceeding according to plan.

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After years of abuse Kenyan tech workers take on Big Tech to champion rights for fellow Africans

After years of abuse Kenyan tech workers take on Big Tech to champion rights for fellow Africans

In Nairobi, a regional tech hub, outsourcing companies bring talent from numerous African countries to moderate work in different African languages. They include Sama, a San Francisco-headquartered company, which has contracted workers for Facebook and ChatGPT. Majorel, headquartered in Luxembourg, hires labour for Facebook and TikTok.

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How Russian hackers lured foreign embassy workers in Ukraine with an ad for a cheap BMW

How Russian hackers lured foreign embassy workers in Ukraine with an ad for a cheap BMW

Researchers at Unit 42 were able to tie the fake car advert back to the SVR because the hackers re-used certain tools and techniques which have previously been connected to the spy agency.

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BBC adapts ‘open source’ news reporting to beat disinformation fuelled by artificial intelligence

BBC adapts ‘open source’ news reporting to beat disinformation fuelled by artificial intelligence

BBC has produced some compelling investigative reporting, but Turness is looking for more immediacy. For example, when Russia claimed a Ukrainian drone tried to attack the Kremlin, the BBC gathered multiple videos of explosions in the night sky, and quickly found video footage to map the actions of police in recent unrest at a housing complex.

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White House plans to appeal landmark censorship ruling that limits Biden’s government contact with Big Tech

White House plans to appeal landmark censorship ruling that limits Biden’s government contact with Big Tech

CNN legal analyst Elie Honig also criticised Tuesday’s injunction, saying that free speech is “a conservative political ideology” and that the ruling’s references “questioning vaccines, questioning masks” were “conservative talking points.”

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Keen to clear Russian troops out of Ukraine, US says it’s willing to send Kyiv cluster munitions

Keen to clear Russian troops out of Ukraine, US says it’s willing to send Kyiv cluster munitions

In previous conflicts, cluster munitions have had a high dud rate, which meant that thousands of the smaller unexploded bomblets remained behind and killed and maimed people decades later. The US last used its cluster munitions in battle in Iraq in 2003 and decided not to continue using them as the conflict shifted to more urban environments with more dense civilian populations.

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Forget how your personal data is harvested by your phone, your car ‘knows’ your sleazy secrets 

Forget how your personal data is harvested by your phone, your car ‘knows’ your sleazy secrets 

The Vehicle Privacy Tool says Toyota’s documents are “silent” on whether the company collects data from people’s phones that are synced with its vehicles. Proffitt says it doesn’t collect this data, except for “using an identifier for the sole purpose of connecting a user’s profile on the Toyota/Lexus app with a vehicle” if a profile has been set up. “Any synchronization of contact info and call history for Bluetooth purposes remains on the vehicle and is not sent to Toyota,” Proffitt says.

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Dogfight: Facebook parent company launches Threads app that might just cannibalise Twitter

Dogfight: Facebook parent company launches Threads app that might just cannibalise Twitter

The platform also arrives at a particularly weak moment for Twitter. Musk’s recent announcement that free Twitter accounts would, temporarily, only be able to view 600 tweets per day was met with derision. Such moves will likely further hurt advertising on the platform – worsening a crisis that’s been ongoing throughout Musk’s tenure.

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