China will not accept U.S. 'theft' of TikTok: China Daily

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will not accept the “theft” of a Chinese technology company and is able to respond to Washington’s move to push ByteDance to sell short-video app TikTok’s U.S. operations to Microsoft, the China Daily newspaper said on Tuesday.

The United States’ “bullying” of Chinese tech companies was a consequence of Washington’s zero-sum vision of “American first” and left China no choice but “submission or mortal combat in the tech realm”, the state-backed paper said in an editorial.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tiktok-china/china-will-not-accept-u-s-theft-of-tiktok-china-daily-idUSKCN25002I

#us #china #tiktok

Europol Regulation - Plans for a "European FBI"

The EU Police Agency should be allowed to investigate and search for cross-border crimes. A proposal to this effect from the Commission is expected in December, and the German Council Presidency wants to support the initiative with a conference in Berlin. Civil rights groups warn about a " data washing machine".

Some of these demands will be reflected in the recast of the four year old Europol regulation that will be published by the European Commission on 6th December. The German Interior Ministry plans to organise a conference on the "future of Europol" on 21st and 22nd October in Berlin and the annual meeting of European police chiefs on 1st and 2nd October in The Hague will also look into the new regulation.

The main pillars of the proposal are already known. In a publication for a preliminary impact assessment, the Commission writes that Europol is to be strengthened to "deal with emerging threats". The scope of criminal offences for which Europol is competent will therefore be extended. The agency would then be able to conduct its own searches in the Schengen Information System (SIS II) and use the Prüm framework for Europe-wide searches of biometric data.

👀 👉🏼 https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12387-Strengthening-of-Europol-s-mandate

👀 👉🏼 https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-14745-2019-INIT/de/pdf

👀 👉🏼 🇩🇪 https://netzpolitik.org/2020/europol-verordnung-plaene-fuer-ein-europaeisches-fbi/

#eu #police #europol #fbi #biometric #data #regulation #schengen #pdf #thinkabout
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NSW mobile detection 'loophole' generating millions of dollars

Almost one in 10 motorists caught by NSW mobile phone detection cameras are using companies to avoid the penalty in what the state's opposition is describing as a loophole that's keeping dangerous drivers on the roads.

More than $19 million was generated from the new cameras between March and June this year, Revenue NSW statistics reveal, with about 43,000 fines issued. Eight per cent of those were linked to businesses that said they could not confirm who was driving.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nsw-mobile-detection-loophole-generating-millions-20200803-p55i4z.html

#australia #mobile #surveillance

Protonmail is now justifying their suspension of our account by blaming a crackdown on ransomware operators and pointing to the fact that our account name contains the letters "d" "d" "o" and "s" which, according to Protonmail, is "a similar cyberattack" to ransomware.

No, you're not missing something – their explanation makes no sense unless the company is too incompetent to operate.

PTA further extends the deadline for VPN registration on the recommendation of industry experts

For sometime now there has been a lot of speculation around PTA blocking VPNs. Though Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), has announced that the registration process has been made compulsory and the process has been initiated, the authority is not blocking them at the moment.

https://pk.mashable.com/tech/4413/pta-further-extends-the-deadline-for-vpn-registration-on-the-recommendation-of-industry-experts

#asia #pakistan #PTA #VPN

Man punished for using a VPN to scale China’s Great Firewall and watch porn

A man in southern China received administrative punishment after he bypassed the country’s strict internet censorship system to watch porn, state media reported on Wednesday.

The man, surnamed Chen, was apprehended by the local police in the city of Jinshi, located in Hunan province. The police said Chen was using an app called Shadowrocket, which allows users to connect to proxy servers using the censorship circumvention tool Shadowsocks, among other protocols.

https://www.scmp.com/abacus/tech/article/3095201/man-punished-using-vpn-scale-chinas-great-firewall-and-watch-porn

#asia #china #VPN

Malaysia police raid Al Jazeera’s office, seize computers

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysian police raided the office of news broadcaster Al Jazeera and two local TV stations on Tuesday, seizing computers as part of an investigation into a documentary on undocumented migrants that enraged the government.

Al Jazeera, a Qatari-state owned broadcaster, said in a statement that police seized two computers during the raid, which it called a “troubling escalation” in a government crackdown on media freedom. It urged Malaysian authorities to cease the criminal investigation.

https://apnews.com/3570249a3f55b187acae87fb830362bb

#asia #malaysia #journalism

Cluster of 295 Chrome extensions caught hijacking Google and Bing search results

The malicious Chrome extensions have been installed by more than 80 million users.

More than 80 million Chrome users have installed one of 295 Chrome extensions that hijack and insert ads inside Google and Bing search results.

The malicious extensions were discovered by AdGuard, a company that provides ad-blocking solutions, while the company's staff was looking into a series of fake ad-blocking extensions that were available on the official Chrome Web Store.

A subsequent investigation into the fake ad blockers unearthed a larger group of malicious activity spreading across 295 extensions.

https://www.zdnet.com/article/cluster-of-295-chrome-extensions-caught-hijacking-google-and-bing-search-results

#google #chrome #bing #extensions #hijack

Why Microsoft wants TikTok

At first glance, a Microsoft acquisition of TikTok seems a little unusual. Microsoft has spent years walking back consumer plays like the Groove Music service, the Kinect Xbox accessory, its Microsoft Band fitness device, Windows Phone, and more recently the Mixer streaming service. Microsoft has been favoring its enterprise software and services, and even Cortana has transitioned to be productivity-focused. How does a service that caters to dancing teenagers fit with Microsoft’s buttoned-up business demographic?

If you dig a little deeper into Microsoft’s future ambitions, though, a move to acquire TikTok’s operations in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand could benefit many of Microsoft’s existing businesses while also setting the company up as a real competitor to YouTube and Facebook.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/3/21352309/microsoft-tiktok-acquisition-deal-why-us-countries-data

#us #microsoft #bytedance #tiktok

How Cops Can Secretly Track Your Phone

A guide to stingray surveillance technology, which may have been deployed at recent protests.

Since May, as protesters around the country have marched against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, activists have spotted a recurring presence in the skies: mysterious planes and helicopters hovering overhead, apparently conducting surveillance on protesters. A press release from the Justice Department at the end of May revealed that the Drug Enforcement Agency and U.S. Marshals Service were asked by the Justice Department to provide unspecified support to law enforcement during protests.

https://theintercept.com/2020/07/31/protests-surveillance-stingrays-dirtboxes-phone-tracking/

#us #phone #tracking #surveillance

Google to pay $7.5M in class action settlement. That's $5 a victim.

As confirmed by BleepingComputer, users today are receiving emails titled, "Notice of Class Action Settlement re Google Plus..." that offer details on the two-year class-action lawsuit Google had been litigating because of the Google+ data leak.

In October 2018, Google+ had shut down its services after information about a bug leaking user's personal data came to light.

Although aware of this bug since May 2018 and knowing it was leaking information from some 500,000 user accounts via the Google+ API. an internal committee at Google had decided not to disclose details on the bug sooner.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/google/google-to-pay-75m-in-class-action-settlement-thats-5-a-victim/

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Google "accidentally" enables Home smart speakers to listen in to everyday house sounds

Users have received notifications when their Google Home speakers hear smoke alarms or breaking glass

Google "accidentally" enabled a feature for Google Home users which let the smart speaker listen to the sounds of objects in your house.

A user on Reddit spotted a notification on his phone from his smart speaker which alerted him to the fact his smoke alarm was going off while he was cooking.

Usually, Google Home devices only respond to its active ‘wake words’ – such as “Ok, Google” or “Hey, Google” – but in this instance the speaker was listening out to a passive sound and make “my dumb smoke detectors smart,” the Reddit user wrote.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/google-home-smart-speakers-listen-switch-on-smoke-detector-glass-breaking-a9652991.html

#google #home #smart #speaker #privacy

Virginia becomes first US state to debut COVID-19 tracing app using Apple and Google API

The Exposure Notification API developed by #Apple and #Google is officially being put to use in the United States. #Virginia has become the first U.S. state to offer a COVID-19 contact tracing application using the Apple and Google API, and it’s available to download today from the App Store for iOS and Google Play for Android.

The COVIDWISE app comes from the Virginia Department of Health. As we’ve explained in the past, Apple only allows public health agencies like Health Canada to access the Exposure Notification API. That is, not anyone can simply build an app using the API.

By using the Exposure Notification API, the COVIDWISE app uses Bluetooth to exchange random identifiers with nearby phones and subsequently checks against a list of identifiers from people who have reported a positive test.

https://9to5mac.com/2020/08/05/virginia-becomes-first-us-state-to-debut-covid-19-tracing-app-using-apple-and-google-api/

China 'exporting CCP speech controls to Australia' as second university caught in row

The Chinese Communist Party is harnessing an online cyber policing portal, accessible in Australia, to increase its international influence, as it encourages Chinese internet users to dob in acts that undermine Beijing's image.

Australian universities have been engulfed in a fresh row over academic freedom after co-ordinated protests from nationalist Chinese students forced UNSW to take down social media posts critical of the Chinese Communist Party's actions in Hong Kong. UNSW vice-chancellor Ian Jacobs on Wednesday apologised for the decision, telling staff there was "no excuse for our failure in this instance" and the social media posts should never have been removed.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/china-exporting-ccp-speech-controls-to-australia-as-second-university-caught-in-row-20200805-p55irf.html

'The fear is real': Chinese students in Australia dread reprisal from Beijing

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-fear-is-real-chinese-students-in-australia-dread-reprisal-from-beijing-20200804-p55iht.html

#australia #UNSW #china #CCCP #freespeech

Asia's regulators ignore rising influence of Big Tech at their peril

Market power of Alibaba, Reliance, Tencent and Gojek could outweigh US behemoths

The heads of the U.S. big four tech giants escaped their recent Capitol Hill grillings without lasting damage. Whether Apple, Amazon, Google and Facebook will be so lucky in future is less clear, given the likely arrival of President Joe Biden later this year, and near-unanimity among his Democrat colleagues that America's tech giants need to be brought to heel.

Viewed from Asia, the hearing spectacle looked curious, however. Governments here have come to view Big Tech more positively, with China and India in particular racing to nurture dominant national technology champions. The result could leave Asia with a cluster of cyber behemoths with even more entrenched power than their U.S. equivalents -- a profound long term economic development that may turn out to be a mixed blessing at best.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Opinion/Asia-s-regulators-ignore-rising-influence-of-Big-Tech-at-their-peril

#asia #BigTech

WhatsApp spyware attack: senior clergymen in Togo among activists targeted

Bishop from Togo among 1,400 individuals alerted by WhatsApp to malware attack

A prominent Catholic bishop and a priest in Togo have been told they were targeted by spyware made by the private surveillance firm NSO Group, in the first known case of its kind involving members of the clergy.

A joint investigation by the Guardian and the French newspaper Le Monde can reveal that Bishop Benoît Alowonou and five other critics of Togo’s repressive government were alerted by WhatsApp last year that their mobile phones had been targeted with the spying technology.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/aug/03/senior-clergymen-among-activists-targeted-by-spyware

#africa #togo #whatsapp #spyware

China’s ride-hailing king DiDi faces uphill battle in Russia

Protectionism and fierce competition await the onetime Uber-slayer

MOSCOW -- China's ride-hailing giant DiDi Chuxing is preparing to make its debut in Russia, the latest step in the company's ambitious global expansion -- but one that experts say is unlikely to be easy, citing established local competitors and protectionist attitudes.

DiDi has begun recruiting drivers in the southwestern city of Kazan, offering applicants earnings starting from 3,000 rubles ($41) per shift, surcharges for every order, and a commission rate of only 10%.

Sources within the Russian taxi industry expect DiDi to launch in Kazan as early as this month (August), Russian business daily RBC reported in July. From there, the company is looking to expand its operations to Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow, and St. Petersburg before the end of the year.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/China-tech/China-s-ride-hailing-king-DiDi-faces-uphill-battle-in-Russia

#asia #china #russia #DiDi

NSA urges military personnel to turn off cellphone location data

The National Security Agency is urging US military and intelligence personnel to turn off location-sharing services on their cellphones to prevent security breaches.

The secretive intelligence agency warned in a bulletin Tuesday that the common app feature can pose a real threat to national security, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Location-sharing can be critical for the function of apps like Google Maps, but the information it collects about users’ whereabouts is also collected by tech companies that then sell the anonymized data to marketers and advertisers.

https://nypost.com/2020/08/04/nsa-presses-military-to-turn-off-cell-phone-location-data/

#us #NSA #military #phone #location

Google pulls 2,500 China-linked YouTube channels over disinformation

(Reuters) - Google says it has deleted more than 2,500 YouTube channels tied to China as part of its effort to weed out disinformation on the videosharing platform.

The Alphabet-owned company said the channels were removed between April and June “as part of our ongoing investigation into coordinated influence operations linked to China.”

The channels generally posted “spammy, non-political content,” but a small subset touched on politics, the company said in a quarterly bulletin on disinformation operations.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cyber-google-disinformation/google-pulls-2500-china-linked-youtube-channels-over-disinformation-idUSKCN251384

#google #china #youtube

How to Fight Against Big Tech’s Power

We are beholden to a few Big Tech overlords for much of our digital lives. We can be more conscientious about it.

In the morning, you check email. At noon, you browse social media and message friends. In the evening, you listen to music while shopping online. Around bedtime, you curl up with an e-book.

For all of those activities, you probably used a product made or sold by Google, Amazon, Apple or Facebook. There’s no simple way to avoid those Big Four. Even if you subscribed to Spotify, you would probably still be using a Google Android phone, an Amazon speaker or an Apple iPhone to stream the music. Even if you deleted Facebook, you might still be using the Facebook-owned Instagram or WhatsApp.

Being beholden to a small set of companies that touch every corner of our digital lives is precisely why lawmakers have summoned the chief executives of Amazon, Google, Facebook and Apple to testify in an antitrust hearing on Wednesday. Expect the tech titans to be grilled over whether their companies have become so powerful and far-reaching that they harm rivals and all of us, too.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/29/technology/personaltech/big-tech-power-how-to-fight.html

#BigTech

Distributed Denial of Secrets: Questions wanted for an exclusive interview!

For an exclusive interview we have the makers of the collective DDoSecrets at hand. In contrast to other disclosure platforms, most leaks are not published on a website, but by telegram. Many actions are also announced on Twitter.

Distributed Denial of Secrets fights against dictatorships, corruption, police violence, tax evaders and much more

Last month the public prosecutor's office in Zwickau confiscated a server located in Germany. The reason was the so-called BlueLeaks, which activists of Distributed Denial of Secrets circulated. They distributed no less than 269 gigabytes, which had originally been hacked by a member of Anonymous. The extensive leak includes US police reports and documents. It includes bank details, names, email addresses, emails with attachments, phone numbers, photos, videos etc. pp. After receiving a request for legal assistance, the responsible public prosecutor's office became active the previous month.

👀 👉🏼 Deadline for questions ends on August 20, 2020 ! 👈🏼 👀

What do you want to know from the people who run it? They face a public interview for the first time! Our deadline ends in exactly 14 days. 👇🏼 👇🏼

👀 👉🏼 🇬🇧 https://tarnkappe.info/distributed-denial-of-secrets-questions-wanted-for-an-exclusive-interview/

👀 👉🏼 🇩🇪 https://tarnkappe.info/distributed-denial-of-secrets-fragen-fuer-ein-exklusives-interview-gesucht/


💡 This exclusive interview with DDoSecrets will be published in German and English. Questions can therefore be submitted in both languages.

Please ask your questions either in the Tarnkappe Forum, or use one of the following Telegram-Groups:.

👉🏼 Tarnkappe.info

👉🏼 NoGoolag

Please do not forget to mark your question(s) with #DDoSecrets

#DDoSecrets #interview
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