Full biometric KYC for a sandwich. Absolutely not, Jeff. image
NEW: UK secretly demanded Apple build a backdoor into ALL encrypted iCloud accounts. image You haven't heard about this before because these orders are secret & there are typically bans on talking about them. SHORT TERM IMPACT: Apple will probably stop offering encrypted iCloud storage in the UK. DETAILS: the UK Home Secretary sent #Apple a so-called "Technical Capability Notice" which is a demand for access. These flow from the 2016 Investigatory Powers Act (aka "Snooper's Charter") and is a mechanism for the government to *compel* companies to provide access. ENFORCED SILENCE: Among the more pernicious parts of this secret demand: Apple would be *FORBIDDEN* from telling users that the backdoor had been introduced into iCloud's Advanced Data Protection. BIG PICTURE: The public really doesn't realize it, but cloud backups of phones are constantly used for surveillance. Huge #privacy & #encryption gap. By introducing optional Advanced Data Protection, Apple extended similar protections of device encryption to users' clouds. So, since ADP was introduced in 2022, governments have been scheming to undermine it. LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE: It's only a matter of time before governments try to target Private Cloud Compute. And do so with the same secret legal tools. REPORT: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/02/07/apple-encryption-backdoor-uk/
No notes. #deepseek #openai image
Monday edition of *Car privacy is an absolute nightmare*: image Subaru's employee portal holds a year's worth of location data for all internet-connected cars. image We know this because it was vulnerable (now fixed). You could pull a year's worth of driving just with a license plate. image Props to Sam Curry & Shubham Shah for exposing it. Pic is a years' worth of Sam's mom's #Subaru locations. I seriously doubt any owner has a clear idea that this data is being collected on them. But the same thing is replicated for almost every car mfr (see the #Mozilla foundation report on car privacy link) Literally no car owner has asked for their whip to be turned into a surveillance portal. And yet.. Car companies feel basically no pressure to do right by customers, but experience a lot of incentives to mine their movements for money. Sidenote: same (now closed) vulnerability also enabled remote unlocks & starts and a bunch of other highly undesirable things. Reading list: The Subaru research: News report on it: Mozilla Foundation's key investigation into car privacy:
Wait, people can support me in real value, not just magic internet points that are revokable without notice? Zaps just blew my mind.
We need #encryption backdoors to 'enforce' democracy says Europol chief. Says anonymity "not a fundamental right" image I disagree. #Anonymity is part of the bedrock of protecting healthy dissent. Forcing total government access to private communications lays the technical groundwork for undermining democracy. image But here we are. It's a new year, so cops & governments are taking fresh swings at encryption. Only the scare tactics change. Welcome to a new, cynical chapter in the fight to protect privacy. image Demanding them... when the worst recent national security breaches in the US happened... when #China hacked government-mandated backdoors... is also absurd. There's every reason to believe something similar may have happened in #Europe , we just don't know it yet. Shortsighted and cynical stuff. Story: