Xela Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 On 30/10/2018 at 22:14, bickster said: Singapore is very dystopian, it's an odd litter-free, sparkly clean, orderly place where crime appears to not exist and tempers rarely flare. Quite frankly it's bloody odd It does now, however, have "No Selfie-Stick Zones", this is one part of its odd character that I'm all in favour of. Couldn't live there though, it's got no soul. I was half convinced it was populated by replicants It livens up in Orchard Towers after dark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted January 7, 2019 Moderator Share Posted January 7, 2019 13 minutes ago, Xela said: It livens up in Orchard Towers after dark I'd clap but you must have already got that 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Disturbingly accurate summation of where we are these days: https://twitter.com/VickerySec/status/1089771621118668800 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A'Villan Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 45 minutes ago, maqroll said: Disturbingly accurate summation of where we are these days: https://twitter.com/VickerySec/status/1089771621118668800 Where's Neo when you need him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted February 26, 2019 Author Share Posted February 26, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted March 13, 2019 Author Share Posted March 13, 2019 Quote An open database in China contains the personal information of more than 1.8 million women, including their phone numbers, addresses, and something called “BreedReady” status, according to a researcher. Victor Gevers, a Dutch internet expert from the non-profit group GDI.Foundation, found the insecure data cache while searching for open databases in China. He posted a series of screenshots of it over the weekend. The database, whose server is in China, included fields labeled in English for sex, age, education, marital status, as well as a column titled “BreedReady”, which could be a poor translation of Chinese terms to describe whether a woman has children or is of child-bearing age, observers noted. It was taken down late on Monday afternoon local time, according to Gevers. The data breach is alarming in the context of official concerns over China’s falling birthrates. Women rights advocates and critics of China’s use of strict family planning rules worry about how far the government will go to encourage more women to have children. It is not clear whether the database is related to a dating app, a government registry, or another organisation or company. Gevers, who also identified a database maintained by a surveillance company tracking at least 2.5 million residents in Xinjiang, said he was still taking samples and working on verifying the data. “More than this, we don’t have at the moment. Our primary concern is that it gets secured ASAP,” he told the Guardian. The average age of women in the database was 32, with the youngest being 15, he said. Almost 90% of included entries were described single and 82% were listed as living in Beijing. The database also included fields labeled “political” and “hasvideo” as well as links to what appear to be Facebook profile pages. Facebook is blocked in China and can only be accessed through virtual private networks. The researcher said he and others were contacting some of those whose profile pages were linked to see if they were aware of the database or had registered such information. In a thread titled “Is this the prologue to The Handmaid’s Tale?” on the discussion forum Douban, Chinese internet users likened the database to the television show based on a future where women are forced to reproduce. “This kind of database is very indicative and frightening,” said one user, adding: “I’m a pessimist and the fact that stories like The Handmaid’s Tale exist means the signs are already there.” Others were less surprised and wondered whether the information could be related to a Chinese dating website Jiayuan, which was hacked by a security researcher aiming to highlight the site’s vulnerabilities in 2015. One user on Douban wrote: “To tell the truth, this kind of data is everywhere.” Grauniad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chindie Posted March 13, 2019 VT Supporter Share Posted March 13, 2019 Given China's social score system I'd imagine conversations along the lines of 'Ah Ms. Chan, we would love to let you make an offer on this apartment, but it seems you're childless and 'Breed Ready' so you don't qualify. There is a corner of a basement with a leak you qualify for... Unless *unzips*' are not far away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VILLAMARV Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 Quote Royal wedding 'zombies' lose human rights case Protesters have lost a legal fight against pre-emptive arrests made when some of them dressed as zombies in London during 2011's royal wedding.The nine demonstrators were detained until after the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge kissed on the balcony at Buckingham Palace.After eight years of legal hearings, they took their case to the European Court of Human Rights.There, they were told there had been no breach of their right to liberty. That court's ruling means police can preventatively detain people even if they have no specific intelligence linking the individual to crime. The nine people who fought the case to the Strasbourg court were among 20 who were arrested, detained or searched before Prince William's wedding to Catherine Middleton. Among them was a group taking part in a tongue-in-cheek "zombie wedding" in Soho. The event was two miles from the Westminster Abbey ceremony - and aimed to draw attention to cuts, including to public services, that would hit members of the LGBT community. Organisers encouraged people to dress up for a "fun, theatrical" event that would make a serious point - but police said that one leaflet suggested that "maggot confetti" would be thrown. Hannah Eiseman-Renyard, lead claimant in the case, said she had only joined the event to help film and report on it and she was astonished when officers arrested her in a Starbucks outlet. She has never been involved in or accused of criminality and was freed without charge on the same day. There was no evidence that anyone had any maggots - and Ms Eiseman-Renyard said the reference on a leaflet had obviously been written as a joke. "I went out to report on a flash mob with lip stain dripping down my chin but ended up with handcuff marks on my wrists," she said. "This is not the outcome we hoped for after eight years of a really long fight. In 2011 the arrests were both unjust and unlawful. Today they remain unjust." Another claimant in the case, Brian Hicks, said he was searched for dangerous items while heading to the "Not the Royal Wedding" protest in Westminster. He was carrying a packet of biscuits, two phones and a comb. Taken to a police station, he was released without charge after the main royal events had finished. The European Court said it would not consider the lawfulness of the detentions because British judges had already looked at the balance between police duties to maintain the peace and the rights of those held. The judgement was significantly influenced by a decision in an unrelated football hooligan case from Denmark, which concluded that police could detain people - and therefore interfere with their right to liberty - if they believed it would prevent someone getting involved in later disorder. But Ms Eiseman-Renyard said: "This judgement now means that the police don't need a criminal reason to arrest someone and get them out of the way. The outcome of this case has very worrying implications for civil liberties." https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47737635 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VILLAMARV Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 On 07/01/2019 at 18:09, Xann said: Fast Company I was chatting to someone about this on the weekend. It could get very popular very quickly 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 11 minutes ago, VILLAMARV said: That court's ruling means police can preventatively detain people even if they have no specific intelligence linking the individual to crime. Scary shit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VILLAMARV Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 1 minute ago, Xann said: Scary shit. What's a bit of usurping the Rule of Law between friends? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VILLAMARV Posted March 31, 2019 Share Posted March 31, 2019 On 28/03/2019 at 19:05, Xann said: Scary shit. and 3 days later.... Quote Police in England and Wales are being given greater stop and search powers to tackle rising knife crime. Home Secretary Sajid Javid is making it easier for officers to search people without reasonable suspicion in places where serious violence may occur.....................There will also be a lower threshold for authorising searches - police will only need to reasonably believe serious violence "may" occur, not that it "will" https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47760645 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted June 7, 2019 Author Share Posted June 7, 2019 Quote Finland is winning the war on fake news. What it’s learned may be crucial to Western democracy Helsinki, Finland (CNN) – On a recent afternoon in Helsinki, a group of students gathered to hear a lecture on a subject that is far from a staple in most community college curriculums. Standing in front of the classroom at Espoo Adult Education Centre, Jussi Toivanen worked his way through his PowerPoint presentation. A slide titled “Have you been hit by the Russian troll army?” included a checklist of methods used to deceive readers on social media: image and video manipulations, half-truths, intimidation and false profiles. Another slide, featuring a diagram of a Twitter profile page, explained how to identify bots: look for stock photos, assess the volume of posts per day, check for inconsistent translations and a lack of personal information. The lesson wrapped with a popular “deepfake” — highly realistic manipulated video or audio — of Barack Obama to highlight the challenges of the information war ahead. The course is part of an anti-fake news initiative launched by Finland’s government in 2014 – two years before Russia meddled in the US elections – aimed at teaching residents, students, journalists and politicians how to counter false information designed to sow division. CNN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted June 17, 2019 Author Share Posted June 17, 2019 Quote The Spy in Your Pocket How surveillance software designed to track drug-dealers and terrorists is being used to spy on journalists, human rights activists and lawyers carrying out legitimate activities. BBC Radio 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 On 28/03/2019 at 18:54, VILLAMARV said: police could detain people - and therefore interfere with their right to liberty - if they believed it would prevent someone getting involved in later disorder. This seems to contravene some very basic principles of law. China would approve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A'Villan Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 On 19/06/2019 at 07:45, peterms said: This seems to contravene some very basic principles of law. China would approve. Not since the Patriot Act and Anti-terrorism laws came to be. Not sure what they're like in the UK but they are far reaching in Australia and the U.S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 48 minutes ago, A'Villan said: Not since the Patriot Act and Anti-terrorism laws came to be. Not sure what they're like in the UK but they are far reaching in Australia and the U.S Yes, I agree states have been trying to extend their control over people, under the banner of anti-terrorism precautions. The conflict is with principles of human rights. In the case mentioned, a judgement was drawn on which related to prevention of violence among football supporters. (It doesn't say so, but I assume it involved people who had previously been involved in football violence - if not, it raises further issues). This judgement was then used to justify detaining people so they couldn't take part in what seems to be a non-violent, good-humoured mock ceremony. That seems quite a leap, and I think it's impossible to justify. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted June 20, 2019 Author Share Posted June 20, 2019 Quote Nearly All U.S. Visa Applicants Now Required To Submit 5-Year Social Media History Under a State Department policy that took effect Friday, almost all visa applicants to the United States will now be required to submit the social media usernames, email addresses and phone numbers they’ve used in the past five years. The policy shift was described by AP as a “vast expansion” of the Trump administration’s enhanced screening of people wanting to enter the U.S. Immigration advocates have decried the move as a potential impingement on privacy and First Amendment rights. Previously, only a select number of visa applicants who’d been singled out for additional scrutiny had been required to submit their social media, email and phone number histories, AP noted. Under the new policy, however, only applicants for certain diplomatic and official visa types will be exempted from this requirement. Almost 15 million visa applicants are expected to be impacted by the policy change. Yahoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A'Villan Posted June 20, 2019 Share Posted June 20, 2019 10 minutes ago, peterms said: Yes, I agree states have been trying to extend their control over people, under the banner of anti-terrorism precautions. The conflict is with principles of human rights. In the case mentioned, a judgement was drawn on which related to prevention of violence among football supporters. (It doesn't say so, but I assume it involved people who had previously been involved in football violence - if not, it raises further issues). This judgement was then used to justify detaining people so they couldn't take part in what seems to be a non-violent, good-humoured mock ceremony. That seems quite a leap, and I think it's impossible to justify. It was only as recent as 50 years ago Cointelpro was used to assassinate Fred Hampton, a 21 year old who ran a free breakfast program, organised weekly rallies, taught political education classes every morning at 6am, and launched a project for community supervision of the police. He was a leader and a true advocate for all people. Not detained, assassinated. So it comes as little surprise that preventative measures were taken, without justification or accountability of their warrants, to interfere with something they didn't want going ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xann Posted July 13, 2019 Author Share Posted July 13, 2019 Facebook fined $5 Billion for the Cambridge Analytica fiasco. Nothing to see there then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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