More than 90 policy and rights groups around the world published an open letter on Thursday urging Apple to abandon plans for scanning children’s messages for nudity and the phones of adults for images of child sex abuse.
“Though these capabilities are intended to protect children and to reduce the spread of child sexual abuse material, we are concerned that they will be used to censor protected speech, threaten the privacy and security of people around the world, and have disastrous consequences for many children,” the groups wrote https://cdt.org/insights/international-coalition-calls-on-apple-to-abandon-plan-to-build-surveillance-capabilities-into-iphones-ipads-and-other-products in the letter, which was first reported by Reuters.
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The largest campaign to date over an encryption issue at a single company was organized by the U.S.-based nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT).
Some overseas signatories in particular are worried about the impact of the changes in nations with different legal systems, including some already hosting heated fights over encryption and privacy.
“It’s so disappointing and upsetting that Apple is doing this, because they have been a staunch ally in defending encryption in the past,” said Sharon Bradford Franklin, co-director of CDT’s Security & Surveillance Project.
An Apple spokesman said the company had addressed privacy and security concerns in a document Friday outlining why the complex architecture of the scanning software should resist attempts to subvert it https://www.apple.com/child-safety/pdf/Security_Threat_Model_Review_of_Apple_Child_Safety_Features.pdf.
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Those signing included multiple groups in Brazil, where courts have repeatedly blocked Facebook’s WhatsApp for failing to decrypt messages in criminal probes, and the senate has passed a bill that would require traceability of messages, which would require somehow marking their content. A similar law was passed in India this year.
“Our main concern is the consequence of this mechanism, how this could be extended to other situations and other companies,” said Flavio Wagner, president of the independent Brazil chapter of the Internet Society, which signed. “This represents a serious weakening of encryption.”
Other signers were in India, Mexico, Germany, Argentina, Ghana and Tanzania.
Surprised by the earlier outcry following its announcement two weeks ago, Apple has offered a series of explanations https://www.reuters.com/technology/after-criticism-apple-only-seek-abuse-images-flagged-multiple-nations-2021-08-13 and documents to argue that the risks of false detections are low.
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Apple said it would refuse demands to expand the image-detection system beyond pictures of children flagged by clearinghouses in multiple jurisdictions, though it has not said it would pull out of a market rather than obeying a court order.
Though most of the objections so far have been over device-scanning, the coalition’s letter also faults a change to iMessage in family accounts, which would try to identify and blur nudity in children’s messages, letting them view it only if parents are notified.
The signers said the step could endanger children in intolerant homes or those seeking educational material. More broadly, they said the change will break end-to-end encryption for iMessage, which Apple has staunchly defended in other contexts.
“Once this backdoor feature is built in, governments could compel Apple to extend notification to other accounts, and to detect images that are objectionable for reasons other than being sexually explicit,” the letter says.
Other groups that signed include the American Civil Liberties Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Access Now, Privacy International, and the Tor Project.
(Reporting by Joseph Menn; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
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Zoom’s automatic update option can help users ensure that they have the latest, safest version of the video conferencing software, which has had multiple privacy and security issues over the years. A Mac security researcher, however, has reported vulnerabilities he found in the tool that attackers could have exploited to gain full control of a victim’s computer at this year’s DefCon. According to Wired, Patrick Wardle presented two vulnerabilities during the conference. He found the first one in the app’s signature check, which certifies the integrity of the update being installed and examines it to make sure that it’s a new version of Zoom. In other words, it’s in charge of blocking attackers from tricking the automatic update installer into downloading an older and more vulnerable version of the app.
Wardle discovered that attackers could bypass the signature check by naming their malware file a certain way. And once they’re in, they could get root access and control the victim’s Mac. The Verge says Wardle disclosed the bug to Zoom back in December 2021, but the fix it rolled out contained another bug. This second vulnerability could have given attackers a way to circumvent the safeguard Zoom set in place to make sure an update delivers the latest version of the app. Wardle reportedly found that it’s possible to trick a tool that facilitates Zoom’s update distribution into accepting an older version of the video conferencing software.
Zoom already fixed that flaw, as well, but Wardle found yet another vulnerability, which he has also presented at the conference. He discovered that there’s a point in time between the auto-installer’s verification of a software package and the actual installation process that allows an attacker to inject malicious code into the update. A downloaded package meant for installation can apparently retain its original read-write permissions allowing any user to modify it. That means even users without root access could swap its contents with malicious code and gain control of the target computer.
The company told The Verge that it’s now working on a patch for the new vulnerability Wardle has disclosed. As Wired notes, though, attackers need to have existing access to a user’s device to be able to exploit these flaws. Even if there’s no immediate danger for most people, Zoom advises users to “keep up to date with the latest version” of the app whenever one comes out.
The recently launched Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 smartphone allows you to go hands-free on Instagram and Facebook. Here is all you need to know.
Samsung on Wednesday launched the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4. Along with the phone, the company also introduced a new feature to go hands-free on Instagram and Facebook. This means that if you have the latest Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 or any other Galaxy Z Flip smartphone then you can go hands-free on Instagram and Facebook. Want to know how? You can do so with the help of FlexCam on Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4. Informing about the same Meta said, “we’re introducing a new way to create hands-free on Instagram and Facebook with Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, as well as other Samsung Galaxy Z Flip smartphones. “
How to use FlexCam to go hands-free on Instagram and Facebook
Step 1:
With FlexCam on Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4, you can fold the phone and place it on a surface freestanding to record hand-free videos.
Step 2:
Now you can create Stories and Reels without a stand or tripod.
Step 3:
Using Instagram and Facebook with FlexCam makes it easier to record dances, how-to’s, and your favorite moments from afar, while on-the-go.
Meta further informed that FlexCam can also be used to make hands-free video calls with Messenger and WhatsApp.
About Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
The Galaxy Z Flip 4 comes in a compact clamshell design. You will be able to shoot hands-free video or capture full group selfies at various angles by partially folding Z Flip 4 to activate FlexCam. You can do more with Z Flip 4 by taking high-quality selfies right from the Cover Screen by leveraging the main camera with the upgraded Quick Shot. Start high-quality video recording in Quick Shot mode and then switch to Flex mode to continue recording hands-free without stopping the video.
The phone gets power from the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 comes with the expanded 3,700mAh battery along with super fast charging. According to Samsung, the phone can charge up to 50 percent in around 30 minutes.
At long, long last, Genshin Impact just wrapped up its new 3.0 special program, revealing a whole lot of new information about the new region, the new element, Dendro, new characters and of course, there are free goodies if you hung out and wached the stream. Or even if you didn’t, I have them right here.
We’ll just get these out of the way first, here are the three gift codes for free primogems and other materials that you can redeem here. These ones are only good for 24 hours, I believe, so you better hurry.
8ANCKTWYVRD5 – 100 Primogems and 10 Mystic Ore
EA7VKTFHU9VR – 100 Primogems and 5 Hero’s Wit
KT7DKSFGCRWD – 100 Primogems and 50,000 Mora
Past that, the most pressing information is probably the release date for Genshin Impact’s Sumeru update, which is August 24, 2022.
Genshin Impact
miHoYo
We also were told about the first two character banners for 3.0, which will include three total Sumeru characters with only one five star. Those are:
While other Sumeru characters were shown or teased onscreen, it will be deeper into the 3.0 patch series before we get to those, which is not unexpected, given that’s how Inazuma worked, and we ended up getting new Inazuma characters for essentially an entire year. And we’re probably still not done.
Sumeru is probably going to end up being the most significant addition to the game to date, because unlike Inazuma, it’s not just a new region, it also has an entirely new element being added to the game for the first time, Dendro. While Dendro has cropped up here and there among a few enemy types, this is the first time we as players can wield it ourselves, and these new characters will be our first introduction to the concept. Like all the elements, you can probably have attack/defense/support focused teammates using the element, and we’ll have to spend some time digging deep into all the new characters to find out exactly how best to use them in their new roles with this new elemental type supporting your team.
Genshin Impact continues to generate massive amounts of revenue, and I have to imagine the Sumeru region is going to boost that even further, even in the face of new rivals like Tower of Fantasy that has just arrived this month. Genshin is the gold standard at the moment and it’s going to be hard to compete with it as it expands to seven massive regions over the next few years.
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