I’m (so easily and frequently) confused. Isn’t
this how the government tried to stop Phil Zimmerman from selling the
PGP encryption software? Claiming it was a product restricted from
export or some such. Is anything being exported here?
US Homeland
Security’s ICE demands Twitter release data on cryptic Flash Gordon
account – HOTforSecurity
Flash
Gordon (@s7nsins), a mysterious Twitter user based in New
Zealand, announced in a tweet that the US Department of Homeland
Security’ Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sent Twitter an
export enforcement subpoena in April to disclose the real
identity of the person behind the account.
ICE demanded private information such as name,
address, phone number, credit cards linked to the account, IP address
history, complaints filed against the account and any other
information that might lead to identifying Flash Gordon. Private
messages and similar content were not requested, as a court order is
necessary.
… The reasons behind the demand were not
explained, but ICE could be interested in uncovering the person’s
identity because the account has regularly released information about
data breaches and leaked information found on unencrypted servers.
(Related)
Homeland
Security subpoenas Twitter for data breach finder's account
… But serving an export enforcement subpoena
-- used in cases to investigate US export law violations – is
almost unheard of in the case of a data breach involving private and
personal information, according to one export controls attorney.
"As a general matter, the subpoena is likely
to relate to the development or production of a controlled item, and
not names, addresses, and contact information," said the
attorney in a phone call, who asked not to be named to avoid any
conflicts with his work.
The attorney said that if the subpoena related to
the
ALERRT breach that this would be "a misuse" of the
subpoena power, as the exposed personal data wouldn't be an export
control matter.
… The attorney said it's "not clear how a
Twitter account could even be relevant in an export control
investigation," calling the case a "head scratcher."
The data breach finder said he's been left without
answers, and doesn't know which offending tweets – if any – led
to the legal process. As we covered last year, several prominent
security researchers and data breach hunters spoke
of a "chilling effect" on their work.
Gosh, what a shock. Only 102 state and 57 federal
taps were encrypted.
Federal and
State Wiretaps Skyrocket in Trump’s First Year
DCReport.com: Law
Enforcement Sought 3,800 Taps—Not
One Request Rejected—And It’s Not All Drug Dealers,
David Cay Johnston: “The number of court-approved
federal wiretaps rose 30% during Donald Trump’s first year in
office, the latest indicator sign of how his administration is
shifting our government from facilitating a healthy society into
something closer to a police state. Not a single wiretap request,
federal or state, was rejected by any judge, an annual disclosure
report from the federal courts released on Wednesday. Nearly
all the taps were of mobile phones. The report does not
include national security intercepts–where, according to a separate
report, judges rejected more requests last year than they had, in
total, over the 38 years before that. As for the new wiretapping
report, while of 3,813 taps were sought and approved, that almost
certainly understates the actual number by close to a thousand.
That’s because each year many officials were slow complying with
the annual disclosures that Congress requires. Based on reports in
the previous decade, which had to be revised because officials were
late reporting approved wiretaps, as Congress requires they do
annually. When the late reports are counted and disclosed next year
it is likely that the increase in wiretaps will be not 30% but well
more than 40%…”
A bigger part of the business that Mark suggested
to Congress?
Facebook
gave 61 companies access to sensitive user data
WSJ (paywall) – “Facebook
Inc. disclosed it gave dozens of companies special access to user
data, detailing for the first time a spate of deals that
contrasted with the social network’s previous public statements
that it restricted personal information to outsiders in 2015. The
deals with app developers, device and software makers, described in
747
pages of documents released to Congress late on Friday / govdoc
no paywall [June 29, 2018] represent Facebook’s most granular
explanation of exemptions that previously had been revealed by The
Wall Street Journal and other news organizations. The revelations
come as lawmakers have demanded accountability at Facebook for
allowing companies access to data on its billions of users without
their knowledge, and questioned how far the universe of firms
extends. Facebook said in Friday’s document that the special deals
were required to give app developers time to become compliant with
changes in its policies, and to enable device and software makers to
create versions of the social network for their products. The
company revealed it was still sharing information of users’
friends, such as name, gender, birth date, current city or hometown,
photos and page likes, with 61 app developers nearly six months after
it said it stopped access to this data in 2015. Facebook said it
gave these 61 firms—which ranged from the dating app Hinge to
shipping giant United Parcel Service Inc.—a six-month extension for
them to “come into compliance” with the 2015 policy. In
addition, five other companies “theoretically could have accessed
limited friends’ data” because of access they received as part of
a Facebook experiment, the company said in the document…”
As more data is gathered, more laws must be
complied with. Does the strictest regulation always rule?
… It’s unclear just how Amazon plans on
integrating PillPack into the rest of its offerings, with rumors of a
Prime
Prescriptions service or something similarly ominous.
One catch for Amazon, though: Federal regulations
stipulating that private medical data, such as prescription
histories, can’t be used for marketing purposes like the behavioral
tracking Amazon uses to pump up its retail model. According to the
Wall
Street Journal, the company only has a few limited ways to
proceed with patient data: It could compartmentalize the PillPack
business into its own unit with limited data-sharing with the rest of
Amazon, or it could reorganize the entire Amazon business to become
compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act (HIPAA), which would probably be more trouble than it’s worth.
(Related) Too simplistic?
Here's the
reason why Amazon is diving into health care
… Amazon's intent for entering into the
venture with JPMorgan and Berkshire was to squeeze waste out of the
cost of care by dispensing with profit-sucking middlemen like
pharmacies.
Perspective. I’ve been wondering why. Perhaps
this is an opportunity for companies with employees who do not object
to working with the military?
Why Tech
Employees Are Rebelling Against Their Bosses
… The revolt is part of a growing political
[not Ethical?
Bob] awakening among some tech employees about the uses of
the products they build. What began as concern inside Google about a
Pentagon contract to tap the company’s artificial-intelligence
smarts was catalyzed by outrage over Trump administration immigration
policies. Now, it seems to be spreading quickly.
I admit, I did not see this coming.
Bitcoin
ATMs Becoming the Norm in US Inner Cities
Of the numerous humanitarian applications of
blockchain that are being tested, and in some cases already used
around the world, implementing cryptocurrency in places where
populations are under-served by financial institutes is considered a
winner.
Poor countries or island nations with rural people
living far from city centers, who have had no chance at getting loans
to create a small business or to take payments from family members
working abroad through the banking system, can now by using Bitcoin
or any number of cryptocurrencies.
Normally it is countries in Africa, South East
Asia, or South America that are presented as case studies for the use
of digital money. But the number of Bitcoin ATMs popping up in poor
inner-city neighborhoods in the US are being used for the same
reasons. According to The
Virginian-Pilot, there are 80 Bitcoin ATMs in the Detroit area
and 2,032 across the country.
I thought this was common. Apparently, I was
wrong.
OpenPhone
lets you get a business phone number with an app
… OpenPhone
is an app for iPhone, iPad and Android. After downloading the app,
you can get a second phone number for $9.99 per month. It can be a
local or a toll-free number in the U.S. or Canada. You can also port
an existing phone number and get rid of your second phone.
… There are many advantages in having a second
phone number. You can set up a different voicemail, you can also set
your availability to control your business hours. You also get
voicemail transcription through the OpenPhone app.
OpenPhone uses VoIP and routes all your calls and
texts through your internet connection. You get unlimited calls and
texts in the U.S. and Canada as part of your subscription.
“I’m shocked, shocked I tell you!”
The
US Reportedly Has ‘Unequivocal Evidence’ That North Korea Is
‘Trying To Deceive’ Trump On Its Nuclear Program
… And though North Korea took several
steps to indicate it was in the process of dismantling its
weapons program, such as blowing up tunnels leading to a nuclear test
site, critics who monitored the development say it
may have all been for show.
“There’s no evidence that they are decreasing
stockpiles, or that they have stopped their production,” a US
official familiar with the intelligence report told NBC. “There is
absolutely unequivocal evidence that they are trying to deceive the
US.”
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