Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Weasel language. Why can’t they say the entire election process is secure?
After 2016 Hack, Illinois Says Election System Secure
Illinois officials assured voters Tuesday that their Nov. 6 tallies "will be securely counted" following a data breach that's part of the Justice Department's investigation of Russian meddling in U.S. elections.
Board of Elections Chairman William Cadigan and a group of state and local officials — including Illinois National Guard leaders — said in Chicago that beefed-up measures to monitor and spot cybersecurity risks will ensure a fair and free election. [Not “prevent or correct?” Bob]




From “Match” to “Hint.” identifying suspects gets much easier.
How an Unlikely Family History Website Transformed Cold Case Investigations
Law enforcement agencies have their own database for criminal investigations: Codis, which contains more than 16 million DNA profiles. But forensic profiles contain only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of thousands of genetic markers that genealogy sites rely on. If investigators are unable to find an exact match there, a site such as GEDmatch is better for tracking down suspects through their relatives.




New term my students should already understand.
Back in June, 2015, I posted a link to an article on “surveillance capitalism.” Did you take note at the time?
This week, Rex Lee reports:
Today, people, businesses, government officials, and law makers are unaware of the business model that supports their favorite technology such as smartphones and connected products that are supported by the Android, Apple, and Microsoft Windows operating systems.
The connected-product business model comprises surveillance and data mining business practices rooted in “surveillance capitalism.” These are terms that the public is unaware of because all parties concerned are not transparent about their business practices.
Companies that have adopted a surveillance capitalism business model are in the business to exploit their paying customers or product users for financial gain at the expense of the user’s civil liberties, privacy, cybersecurity, and safety, whether the product user is an adult or a child.
Read more on The Epoch Times. See also this article on Computerworld.




Handy reference.
From EPIC.org:
EPIC proudly announces the 2018 edition of the Privacy Law Sourcebook, the definitive reference guide to US and international privacy law. The Privacy Law Sourcebook is an edited collection of the primary legal instruments for privacy protection in the modern age, including United States law, International law, and recent developments. The Privacy Law Sourcebook 2018 has been updated and expanded to include the modernized Council of Europe Convention on Privacy, the Judicial Redress Act, the CLOUD Act, and new materials from the United Nations. The EPIC Privacy Law Sourcebook also includes the full text of the GDPR. EPIC will make the Privacy Law Sourcebook freely available to NGOs and human rights organizations. EPIC publications and the publications of EPIC Advisory Board members are available at the EPIC Bookstore.




Interesting podcast. What ISIS learned from Taylor Swift. (And you know they talk about Donald Trump)
Podcast: What ‘War By Other Means’ Means Now
Taylor Swift and Islamic State are in a battle for our hearts, minds, and eyeballs. Russia wants your vote, or for you not to vote at all. And if you think the amount of false information out there online is dangerous now, just wait. Artificial intelligence is about to make fake news virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.
Peter W. Singer, author of the new book LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media, takes us beyond the troll farms and into some even creepier territory.




Perspective. Risk v reward.
Volkswagen's new $926M fine for Audi brings total dieselgate costs up to $33B
Volkswagen AG's Audi division has agreed to pay $926 million in the latest series of fines tied to the dieselgate scandal, which is now responsible for about $33 billion in costs.
As part of the deal with prosecutors in Munich, Audi had to admit it worked around regulatory requirements. It also loses profits from its sales from 2004 to 2018 in Europe and stateside, and from the savings connected to not ensuring its cars were compliant with requirements.




Perspective.
Netflix record subscriber growth sends shares soaring
Netflix hooked 7 million new streaming subscribers from July to September, a third more than Wall Street had expected, reassuring investors who had worried the company was facing a slowdown in its fast-paced growth.
The record number of additions in the third quarter brought Netflix’s customer base to 137 million worldwide, confirming its rank as by far the world’s biggest online subscription video service.
Netflix shares, already up about 78 percent so far this year, jumped 14 percent to $394.25 in after-hours trading, and boosted other high-tech stocks.


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