In the reviews that rolled out recently for Google's new Clips smart camera, there were the rote things that you'd expect in all tech reviews: what was good, what was bad, and, inevitably, whether or not you should buy it. There was, however, a key idea conspicuously absent: whether or not the product should exist …
Continue reading The Disturbing Acceptance of Google’s New ‘Smart’ Camera
Ubiquitous IT giant Google has silently inked a partnership with the Department of Defense to militarize artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, reinvigorating fears of a Terminator-style apocalyptic scenario. Google has been secretly working with the Pentagon in order to help its 1,100-strong fleet of drones to detect images, faces, and behavioral patterns, and plans …
Continue reading All-Seeing Eye: Google Working with Pentagon on Using AI for Drone Improvement
Cell phone towers dot the landscape every so many hundred or thousand feet in most places, especially along interstate highways and on higher or hill-top locations. Because there is such a demand for cell phone service—more cell phones now than the total global population—more and more technology means of providing service have to be implemented. …
Onavo Protect, the VPN client from the data-security app maker acquired by Facebook back in 2013, has now popped up in the Facebook iOS app itself, under the banner “Protect” in the navigation menu. Clicking through on “Protect” will redirect Facebook users to the “Onavo Protect – VPN Security” app’s listing on the App Store. …
Continue reading Do Not, I Repeat, Do Not Download Onavo, Facebook’s Vampiric VPN Service
Since 2010, Facebook allows you to download an archive file of all your interactions with the network. It’s a 5-click easy process that your grandmother can do (more details below). Inside the .zip, lies an ‘index.html’ page that acts as a portal to your personal data. Visually, it looks like an ad-free stripped down version of …
U.S. military officials were recently caught off guard by revelations that servicemembers’ digital fitness trackers were storing the locations of their workouts – including at or near military bases and clandestine sites around the world. But this threat is not limited to Fitbits and similar devices. My group’s recent research has shown how mobile phones …
Continue reading Your Mobile Phone Can Give Away Your Location, Even If You Tell It Not to
An interactive online fitness tracking map published in November of 2017 which compiles a running history of the location and routes of 27 million fitness-device users has unwittingly revealed the location, staffing, patrol routes and layout of U.S. and foreign military bases around the world. San Francisco based fitness company Strava posted their "global heatmap" to their website, containing …
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) wrote a letter to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking them to look at technology from the likes of Microsoft, Google, Amazon and others, citing the “always on” technology as being “worrisome”. Yahoo Finance report: EPIC fears the average consumer isn’t aware that some of these devices are actually …
Continue reading 7 Popular Devices That Spy On You Without Your Permission
Speaking to a group of students in September, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a bold proclamation. “Artificial intelligence is the future,” he said, stating that this is a fact “not only for Russia but for all humankind. It comes with colossal opportunities, but also threats that are difficult to predict. Whoever becomes the leader in …
Continue reading Who and What Will AI Serve? US and China Give Very Different Answers
