The Google Play Store suspended an app that combines a web browser with a file manager after a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) complaint pointed out that the app is capable of loading a piracy website—even though that same pirate website can be loaded on any standard browser, including Google Chrome.
Google bans Downloader app after [Israeli] TV firms complain it can load a pirate website
Tag: Google Play
A tiny company with a UPS Store address could help the government get around browser security
A report from The Washington Post has raised doubts about a root certificate authority used by Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and other tech companies with ties to US intelligence. The company in question, called TrustCor, works as a root certificate authority to validate the trustworthiness of websites — and while the report found no concrete evidence of wrongdoing, it raised significant questions about the company’s trustworthiness.
A tiny company with a UPS Store address could help the government get around browser security
Related:
[04-27-2021] Shadowy DARPA-Linked Company Took Over ‘Chunk’ Of Pentagon’s Internet
Hidden Anti-Cryptography Provisions in Internet Anti-Trust Bills
Two bills attempting to reduce the power of Internet monopolies are currently being debated in Congress: S. 2992, the American Innovation and Choice Online Act; and S. 2710, the Open App Markets Act. Reducing the power to tech monopolies would do more to “fix” the Internet than any other single action, and I am generally in favor of them both. (The Center for American Progress wrote a good summary and evaluation of them. I have written in support of the bill that would force Google and Apple to give up their monopolies on their phone app stores.)
Hidden Anti-Cryptography Provisions in Internet Anti-Trust Bills
Previously:
Google tells Congress the proposed antitrust bill would hinder its censorship efforts
CDC Tracked Millions of Phones to See If Americans Followed COVID Lockdown Orders
CDC Tracked Millions of Phones to See If Americans Followed COVID Lockdown Orders
The documents reveal the expansive plan the CDC had last year to use location data from a highly controversial data broker. SafeGraph, the company the CDC paid $420,000 for access to one year of data, includes Peter Thiel and the former head of Saudi intelligence [Turki bin Faisal Al Saud] among its investors. Google banned the company from the Play Store in June.
The CDC used the data for monitoring curfews, with the documents saying that SafeGraph’s data “has been critical for ongoing response efforts, such as hourly monitoring of activity in curfew zones or detailed counts of visits to participating pharmacies for vaccine monitoring.” The documents date from 2021.
Zach Edwards, a cybersecurity researcher who closely follows the data marketplace, told Motherboard in an online chat after reviewing the documents: “The CDC seems to have purposefully created an open-ended list of use cases, which included monitoring curfews, neighbor-to-neighbor visits, visits to churches, schools and pharmacies, and also a variety of analysis with this data specifically focused on ‘violence.’” (The document doesn’t stop at churches; it mentions “places of worship.”)
Related:
Data Broker Is Selling Location Data of People Who Visit Abortion Clinics
Location data broker SafeGraph stops selling information on visits to abortion providers
SafeGraph Provides CDC and 1000+ Organizations With Data to Fight the COVID-19 Crisis
Google Bans Location Data Firm Funded by Former Saudi Intelligence Head:
On its website SafeGraph says “We believe places data should be open for all.” In April 2017, Turki bin Faisal Al Saud, the former head of Saudi Arabia’s intelligence agency, invested in SafeGraph as part of a $16 million Series A funding round. SafeGraph said it had “assembled the deepest policy thinkers.” Beyond Faisal Al Saud, SafeGraph said it had enlisted the help of former U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, author Sam Harris, Meghan O’Sullivan who ran Iraq and Afghanistan policy under President George Bush, former Deputy Chief of Staff to President Obama Mona Sutphen, and former German Minister of Defense Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, among others. Peter Thiel is also an investor in the company.
More investors: SafeGraph Raises $16 Million Series A
Free speech-focused site Cloudrovia claims it’s in talks to host Parler, after the service was banned by tech giants Apple and Amazon
Apple and other companies warn White House about WeChat ban
Apple and other companies warn White House about WeChat ban
The WeChat ban is especially problematic for U.S. companies, as it’s an absolutely massive chat app in China, with 1.2 billion global users. For example, if Apple were not able to allow WeChat on the iPhone, it would make iPhones a lot less desirable in China (think how undesirable Huawei phones are right now in the U.S., with Google’s Play store and many other services taken away from them). Furthermore, China could retaliate against U.S. companies, effectively barring them from the lucrative Chinese market.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 