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No more EU anti-corruption reports
The letter states that there is no need to publish any more reports. It states the first report in 2014 was good enough because it provided an overview and created a basis for further work.
EU Observer: EU commission drops anti-corruption report »
Sweden to label piracy »organized crime«?
Authorities in Sweden are mulling new measures to deal with evolving ‘pirate’ sites. As part of a legislative review, the government wants to assess potential legal tools, including categorizing large-scale infringement as organized crime, tougher sentences, domain seizures, and site-blocking.
TorrentFreak: Swedish Govt. Mulls Tougher Punishments to Tackle Pirate Sites »
Germany going after whistleblowers
EDRi observer Gesellschaft für Freiheitsrechte’s (GFF) most recent Constitutional Court case in Germany concerns an anti-whistleblowing provision threatening the freedom of the press. Part-time journalists and bloggers, as well as the legal or IT experts on which journalists rely, now risk a prison sentence of up to three years for handling “leaked” data. (…)
Prohibiting the trade in stolen data may make sense for stolen credit card information or login credentials. The new law, however, is so broadly worded that it also encompasses information “leaked” by whistleblowers, which is an obvious threat to the freedom of the press that systematically relies on such information. For example, under the new law, the documents leaked by Edward Snowden arguably can no longer be legally used on German soil.
Authorities: Regulate digital currencies
On January 16-18 in Doha, Qatar, a large group of representatives from the Basel Institute on Governance, Europol, Interpol, and authorities from Qatar met to discuss money laundering and digital currencies. The event, filled with investigators from all around the world, focused on ideas on how to tackle regulatory concerns tied to these emerging technologies.
Basel Institute: “Take Action Against Digital Currency Mixers/Tumblers” »
Here we go…
CNN: White House discussing asking foreign visitors for social media info and cell phone contacts »
(But, actually, this is nothing new.)
Update, more input from EFF » Fear Materialized: Border Agents Demand Social Media Data from Americans »
How dangerous is Big Data?
Kosinski and his team continued, tirelessly refining their models. In 2012, Kosinski demonstrated that from a mere 68 Facebook likes, a lot about a user could be reliably predicted: skin color (95% certainty), sexual orientation (88% certainty), Democrat or Republican (85%). But there’s more: level of intellect; religious affiliation; alcohol-, cigarette-, and drug use could all be calculated. Even whether or not your parents stayed together until you were 21 could be teased out of the data. (…)
The process is identical to the models that Michal Kosinski developed. Cambridge Analytica also uses IQ-Quiz and other small Ocean test apps in order to gain access to the powerful predictive personal information wrapped up in the Facebook likes of users. And Cambridge Analytica is doing precisely what Kosinski had warned about. They have assembled psychograms for all adult US citizens, 220 million people, and have used this data to influence electoral outcomes.
Antidote Zine: Trump Knows You Better Than You Know Yourself »
Update, another piece, at Motherboard: The Data That Turned the World Upside Down »
EDRi on EU ePrivacy regulation
The ePD has two functions. Firstly, it provides additional clarity and predictability to allow the principles in the general legislation to be implemented in the complex environment of communications. Secondly, it serves as the EU legislative instrument to give meaning to the fundamental right to freedom of communications. (…)
The process of consultation and polls have shown that citizens are concerned about their privacy and about how companies make use of their personal information online. Although the Commission has rightly identified and addressed most of the key issues and objectives in the proposal, strong forces seem to have watered down the text considerably, compared to the earlier version that was leaked in December 2016.
EDRi » e-Privacy Regulation: Good intentions but a lot of work to do »
Choose the way of unlocking your phone with care
Fingerprints do not have the same legal protection as phone passcodes, US court finds.
EFF: Court backs ruling that man give fingerprint to unlock phone »
The return of Lavabit
“This is the first step in a very long journey,” Levison told The Intercept prior to the re-launch. “What we’re hoping for is that by the end of this year we’ll be more secure than any of the other encrypted messaging apps out there on the market.”
The Intercept: Encrypted email service once used by Edward Snowden relaunches »