Real World News

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/online-safety-bill-to-return-with-watered-down-rules-on-e2-80-98legal-but-harmful-e2-80-99-content-after-free-speech-backlash/ar-AA13FGue Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan is ready to present an amended version of the Online Safety Bill to MP's after progress on it stalled due to recent political turmoil

https://theintercept.com/2022/10/31/social-media-disinformation-dhs/ The Department of Homeland Security is quietly broadening its efforts to curb speech it considers dangerous, an investigation by The Intercept has found.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63036991 Former US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked extensive US intelligence surveillance operations, has been granted Russian citizenship. Snowden has made clear he is willing to return to the US if the government guarantees him a fair trial. Unfortunately the Espionage Act prevents that, he would not be allowed to raise a defence by arguing that what he did was in the public interest. The prosecution would simply have to prove that he leaked the documents, which is something he doesn't deny.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/sep/08/queen-under-medical-supervision-at-balmoral-after-doctors-concerns Prince Charles in attendance and Prince William on way as monarch remains under medical supervision Sounds quite serious, and when I switched on BBC for a look the presenter and sign language person were both wearing black

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/aug/18/uk-cashless-society-a-step-closer-as-more-than-23m-people-abandon-coins They predict within the decade only 6% of payments will be with cash.

Crooks are selling sophisticated fake British passports online for £3,500, the Daily Mail can reveal. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11044343/EXPOSED-gang-peddling-forged-UK-passports-online-3-500.html

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jul/21/uk-cybersecurity-chiefs-back-plan-to-scan-phones-for-child-abuse-images Heads of GCHQ and NCSC say client-side scanning could protect children and privacy at the same time That doesn't protect privacy at all, it just means your data is being intercepted and analyzed at a different stage. It's like me saying you have to publish a transcript of everything you say on your Airwave, but it's still secure because the actual transmissions themselves are encrypted.

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/tor-browser-now-bypasses-internet-censorship-automatically/ In countries where the authorities block access to Tor, it was often difficult for users to get connected to the network and they'd have to try several different configurations to get around the block. Now, Tor Browser will automatically try various options and when it finds one that works, remember it and use that setting as the default. remember which one works and use that as the default. Not hugely relevant to the UK right now, but if the day comes when the government make a serious effort to clamp down on Tor usage and block it (which I think is a real pos…

https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252522313/MPs-call-for-ban-on-Chinese-surveillance-camera-technology A cross-party group of MPs has called on the government to ban the sale and operation of CCTV surveillance cameras linked to human rights abuses in China.

https://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2022/06/government-moves-forward-with-uk-isp-internet-snooping-system.html The UK Home Office and the National Crime Agency (NCA) appear to be making progress on the development of a new internet snooping system and database, which could soon require broadband ISPs and mobile operators to provide various agencies with access to view a log of your online activity. Another reason to start using Tor if you weren't already.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jun/17/uk-plan-to-scrap-cookie-consent-boxes-will-make-it-easier-to-spy-on-web-users Proposals to scrap pop-up cookie consent boxes on websites will make it easier to spy on web users, a privacy campaign group has warned.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61647134

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/25/whitewash-sue-gray-report-nhs-workers-no-10-prosecco While NHS workers cared for dying patients, No 10 officials drank prosecco, did karaoke and boasted they had “got away” with it

https://news.sky.com/story/facial-recognition-company-clearview-ai-fined-7-5m-for-illegally-using-images-of-brits-scraped-from-online-12619574 Facial recognition company Clearview AI has been fined more than £7.5m by the UK's privacy watchdog for collecting the facial images of people in Britain from the web and social media.

https://theintercept.com/2022/04/22/anomaly-six-phone-tracking-zignal-surveillance-cia-nsa/ "Anomaly Six tracked a device that had visited the NSA and CIA headquarters to an air base outside of Zarqa, Jordan"