Internet Security
The internet and technology company Match Group is rolling out a background check feature to its dating platforms in the United States in cooperation with Garbo – a female-founded and non-profit background check platform "designed to help proactively prevent gender-based violence in the digital age". Match will offer the service to its users later this year on its dating platforms, including Tinder, PlentOfFish, OkCupid and Hinge.
“For far too long women and marginalized groups in all corners of the world have faced many barriers to resources and safety,” said Tracey Breeden, Head of Safety and Social Advocacy for Match Group. “We recognize corporations can play a key role in helping remove those barriers with technology and true collaboration rooted in action. In partnership with Match Group, Garbo’s thoughtful and groundbreaking consumer background check will enable and empower users with information, helping create equitable pathways to safer connections and online communities across tech.”
With a delay of almost nine years, the new Berlin airport is scheduled to be opened on the last day of October. A journalist from t-online has now spotted that parts of the IT systems at the Berlin airport still run on an outdated version of Windows XP that lost support my Microsoft latest in April 2019.
The system has been spotted in an elevator. Currently, it is unclear if the system is connected to the internet or to an internal network leaving the security implications unclear.
The non-profit Tech Inquiry has discovered alleged ties between technology companies such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft with the United States law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, Department of Defense, Drug Enforcement Agency, Federal Bureau of Prisons and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Tech inquiry has analyzed over 30 million governmental contracts from the past five years and sub-contracts below them. They discovered that Google and Amazon several hundreds of subcontracts with United States law enforcement agencies while Microsoft several thousand.
During an interview at Fox News, Laura Ingraham asked the United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo if the Trump Administration is considering to ban Chinese social media apps such as TikTok. Pompeo stated that "With respect to Chinese apps on people's cell phones, I can assure you the United States will get this one right too, Laura" and that he doesn't "want to get out in front of the President, but it's something we're looking at". He also stated security concerns with TikTok and suggested that people should only install the app on their phones if they want their "private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party".
Last week, a conversation between the Uruguayan vice president and the public relationships person Fernando Cristino was publicized.
In that record, the vice president said that "everything is known, everything is recorded".
He further mentions they have "a team" of lawyers dedicated to "process every kind of extorsions or requests they receive the whole time", so he (Fernando) should not mention "the Luis' dealer" because phones are wiretapped.
President Luis Lacalle Pou has now publically denied the accusations.
Amazon has announced that it will put a one year halt on the usage of its facial recognition software for the police. The move comes after Amazon's technology had faced criticism because it misidentified people of color and protests against racism have broken out over the country. In its announcement blog Amazon says that other organizations could still use the software "to help rescue human trafficking victims and reunite missing children with their families" and calls for government regulation regarding "the ethical use of facial recognition technology".
The video call and conferencing provider Zoom that experienced a surge in popularity due to the Covid-19 pandemic and has faced criticism over security concerns has announced that it will implement end-to-end encryption for video calls. Though the encryption will only be provided for users with a paid plan. CEO Eric Yuan has stated that they "want to work together with FBI, with local law enforcement in case some people use Zoom for a bad purpose" as a reason for not providing the encryption to free users.
Dropbox has launched the beta version of Dropbox Passwords but hasn't made an official announcement yet. The app is currently in private beta, therefore only available via invite to some Dropbox users, but is already available in the Google Play Store. The app description reads: "Dropbox Passwords (beta) provides password security by storing all your passwords in one secure place, then fills in usernames and passwords so you can instantly sign in to websites and apps."