Alphabet Inc’s Google fired staff scientist Margaret Mitchell on Friday, they both said, a move that fanned company divisions on academic freedom and diversity that were on display since its December dismissal of AI ethics researcher Timnit Gebru. Google has recruited top scientists with promises of research freedom, but the limits are tested as researchers increasingly write about the negative effects of technology and offer unflattering perspectives on their employer’s products.

 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-alphabet-google-research/second-google-ai-ethics-leader-fired-she-says-amid-staff-protest-idUSKBN2AJ2JA

TikTok skirted a privacy safeguard in Google’s Android operating system to collect unique identifiers from millions of mobile devices, data that allows the app to track users online without allowing them to opt out, a Wall Street Journal analysis has found. The tactic, which experts in mobile-phone security said was concealed through an unusual added layer of encryption, appears to have violated Google policies limiting how apps track people and wasn’t disclosed to TikTok users. TikTok ended the practice in November, the Journal’s testing showed.

 https://www.marketwatch.com/story/tiktok-collected-android-user-data-using-tactic-banned-by-google-2020-08-11

The Confessions of Marcus Hutchins, the Hacker Who Saved the Internet At 22, he single-handedly put a stop to the worst cyberattack the world had ever seen. Then he was arrested by the FBI. This is his untold story.

https://www.wired.com/story/confessions-marcus-hutchins-hacker-who-saved-the-internet/

'Greatest peril': study finds Australia most dependent on China among the Five Eyes. The report did not recommend an immediate economic decoupling from China as that would be “painful and expensive” but said the Five Eyes countries should work together to prevent China dominating the nine industries that it identified would dominate the future economy. They are: artificial intelligence and machine learning, autonomous robotics, computing hardware, cryptographic technology, materials and manufacturing science, nano-technologies, networking and data communication, quantum technology and synthetic biology.

https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/greatest-peril-study-finds-australia-most-dependent-on-china-among-the-five-eyes-20200514-p54ssg.html

Warning Over Chinese Mobile Giant Xiaomi Recording Millions Of People’s ‘Private’ Web And Phone Use

https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2020/04/30/exclusive-warning-over-chinese-mobile-giant-xiaomi-recording-millions-of-peoples-private-web-and-phone-use/#333f931a1b2a

Half-baked: The COVIDSafe app is not fit for purpose on iPhones

https://www.smh.com.au/technology/the-covidsafe-app-is-not-fit-for-purpose-on-iphones-20200506-p54qjk.html

Inside Apple’s iPhone Software Shakeup After Buggy iOS 13 Debut Software chief Federighi is overhauling development and testing of iOS 14 to make it easier to spot problems early.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-21/apple-ios-14-features-changes-testing-after-ios-13-bugs

146 New Vulnerabilities All Come Preinstalled on Android Phones The dozens of flaws across 29 Android smartphone makers show just how insecure the devices can be, even brand-new.

https://www.wired.com/story/146-bugs-preinstalled-android-phones/

What is fingerprinting? The online tracking you can't avoid

https://www.smh.com.au/technology/what-is-fingerprinting-the-online-tracking-you-cant-avoid-20191101-p536ff.html

Unfixable iOS Device Exploit Is the Latest Apple Security Upheaval Any iPhone device from 2011 to 2017 could soon be jailbroken, thanks to an underlying flaw that there's no way to patch.

https://www.wired.com/story/ios-exploit-jailbreak-iphone-ipad/

Google’s ‘Quantum Supremacy’ Isn’t the End of Encryption. As Preskill notes, that contest was uneven. Google carefully chose a problem naturally suited to its quantum hardware and writes in its paper that “technical leaps” are still needed to realize the promise of quantum computing. Dowling and others estimate it would take millions of high-quality qubit devices to threaten encryption, due to the complexity of the algorithms involved.

https://www.wired.com/story/googles-quantum-supremacy-isnt-end-encryption/

Google and Facebook reject plan for Australian code of conduct on fake news Group representing tech giants including Twitter says ACCC proposal would turn media watchdog into truth police

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/sep/12/google-and-facebook-reject-plan-for-australian-code-of-conduct-on-fake-news

ACCC Digital Platforms Inquiry to recommend changes to stop tech giants’ anti-competitive behaviour Australia’s consumer watchdog has handed down 23 proposed changes in a new report into the behaviour of the world’s biggest tech giants.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/online/social/accc-digital-platforms-inquiry-to-recommend-changes-to-stop-tech-giants-anticompetitive-behaviour/news-story/638c20871322e47928320e2b4667f153

More than 1,000 Android apps harvest data even after you deny permissions The apps gather information such as location, even after owners explicitly say no. Google says a fix won’t come until Android Q.

https://www.cnet.com/news/more-than-1000-android-apps-harvest-your-data-even-after-you-deny-permissions/

China Is Forcing Tourists to Install Text-Stealing Malware at its Border The malware downloads a tourist’s text messages, calendar entries, and phone logs, as well as scans the device for over 70,000 different files.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/7xgame/at-chinese-border-tourists-forced-to-install-a-text-stealing-piece-of-malware

Starting from the first term of 2020, smartphones will be banned from all classrooms in primary schools and high schools across Victoria. Students will have to leave their phones in their lockers from the first bell until the last, unless they need it for medical reasons (and no, Snapchat streaks don’t count). Phones will also be allowed if the teacher has specifically said students will need them as part of the day’s lesson.

https://careerswithstem.com.au/should-phones-be-banned-in-classrooms/

iOS 13 shows Apple is serious about privacy

https://www.smh.com.au/technology/ios-13-shows-apple-is-serious-about-privacy-20190625-p5215d.html

Facebook announces Libra cryptocurrency: All you need to know

https://techcrunch.com/2019/06/18/facebook-libra/amp/

In upcoming versions of iOS and macOS, the new Find My feature will broadcast Bluetooth signals from Apple devices even when they're offline, allowing nearby Apple devices to relay their location to the cloud. That should help you locate your stolen laptop even when it's sleeping in a thief's bag. And it turns out that Apple's elaborate encryption scheme is also designed not only to prevent interlopers from identifying or tracking an iDevice from its Bluetooth signal, but also to keep Apple itself from learning device locations, even as it allows you to pinpoint yours.

https://www.wired.com/story/apple-find-my-cryptography-bluetooth/

How much is too much? Test could show the effect of gaming on your kid’s brain

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/much-too-much-test-could-show-effect-gaming-120653070--abc-news-topstories.html