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

Facebook's botched Australia news ban hits health departments, charities and its own pages

 https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/feb/18/facebook-blocks-health-departments-charities-and-its-own-pages-in-botched-australia-news-ban

Elon Musk shows Neuralink brain implant working in a pig "It's like a Fitbit in your skull," the SpaceX and Tesla leader says of Neuralink's brain-computer link technology.

 https://www.cnet.com/news/elon-musks-neuralink-brain-computer-how-to-watch-working-demo-reveal-live/

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 U.S. video-conferencing company Zoom closed the account of a group of prominent U.S.-based Chinese activists after they held a Zoom event commemorating the 31st anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen Square Massacre

https://www.axios.com/zoom-closes-chinese-user-account-tiananmen-square-f218fed1-69af-4bdd-aac4-7eaf67f34084.html

Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) on Wednesday said it was implementing a one-year moratorium on police use of its facial recognition software, halting a business it long defended as many protested law enforcement brutality against people of color. The decision culminates a two-year battle between Amazon and civil liberties activists, who have voiced concern that inaccurate matches could lead to unjust arrests.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-facial-recognition/amazon-pauses-police-use-of-facial-recognition-tech-for-a-year-idUSKBN23H3EO

Last year, UNSW responded to falling enrolments with a proposal to lower entry requirements. With an estimated 80 per cent of teaching now casualised, academics have become itinerant workers. Students have become customers. Teachers report widespread pressure to pass low-grade students but cannot speak of it, fearing reprisal.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-decline-of-universities-where-students-are-customers-and-academics-itinerant-workers-20200528-p54xbd.html

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/

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

This Open-Source Program Deepfakes You During Zoom Meetings, in Real Time Avatarify runs on Skype and Zoom, and face-swaps your own face with a celebrity in live video calls.

https://www.vice.com/en_asia/article/g5xagy/this-open-source-program-deepfakes-you-during-zoom-meetings-in-real-time

Covid safe: Australian government launches coronavirus tracing app amid lingering privacy concerns

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/apr/26/australias-coronavirus-tracing-app-set-to-launch-today-despite-lingering-privacy-concerns

TikTok 'tried to filter out videos from ugly, poor or disabled users' Documents from the Incercept show social media app put pressure on moderators

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/mar/17/tiktok-tried-to-filter-out-videos-from-ugly-poor-or-disabled-users

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

The kids are not alt-right: how extremist content infiltrates teen lives

https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/the-kids-are-not-alt-right-how-extremist-content-infiltrates-teen-lives-20191112-p539qh.html

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

BIG ISSUE FOR WIRELESS BUDS It also appears the new AirPods Pro design has done nothing to address what are becoming a couple of massive issues for AirPods and other wireless audio devices. Firstly, the design of the AirPods and other true wireless buds makes them practically impossible to fix, meaning the limited-life lithium-ion batteries that power the devices can’t be replaced. Device teardown specialists iFixit gave the original AirPods a 0/10 score for repairability. “Accessing any case component is impossible without destroying the outer casing,” the website said following its assessment.

https://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/wearables/apple-announces-airpods-pro-with-noise-cancellation-and-better-fit-but-the-big-problems-remain-unsolved/news-story/ecd2abd9d1554b1365db5c09baa85bc8

The Chinese Communist Party has gained the ability to spy on more than 100 million citizens via a heavily promoted official app, a report suggests. The app pushes out official news and images and encourages people to earn points by reading articles, commenting on them and playing quizzes about China and its leader, Xi Jinping. Use of the app is mandatory among party officials and civil servants and it is tied to wages in some workplaces.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50042379

Almost No One Out There Thinks That Isaac Asimov's Three Laws Could Work For Truly Intelligent AI. The First Law fails because of ambiguity in language, and because of complicated ethical problems that are too complex to have a simple yes or no answer. The Second Law fails because of the unethical nature of having a law that requires sentient beings to remain as slaves. The Third Law fails because it results in a permanent social stratification, with the vast amount of potential exploitation built into this system of laws.

https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/19/10/01/1949229/almost-no-one-out-there-thinks-that-isaac-asimovs-three-laws-could-work-for-truly-intelligent-ai

TikTok—Yes, TikTok—Is the Latest Window Into China’s Police State Expat Uyghurs are gaming the social platform known for fluff to find loopholes in Xinjiang’s information lockdown

https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-is-the-latest-window-into-chinas-police-state/

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