Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Smoking the Whole Carton
This week, we discuss gun violence and chatbots and acceptance of depravity.
Privacy
FBI Extracts Suspect’s Deleted Signal Messages Saved in iPhone Notification Database
The case was the first time authorities charged people for alleged “Antifa” activities after President Trump designated the umbrella term a terrorist organization.
Podcast
Podcast: Wildlife Cops Are Searching AI Cameras for ICE
How Florida conservation police are tapping into Flock for ICE; Wikipedia's AI ban; and how the app TeleGuard uploads users' private keys.
encryption
Microsoft Abruptly Terminates VeraCrypt Account, Halting Windows Updates
Updates to VeraCrypt, a popular and long-running piece of encryption, are now thrown into doubt because of a seemingly unexplained Microsoft decision.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Systems As Designed
This week, we discuss crypto, journalists using AI, and a cool photo of Earth.
Privacy
A Secure Chat App’s Encryption Is So Bad It Is ‘Meaningless’
TeleGuard is an app downloaded more a million times that markets itself as a secure way to chat. The app uploads users’ private keys to the company’s server, and makes decryption of messages trivial.
Podcast
Podcast: Inside the AI Slop Propaganda Wars
Iran's AI and LEGO-focused propaganda; drama in the world of baseball; and perhaps one of the worst sex apps ever.
ICE
How Thomson Reuters Powers ICE and Palantir
Thomson Reuters’ data, which can include peoples’ addresses and details on their ethnicity, is linked to tools used by ICE.
Podcast
The Journalist Who Tracked Epstein Island Visitors’ Phones (with Dhruv Mehrotra)
This week Joseph talks to journalist and technologist Dhruv Mehrotra. Among many other things, Mehrotra tracked visitors to Epstein's island through location data.
Privacy
Apple Gives FBI a User’s Real Name Hidden Behind ’Hide My Email’ Feature
The move isn't surprising, but shows what data is available to authorities when paying Apple customers use the Hide My Email feature.
Podcast
Podcast: The Company Secretly Turning Your Zoom Meetings into Podcasts
A company is listening to Zoom meetings en masse and making AI podcasts; the multi-millionaire who wanted to become a cocaine kingpin; and RIP the metaverse.
DOGE
Judge Allows DOGE Deposition Videos Back Online
“We are pleased to see today's ruling in defense of the First Amendment rights of all Americans,” one of the plaintiffs in the DOGE-related lawsuit said. The videos previously went viral when a DOGE member was unable or unwilling to define DEI.