TGIF. There were a few things this week we didn’t cover, so let’s run through them for your last tech news briefing of the week.
1. AFP testing controversial facial rec engine
Starting locally and The Guardian reported Tuesday that the Australian Federal Police has tested a controversial facial recognition search engine, possibly for operational use. In documents obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws reportedly show hundreds of connections between AFP devices and the website PimEyes between 1 January and 4 August this year. Per the report, there were also connections to a similar site, FaceCheck.ID, however multiple network connection requests can occur during a website visit. Yikes.
2. ASD monitoring ALL the socials
Next up, Australia’s cyberspies. According to a report from Crikey, the Australian Signals Directorate is using a digital surveillance tool to monitor popular social media platforms and websites, as well as online communities for pregnant people, bodybuilders, and fetishists. The report cites a contract inked between the ASD and ShadowDragon Holdings, LLC, which is a U.S. company that sells software collecting “open source intelligence software, unique datasets and training” to organisations. The full list of places isn’t published but its promotional material lists places including Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, YouTube, X, Google, Amazon, Tumblr, WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Reddit, 4Chan, Skype, Spotify, Twitch, Xbox network, PornHub, SoundCloud, Gab, Foursquare, Tripadvisor, Tinder, Etsy, PayPal, Flickr, Imgur, Disqus, eBay, GitHub, DeviantArt, Blogger, FetLife, BitChute, parenting forum BabyCenter, social network for Black people BlackPlanet, and more. Bigger yikes.
3. Threads users can now post polls, GIFs
Threads’s chess match against X, formerly called Twitter, continues with the launch of its polls and GIF features. The additions bring to Threads two staples that are widely used on X and are yet another change Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg introduced on the platform in recent weeks. Zuckerberg expressed his excitement over the new features in a Threads post Thursday, accompanied by a GIF featuring UFC announcer Bruce Buffer and the caption: “How I feel about polls and GIFs rolling out today on Threads.” He posted a separate poll – which only shows up on the mobile app, not the website – that gives three options and allows users to vote in real-time. The feature works similarly to polls posted on Instagram Stories but with the addition that the app will send a notification to users who voted when the poll ends.
4. Uber pays $400,000 infringement notice
Uber Australia paid a $412,500 infringement notice for sending more than 2 million emails in breach of Australian spam laws. It followed an Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigation that found Uber sent over 2 million marketing emails to customers without an unsubscribe facility. More than 500,000 of the messages were sent to customers who had previously unsubscribed. The emails were sent on a single day in January 2023 as part of an advertising campaign for an alcohol home delivery service. The investigation found that the breaches occurred because Uber mischaracterised the emails as non-commercial.
5. Australia-U.S. space partnership lifts off
Ending with space news today and InnovationAus is reporting that Australia and the U.S. have signed off on a space technology sharing agreement, giving American space companies the green light to conduct launches from Australian spaceports. The Technology Safeguards Agreement (TSA) was signed in Washington six months after an in-principal agreement was struck by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and U.S. President Joe Biden. The agreement opens the door to new space-related commercial opportunities between the two nations by providing a new legal and technical framework for the handling of sensitive technology during U.S. space launches from Australia.
BONUS ITEM: This guy.
Enjoy your weekend!
Image: file photo