Recombination And Reionization
09 November 2019
Ex-Facebook CPO Chris Cox now advises on climate & campaign tech
Chris Cox’s motivational speeches were at the heart of Facebook’s new employee orientation. But after 14 years at the social network, the Chief Product Officer left in March amidst an executive shake-up and Facebook’s new plan to prioritize privacy by moving to encrypt its messaging apps. No details on his next projects were revealed.
Now the 37-year-old leader will be putting his inspirational demeanor and keen strategy sense to work to protect the environment and improve the government. Today at Wired25 conference, Cox finally shared more about his work advising political technology developer for progressives Acronym, and climate change-tracking satellite startup Planet Labs. He also explained more about the circumstances of his departure from social network’s C-suite.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 08: Chris Cox attends the WIRED25 Summit 2019 – Day 1 at Commonwealth Club on November 08, 2019 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for WIRED)
On how he felt leaving Facebook, Cox said “part of the reason I was okay leaving was that after 2016 I’d spent a couple years building out a bunch of the teams that I felt were most important to sort of take the lessons that we learned through some of 2016 and start to put in place institutions that can help the company, be more responsible and be a better communicator on some of the key issues.”
As for what specifically drove him to leave, Cox explained that “It wasn’t something where I felt I wanted to spend another 13 years on social media. Mark and I saw things a little bit differently . . . I think we are still investigating as an industry, how do you balance protecting the privacy of people’s information and continuing to keep people safe” Cox said. On whether moving towards encryption was part of that, he said he thinks encryption is “great: and that “It offers an enormous amount of protection” but noted “it certainly makes things more complicated” on the privacy vs safety balance.
Cox was asked about the major debate about whether Facebook should allow political advertising. “We think political advertising can be good and helpful. It often favors up and comers versus incumbents.” Still, on fact-checking, he said “I’m a big fan” even though Facebook isn’t applying that to political ads. He did note that “I think the company should investigate and is investigating micro targeting . . . if there’s hundreds of variants being run of the creative then it’s tricky to get your arms around what’s being said.” He also advocated for more context in the user interface distinguishing political ads.
Chris Cox speaks at Wired25
Since leaving Facebook, Cox has been advising a group called Acronym which is helping to build out the campaign and messaging technology stack for progressive candidates. Cox has also been working to advise San Francisco startup Planet Labs which is using satellite imagery to track climate change.
Cox concluded that the technology industry can lead on both fronts to create the world we want to live in.
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Facebook’s first experimental apps from its ‘NPE Team’ division focus on students, chat & music
This July, Facebook announced a new division called NPE Team which would build experimental consumer-facing apps, allowing the company to try out new ideas and features to see how people would react. It soon thereafter tapped former Vine GM Jason Toff to join the team as a product manager. The first apps to emerge from the NPE Team have now quietly launched. One, Bump, is a chat app that aims to help people make new friends through conversations, not appearances. Another, Aux, is a social music listening app.
Aux seems a bit reminiscent of an older startup, Turntable.fm, that closed its doors in 2013. As in Turntable.fm, the idea with Aux is that of a virtual DJ’ing experience where people instead of algorithms are programming the music. This concept of crowdsourced DJ’ing also caught on in years past with radio stations that put their audiences in control of the playlist through their mobile app.
Later, streaming music apps like Spotify experimented with party playlists, and various startups launched their own guest-controlled playlists.
The NPE Team’s Aux app is a slightly different take on this general idea of people-powered playlists.
The app is aimed at school-aged kids and teens who join a party in the app every day at 9 PM. They then choose the songs they want to play and compete for the “AUX” to get theirs played first. At the end of the night, a winner is chosen based on how many “claps” are received.
As the app describes it, Aux is a “DJ for Your School” — a title that’s a bit confusing, as it brings to mind music being played over the school’s intercom system, as opposed to a social app for kids who attend school to use in the evenings.
Aux launched on August 8, 2019 in Canada, and has less than 500 downloads on iOS, according to data from Sensor Tower. It’s not available on Android. It briefly ranked No. 38 among all Music apps on the Canadian App Store on October 22, which may point to some sort of short campaign to juice the downloads.
The other new NPE Team app is Bump, which aims to help people “make new friends.”
Essentially an anonymous chat app, the idea here is that Bump can help people connect by giving them icebreakers to respond to using text. There are no images, videos or links in Bump — just chats.
Based on the App Store screenshots, the app seems to be intended for college students. The screenshots show questions about “the coolest place” on campus and where to find cheap food. A sample chat shown in the screenshots mentions things like classes and roommate troubles.
There could be a dating component to the app, as well, as it stresses that Bump helps people make a connection through “dialog versus appearances.” That levels the playing field a bit, compared with other social apps — and certainly dating apps — where the most attractive users with the best photos tend to receive the most attention.
Chats in Bump take place in real time, and you can only message in one chat at a time. There’s also a time limit of 30 seconds to respond to messages, which keeps the chat active. When the chat ends, the app will ask you if you want to keep in touch with the other person. Only if both people say yes will you be able to chat with them again.
Bump is available on both iOS and Android and is live in Canada and the Philippines. Bump once ranked as high as No. 252 in Social Networking on the Canadian App Store on September 1, 2019, according to Sensor Tower. However, it’s not ranking at all right now.
What’s interesting is that only one of these NPE Team apps, Bump, discloses in its App Store description that the NPE Team is from Facebook. The other, Aux, doesn’t mention this. However, both do point to an App privacy policy that’s hosted on Facebook.com for those who go digging.
That’s not too different from how Google’s in-house app incubator, Area 120, behaves. Some of its apps aren’t clear about their affiliation with Google, save for a link to Google’s privacy policy. It seems these companies want to see if the apps succeed or fail on their own merit, not because of their parent company’s brand name recognition.
Facebook hasn’t said much about its plans for the NPE Team beyond the fact that they will focus on new ways of building community and may be shut down quickly if they’re not useful.
Facebook has been asked for comment about the new apps and we’ll update if one is provided.
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Facebook’s first experimental apps from its ‘NPE Team’ division focus on students, chat & music
This July, Facebook announced a new division called NPE Team which would build experimental consumer-facing apps, allowing the company to try out new ideas and features to see how people would react. It soon thereafter tapped former Vine GM Jason Toff to join the team as a Product Manager. The first apps to emerge from the NPE Team have now quietly launched. One, Bump, is a chat app that aims to help people make new friends through conversations, not appearances. Another, Aux, is a social music listening app.
Aux seems a bit reminiscent of an older startup, Turntable.fm, that closed its doors in 2013. As in Turntable.fm, the idea with Aux is that of a virtual DJ’ing experience where people instead of algorithms are programming the music. This concept of crowdsourced DJ’ing also caught on in years past with radio stations who put their audiences in control of the playlist through their mobile app.
Later, streaming music apps like Spotify experimented with party playlists, and various startups launched their own guest-controlled playlists.
The NPE Team’s Aux app is a slightly different take on this general idea of people-powered playlists.
The app is aimed at school-aged kids and teens who join a party in the app every day at 9 PM. They then choose the songs they want to play and compete for the “AUX” to get theirs played first. At the end of the night, a winner is chosen based on how many “claps” are received.
As the app describes it, Aux is a “DJ for Your School” — a title that’s a bit confusing, as it brings to mind music being played over the school’s intercom system, as opposed to a social app for kids who attend school to use in the evenings.
Aux launched on August 8, 2019 in Canada, and has less than 500 downloads on iOS, according to data from Sensor Tower. It’s not available on Android. It briefly ranked No. 38 among all Music apps on the Canadian App Store on October 22, which may point to some sort of short campaign to juice the downloads.
The other new NPE Team app is Bump, which aims to help people “make new friends.”
Essentially an anonymous chat app, the idea here is that Bump can help people connected by giving them icebreakers to respond to using text. There are no images, videos or links in Bump — just chats.
Based on the App Store screenshots, the app seems to be intended for college students. The screenshots show questions about “the coolest place” on campus and where to find cheap food. A sample chat shown in the screenshots mentions things like classes and roommate troubles.
There could be a dating component to the app, as well, as it stresses that Bump helps people make a connection through “dialog versus appearances.” That levels the playing field a bit, compared with other social apps — and certainly dating apps — where the most attractive users with the best photos tend to receive the most attention.
Chats in Bump take place in real-time, and you can only message in one chat at a time. There’s also a time limit of 30 seconds to respond to messages, which keeps the chat active. When the chat ends, the app will ask you if you want to keep in touch with the other person. Only if both people say yes will you be able to chat with them again.
Bump is available on both iOS and Android and is live in Canada and the Philippines. Bump once ranked as high as No. 252 in Social Networking on the Canadian App Store on September 1, 2019, according to Sensor Tower. However, it’s not ranking at all right now.
What’s interesting is that only one of these NPE Team apps, Bump, discloses in its App Store description that the NPE Team is from Facebook. The other, Aux, doesn’t mention this. However, both do point to an App privacy policy that’s hosted on Facebook.com for those who went digging.
That’s not too different from how Google’s in-house app incubator, Area 120, behaves. Some of its apps aren’t clear about their affiliation with Google, save for a link to Google’s privacy policy. It seems these companies want to see if the apps succeed or fail on their own merit, not because of their parent company’s brand name recognition.
Facebook hasn’t said much about its plans for the NPE Team beyond the fact that they will focus on new ways of building community and may be shut down quickly if they’re not useful.
Facebook has been asked for comment about the new apps and we’ll update if one is provided.
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Daily Crunch: YouTube redesigns its homepage
The Daily Crunch is TechCrunch’s roundup of our biggest and most important stories. If you’d like to get this delivered to your inbox every day at around 9am Pacific, you can subscribe here.
1. YouTube’s homepage redesign focuses on usability, giving you control over recommendations
The company announced an updated, cleaner design that does away with information density, instead giving more room to the videos and their titles. Other new features include an “Add to Queue” option on the desktop, a desktop version of YouTube’s stop suggesting feature and more.
The design changes, which started rolling out yesterday, are focused on the desktop and tablet versions of YouTube, not the YouTube mobile website or app.
2. Disney+ will launch in the UK, Germany, Italy, France and Spain in March 2020
Disney has revealed more details about its international streaming plans. Keep in mind, though, that Disney+ won’t be exactly the same in every territory, thanks to rights/licensing deals that may already be in place.
3. How Microsoft is trying to become more innovative
Across the board, the company is trying to find ways to become more innovative, especially around its work in AI. Microsoft is unusually open about this process, too, and actually made it a focus at this week’s Ignite conference. (Extra Crunch membership required.)
4. Alibaba to invest $3.3B to bump its stake in logistics unit Cainiao
Alibaba is doubling down on its logistics affiliate Cainiao, two years after acquiring a majority stake in the firm. The Chinese giant said today it would invest an additional 23.3 billion yuan (about $3.33 billion) to raise its equity in Cainiao to 63%.
5. Kepler achieves a world-first for satellite broadband with 100Mbps connection to the Arctic
This is the first time there’s been a high-bandwidth satellite network for any central Arctic ground-based use, Kepler says, and this connection isn’t just a technical demo: it’s being used for the hundreds of researchers in the MOSAiC team.
6. Google hires former Disney and Star executive to head its India business
Sanjay Gupta previously served as a managing director at Disney India and Disney-owned Star. He’ll be replacing Rajan Anandan, who left the company to join VC fund Sequoia Capital.
7. Sir Martin Sorrell’s Silicon Valley charm offensive
Sir Martin Sorrell has enjoyed huge success, having built the world’s biggest advertising conglomerate, WPP, over 32 years. He’s also out for revenge, after he left WPP due to allegations of misconduct.
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Vape lung ‘breakthrough’ suggests lethal culprit in THC products could be vitamin E acetate
Official word has come down from federal authorities on one potential cause of the mystery illness affecting vape users: Vitamin E acetate, a chemical found in some vaping products that has been demonstrated to linger in the lungs long afterwards. The finding has been called a “breakthrough” but is far from the last word on the situation.
Sadly, the condition has already claimed the lives of at least 39 people, and more than 2,000 cases have been reported collectively from every state but Alaska. At present the only advice offered has been to stop vaping altogether.
In a media teleconference, the heads of the investigation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention explained the basis for pointing the finger at Vitamin E acetate. The substance was cited as a possible problem early on but only recent testing has established it as a bona fide suspect, the team explained.
Samples taken from the lungs of 29 victims of the condition were sent in from 10 different states, and vitamin E acetate was found in all of them. “These findings provide direct evidence of vitamin E acetate as the primary site of injury within the lungs,” said Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the CDC.
Although she agreed that this evidence is a “breakthrough,” she noted that it is at present merely a correlative finding — more research is required to establish causation, namely the mechanism of harm, though other work has been done in that area.
“Previous non-CDC research suggests that when vitamin E acetate is inhaled, it may interfere with normal lung function,” she said.
“It’s important to note that these findings do not rule out other possible compounds or ingredients that may be causing these lung injuries,” she continued. “There may be more than one cause of the outbreak.”
Equally important are the statistics involved with the sources of the substances in question. As mentioned earlier in the investigation, a huge proportion of those suffering from this condition were using THC products, and specifically ones acquired through unregulated channels like street dealers.
The vitamin E acetate may have been added for the purpose of essentially cutting the product, Schuchat mentioned in response to a question on the call.
“That may be done for the illicit purpose, or the profit purpose, of diluting the materials, making it look nice and perhaps not having to use as much THC or other active ingredients,” she said.
Other potentially dangerous chemicals have been identified in vape products when heated and aerosolized, including many that even the creators might not have predicted.
Knowing a potential culprit doesn’t get at the heart of the problem, which would be that this chemical (perhaps among others) has already built up over months or years in the lungs of frequent vape users. Treatment is a parallel line of research, but knowing at least one substance responsible should be helpful.
The CDC’s previous advice still stands, the officials noted: They advise avoiding vaping altogether, since there are very few controls at present over what ingredients are allowed in vape products, and what must be declared on the packaging, or indeed whether those declarations are in any way accurate.
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I ran digital ads for a presidential campaign, and Twitter is right to ban them
As the digital director for Congressman Seth Moulton’s 2020 presidential campaign, I was responsible for everything the campaign did on the internet: the emails you claim to hate, the videos we hoped would go viral, the online infrastructure that supported organizers in the field, and more. But our biggest investment of both time and money, by far, was in digital advertising.
For our campaign and many others, digital ads were the single biggest expense outside of payroll. Yet these ads are terrible for campaigns, toxic for democracy and are even bad for the companies who profit off them. Last week, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey took a bold first step in banning political ads — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Sundar Pichai should follow suit.
Digital ads are one of the most important channels for acquiring new supporters and serving them that all-important question: “Will you chip in $10, $5, or whatever you can to support our campaign? Even $1 helps!” When the Democratic National Committee announced in February that presidential candidates would need a minimum of 65,000 individual donors to qualify for the first two debates, acquiring these small dollar donors became a do-or-die priority for campaigns.
The trouble is, when 25 campaigns are competing in a Democratic donor market that had just five competitors in 2016, and when each campaign is desperate to acquire new donors, prices go up. Way up.
We — and I suspect many others — routinely ran what were supposed to be revenue-generating ads at a loss, spending $10, $20, or even $30 in order to acquire one new donor and their contribution of as little as $1. This is a terrible deal for campaigns: they hemorrhage cash in order to lose money acquiring more, costing weeks or months of valuable runway, all while Facebook pockets the difference. At scale, the consequence is massive: the remaining 18 Democratic candidates have already spent over $53 million on Facebook and Google this cycle, most of it these kinds of ads.
This is $53 million — plus millions more from prolific former candidates like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Gov. Jay Inslee — which would have otherwise been invested in infrastructure to turn out voters and help Democrats in November no matter who is the nominee. Instead, it went straight into Facebook and Google’s coffers.
These ads are toxic to our democracy.
Due to short online attention spans, the character limits that enforce them and the engagement algorithms that act as gatekeepers to the digital world, campaigns must distill complex issues down to a two sentence pseudo-essence that would leave even debate moderators unsatisfied. And if you want to have a prayer of anyone clicking on your ad, it had better be as inflammatory as possible — people click when they’re angry.
The easiest way to do this is to simply make things up, something most campaigns would never consider, but which Zuckerberg made clear in congressional testimony this week his platform would happily enable. Companies like Facebook and Google force us to present voters with a world that is black and white, in which all nuance is distraction, and in which civic engagement is something that can be done from your phone for just $1 (Unless you’d like to make this a monthly recurring donation? Your support has never been more crucial!). This does not an informed, healthy democracy make.
Political ads are not even good for the companies that serve them. On a quarterly earnings call the same day as Dorsey’s announcement, Zuckerberg estimated that political ads run by candidates would make up just 0.5% of Facebook’s 2020 revenue. Assuming similar performance to the previous 12 months, in which Facebook earned $66 billion, this would be about $330 million in political ad revenue.
In exchange, Facebook has earned itself years of bad PR, increased regulatory risk as congressional leaders are beginning to see it as a national security problem, and even existential risk as leading presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren has vowed to break up the company if elected. All over revenues that hardly even justify the opportunity cost of Zuckerberg’s hours of preparation for congressional hearings.
So who benefits from these kinds of ads? Those who want to create a chaotic information environment in the United States in which facts are subjective, reality is ephemeral and the only information you can trust comes from the people manipulating social media to feed it to you. It is therefore no surprise that one of the first organizations to condemn Dorsey’s decision was the Russian state-sponsored media outlet Russia Today.
Presented with a choice between minuscule revenues and existential risk, between patching a bug in American democracy and abetting Russian propaganda, Dorsey made a wise choice for both his bottom line and his country. Zuckerberg and Pichai would do well to follow his lead.
Banning digital political ads gives extremists a distinct advantage
Jack Dorsey’s announcement that Twitter will no longer run political ads because “political messages reach should be earned, not bought” has been welcomed as a thoughtful and statesmanlike contrast to Mark Zuckerberg’s and Facebook’s greedy acceptance of “political ads that lie.” While the 240-character policy sounds compelling, it’s both flawed in principle and, I fear, counterproductive in practice.
First: like it or hate it, the U.S. political system is drowning in money. In 2018, a non-presidential year, it is estimated that over $9B was spent on the U.S. elections. And unless laws change, more will continue to flow. Banning digital ads will not reduce the amount of money in politics, and will simply shift it to less transparent channels. In an ideal world, it would be great if all “political messages were earned and not bought,” but that is not how our system works. Candidates, Super PACs, C4s and others already allow the majority of their budgets to be swallowed up by other, less visible, accountable and cost-effective, channels — including television, mail, telephone, and radio.
More likely, at least some of the money will end up with even less transparent organizations that aren’t deemed “political,” but very much are.
Second, banning digital political ads will not only hurt the very candidates people should want to help, it will also damage our democratic process. Analog mediums are significantly more expensive and inefficient than digital ones, so candidates who have a lot of money and/or have spent time cultivating their followings will continue to dominate. In other words, incumbent candidates, rich people and reality TV stars enjoy an outsized advantage when digital advertising is denied.
A recent Stanford study found that, at the state house level, more than 10 times as many candidates advertise on Facebook than advertise on television. The research found that digital ads lowers advertising costs, which expands the set of candidates for whom advertising — and thus the potential to reach voters and seriously contest an election — is a real possibility.
Lesser well-known, but often highly-qualified candidates at the state, local and federal level are precisely the people who have been celebrated for their new perspectives, creative ideas and commitment to shake up the system. People who put their heads down, do good work in their communities and decide to run because they want to make a difference will be the ones that are disadvantaged.
You know who gets plenty of earned media opportunities? Donald Trump. He will be fine. In fact, he will be better than fine because we’ve just handed him and more extremist candidates like him a distinct advantage.
Democracy is about the combination of free speech and transparency. As the old adage goes, sunlight is the best disinfectant, so here are a few ideas that would be more effective than a ban:
- Adding a “nutrition label” to political ads offers a more accessible, understandable and consistent way to identify the identities of the funder, their location, their budget and their target audience. This should be easily accessed, in any political ad via one click, just like we know where to find nutrition information on food we buy.
- Enhance “consumer beware” acknowledgments so that if digital political ads remain exempt from fact-checking (as they mostly are on television), platforms have a duty to make that clear with visual signals and user education.
Ultimately, decisions about what is permissible political speech and appropriate distribution and targeting is too important to be left to technology platforms and their conceptions of the public interest.
Do we want Google, Facebook and Twitter making the rules for all political ads and being responsible for enforcing them? What we need is a true oversight body — one with teeth. If non-political advertisers make false claims about their own products or those of their competitors, they can be fined by the FTC. This is an acknowledgment, not only that consumers need accurate facts, but also that companies can not police themselves. This is far too much power for them.
This isn’t a way to let technology companies off the hook, as there is plenty more they can do as noted above. But we need a truly independent organization overseeing political ads — the rules that govern them and holding organizations accountable to following those rules. Is this the FEC? I’m not sure.
As I write this today, I worry that no agency truly has the capacity or the expertise to create these rules and challenge bad campaign practices. We should remedy this post-haste and get to finding true solutions. The alternative seems easier and even principled to fight for, but the unintended consequences will be swift — a government full of the types of people who we say we don’t want.
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08 November 2019
Popular Android phones can be tricked into snooping on their owners
Security researchers have found several popular Android phones can be tricked into snooping on their owners by exploiting a weakness that gives accessories access to the phone’s underlying baseband software.
Attackers can use that access to trick vulnerable phones into giving up their unique identifiers, such as their IMEI and IMSI numbers, downgrade a target’s connection in order to intercept phone calls, forward calls to another phone or block all phone calls and internet access altogether.
The research, shared exclusively with TechCrunch, affects at least 10 popular Android devices, including Google’s Pixel 2, Huawei’s Nexus 6P and Samsung’s Galaxy S8+.
The vulnerabilities are found in the baseband firmware, the software that allows the phone’s modem to communicate with the cell network, such as making phone calls or connecting to the internet. Given its importance, the baseband is typically off-limits from the rest of the device, including its apps, and often come with command blacklisting to prevent non-critical commands from running. But the researchers found that many Android phones inadvertently allow Bluetooth and USB accessories — like headphones and headsets — access to the baseband. By exploiting a vulnerable accessory, an attacker can run commands on a connected Android phone.
“The impact of these attacks ranges from sensitive user information exposure to complete service disruption,” said Syed Rafiul Hussain, one of the co-authors of the paper, in an email to TechCrunch.
Hussain and his colleagues Imtiaz Karim, Fabrizio Cicala and Elisa Bertino at Purdue University and Omar Chowdhury at the University of Iowa are set to present their findings next month.
“The impact of these attacks ranges from sensitive user information exposure to complete service disruption.”
Syed Rafiul Hussain, Purdue University
Baseband firmware use a special language, known as AT commands, which control the device’s cellular functions. These commands can be used to tell the modem which phone number to call. But the researchers found that these commands can be manipulated. The researchers developed a tool, dubbed ATFuzzer, which tries to find potentially problematic AT commands.
In their testing, the researchers discovered 14 commands that could be used to trick the vulnerable Android phones into leaking sensitive device data, and manipulating phone calls.
But not all devices are vulnerable to the same commands or can be manipulated in the same way. The researchers found, for example, that certain commands could trick a Galaxy S8+ phone into leaking its IMEI number, redirect phone calls to another phone and downgrade their cellular connection — all of which can be used to snoop and listen in on phone calls, such as with specialist cellular snooping hardware known as “stingrays.” Other devices were not vulnerable to call manipulation but were susceptible to commands that could be used to block internet connectivity and phone calls.
The vulnerabilities are not difficult to exploit, but require all of the right conditions to be met.
“The attacks can be easily carried out by an adversary with cheap Bluetooth connectors or by setting up a malicious USB charging station,” said Hussain. In other words, it’s possible to manipulate a phone if an accessory is accessible over the internet — such as a computer. Or, if a phone is connected to a Bluetooth device, an attacker has to be in close proximity. (Bluetooth attacks are not difficult, given vulnerabilities in how some devices implement Bluetooth has left some devices more vulnerable to attacks than others.)
“If your smartphone is connected with a headphone or any other Bluetooth device, the attacker can first exploit the inherent vulnerabilities of the Bluetooth connection and then inject those malformed AT commands,” said Hussain.
Samsung recognized the vulnerabilities in some of its devices and is rolling out patches. Neither Huawei nor Google provided comment at the time of writing.
Hussain said that iPhones were not affected by the vulnerabilities.
This research becomes the latest to examine vulnerabilities in baseband firmware. Over the years there have been several papers examining various phones and devices with baseband vulnerabilities. Although these reports are rare, security researchers have long warned that intelligence agencies and hackers alike could be using these flaws to launch silent attacks.
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A historical musical that examines black identity in the 1901 World's Fair | Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin
A historical musical that examines black identity in the 1901 World's Fair | Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin
In this lively talk and performance, artist and TED Fellow Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin offers a sneak peek of her forthcoming musical "At Buffalo." Drawing on archival material from the 1901 Pan-American Exhibition, a world's fair held in Buffalo, New York, the show examines conflicting representations of black identity exhibited at the fair -- highlighting unsettlingly familiar parallels between American society at the turn of the century and today, and asking: Are we all still part of the show?
Click the above link to download the TED talk.
In this lively talk and performance, artist and TED Fellow Amma Y. Ghartey-Tagoe Kootin offers a sneak peek of her forthcoming musical "At Buffalo." Drawing on archival material from the 1901 Pan-American Exhibition, a world's fair held in Buffalo, New York, the show examines conflicting representations of black identity exhibited at the fair -- highlighting unsettlingly familiar parallels between American society at the turn of the century and today, and asking: Are we all still part of the show?
Click the above link to download the TED talk.
Yes, VPNs Can Be Hacked: What That Means for Your Privacy
We thought VPNs were secure, but with an increasing number of secure services reporting server breaches, that seems not to be the case. But how do these secure services get hacked in the first place, and how do hackers capitalize on it?
Here’s how VPNs get hacked and what it means for your privacy.
The VPN’s (Seemingly) Unbreakable Security
If we take a brief look at how a VPN works, it looks unhackable. This is the primary draw of a VPN, as people feel they can trust the service to maintain their privacy.
For one, your computer encrypts the connection before it leaves for the internet. This encryption makes a VPN a solid layer of defense against spying, as anyone snooping on the connection can’t read what you’re sending. Hackers can use public Wi-Fi connections to steal your identity, but a VPN can protect you from all attacks bar someone looking over your shoulder.
Even your ISP can’t see the packets you send, which makes VPNs useful for hiding your traffic from a strict government.
If a hacker manages to break into a VPN’s database, they may leave empty-handed. Many top VPNs hold a “no-logging policy,” which states that they won’t save records of how you use their service. These logs are a potential goldmine for hackers, and refusing to keep them means your privacy is maintained even after a database leak.
From these points, it’s easy to assume that a VPN is “unhackable.” However, there are ways that hackers can breach a VPN.
How VPNs Are Susceptible to Hacking
A hacker’s best point of entry is near the outer reaches of the VPN network. VPN companies sometimes opt not to set up servers in all the countries they want to support. Instead, they’ll hire out data centers established within the target country.
This plan often doesn’t introduce any complications and the VPN service adopts the servers without any issues. However, there is the rare chance that there is a hidden oversight in the data center that the VPN company isn’t aware of. In one reported case, a server that NordVPN rented out had a forgotten-about remote connection tool installed.
This tool was insecure and hackers used it to break in.
From there, the hacker found some additional files. The Register reports that this includes an expired encryption key and a DNS certificate. The key didn’t allow the hacker to snoop on traffic, and if they did, NordVPN says they’d only see the same data an ISP would see.
How Hackers Can Capitalize on a VPN Attack
This flaw is the main weakness that a hacker will try to exploit. Because the VPN doesn’t store logs of connections, a hacker’s best bet is to watch the data flow in real-time and analyze the packets.
This tactic is called the “man-in-the-middle” (MITM) attack. It’s when a hacker gets their information from monitoring data as it passes through. It’s not easy to pull off, but it’s not impossible to achieve. Should a hacker get their hands on an encryption key, they can reverse the VPN’s protection and peek at the packets as they pass through.
Of course, this doesn’t give hackers free rein over the traffic. Any data encrypted with HTTPS won’t be readable, as the hacker won’t have the key for it. Anything that’s plaintext, however, will be readable and potentially editable, which would be a severe privacy breach.
Should You Be Concerned About Your VPN Privacy?
While this does sound terrifying, don’t worry just yet. Before you panic, consider why you use or would use a VPN service. At the base level, a hacker monitoring a VPN connection would only see what an ISP would see. For some, this kind of breach doesn’t affect them at all; for others, it’s a severe breach of trust.
On one end of the spectrum, let’s assume you use a VPN so you can get around geo-blocks. You don’t boot up the VPN often, and when you do, it’s to watch shows on Netflix that aren’t available in your home country. In this case, do you mind that a hacker knows you’re watching the newest Labyrinth series?
If not, you may not want to protect yourself further—although some would argue that surrendering any part of your privacy is never right!
On the other side, VPNs are more than just a way to watch TV shows from overseas. They’re a way to browse the internet and speak freely without intervention from the government. For these people, a breach of their privacy could have severe ramifications.
If the thought of your privacy leaking in an attack is too much to bear, it’s worth taking the extra steps to protect yourself.
How to Protect Your Privacy With Additional Security
To start, it’s essential to realize that these breaches aren’t commonplace. Also, the hacker in the NordVPN case only gained access to one of the 5000+ servers. This means that the majority of the service was safe, and only a small section of users was under threat. As such, a VPN is still a useful way to protect your privacy.
However, if you’re very serious about staying anonymous, a VPN shouldn’t be your only line of defense. The attacks on VPNs have shown that they do have flaws, but that doesn’t mean that they’re entirely useless. The best way to maintain your privacy is to add another layer of privacy to what the VPN provides. That way, you’re not wholly dependent on your VPN service to protect you.
For instance, you can boot up your VPN, then use the Tor browser to browse the web. The Tor browser connects to the Tor network, which uses triple-encryption for its traffic. This encryption is applied before your computer sends it, much like a VPN.
If a hacker performs a MITM attack on your VPN connection, The Tor network’s encryption keeps your data safe. On the other hand, if your connection is compromised on the Tor network, the trail leads back to the VPN. If the VPN doesn’t store logs, the trail back to you goes dead.
As such, using two layers of security is an effective way to protect your privacy. Regardless of which side suffers a breach, the other one will pick up the slack.
How to Use a VPN Properly
VPNs can help secure your connection, but they’re not impenetrable. As we’ve seen from these incidents, hackers can infiltrate a VPN server and use keys to initiate a MITM attack. If you’re concerned about your privacy, it’s worth backing up a VPN with another layer of defense. That way, if one layer falls, the other is there to back you up.
Invulnerability behind a VPN service is one of the common VPN myths you shouldn’t believe, so it’s worth knowing what’s true and what’s fake.
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The 10 Best Indie Games to Buy on Steam
While big budget triple-A video games have their place, it’s good to balance these out with the best indie games. Think of them as art house films against blockbusters.
An indie game is generally made by an individual or a small development team. The developers are often unrestrained by a publisher, allows them to take creative risks.
There are lots of good indie games to enjoy, but where to begin? To help you get started on your indie game adventure, here are the best indie games worth buying on Steam.
1. Braid
Braid is a platformer that was released in 2008, originally for the Xbox 360. It’s classed as the game that launched the indie boom, or at least brought them to the forefront.
It’s easy to understand why. While the premise—man rescues princess captured by a monster—sounds predictable, the way Braid’s story unwraps is anything but.
Key to this is a time-manipulation mechanic. Each world has its own take on time: being able to rewind it, your movement linked to it, having it flow in reverse, and so on. It’ll mess with your brain, but that makes it even more rewarding when you succeed.
2. Machinarium
Machinarium is a beautiful point-and-click adventure game that puts you in charge of a little robot, desperate to get back inside the city walls and overthrow the evil within.
There’s no dialog in the game. Instead, everything is communicated through expression or symbols, which makes solving the many puzzles even more rewarding.
But you probably don’t need much convincing if you just look at the wonderful artwork and listen to the enchanting soundtrack. Machinarium is one of the best indie games of all time.
3. Cuphead
The golden age of American animation began in the 1930s and it’s from this that Cuphead takes its artistic inspiration from. It looks like something pulled straight from the era that gave us Steamboat Willie and Betty Boop.
Everything is hand-drawn on cels, the backgrounds created in watercolor, the music a worship of jazz. But Cuphead is so much more than its audiovisuals.
It’s an incredibly difficult run-and-gun game, putting you in control of the titular Cuphead as you work through levels to reach the mega boss fights. There’s also a co-op mode if you need the help of a friend to survive.
4. The Stanley Parable
To say too much about The Stanley Parable is to ruin its brilliance. It was originally born as a mod to Half-Life 2, before being spun off into its own game for release in 2013.
You take charge of Stanley, guiding him away from curiously abandoned office, as a narrator comments on his every move. While the narrator tries to guide Stanley, you can choose to make entirely different decisions, which results in a lot of surreal humor.
It’s worth playing The Stanley Parable multiple times so that you can make different decisions and explore everything it has to offer. It’s hilarious, and well worth experiencing.
5. Super Meat Boy
Super Meat Boy is the follow-up to an excellent Flash game (how to download and run Flash games). However, you don’t need any previous experience of the series.
Super Meat Boy is a complex platformer where you control a red square of meat, bouncing across perilous terrain to rescue his girlfriend. It’s inspired by old school classics like Mega Man 2 and Super Mario Bros. 2.
There are over 300 levels to get through, but the difficulty curve is perfectly judged. You’ll return to earlier levels and wonder why you were bashing your head in frustration.
6. Return of the Obra Dinn
Board an East India Company ghost ship in the 1800s in Return of the Obra Dinn. Created by Lucas Pope (developer of the critically acclaimed Papers, Please) this follow-up is even better than the first.
Everyone on the ship has disappeared and it’s up to you to solve the mystery. You must search for clues, piecing together information to find out the names of the deceased and how they met their fate.
Return of the Obra Dinn has very interesting presentation; it looks like something you’d find on an early Macintosh computer. Let that alone entice you into this clever and engrossing adventure.
7. Bastion
Bastion is an action role-playing game, set in a foreign world where a calamity has caused the land to shatter into floating islands.
You don the shoes of a young boy, aptly named The Kid, slashing and firing at an assortment of enemies. As you do, a narrator not only tells an intriguing story, but also comments on your actions.
All of the weapons you collect can be upgraded and there are plentiful challenges along the way, ensuring you’ll spend lots of time in Bastion’s gorgeous environments.
8. A Hat in Time
3D platformers used to be all the rage and it’s clear where A Hat in Time draws its inspiration from. Nevertheless, it stands tall as something awesome in its own right.
It’s a cute, charming, and downright fun platformer starring a little girl trying to get home on her spaceship. To do that she’ll need to collect all the Time Pieces that have been scattered on the crazy worlds below.
Hat Girl gets her abilities through the different hats she creates—like brewing potions or looking inside other dimensions. It’s incredibly joyful to mess around with all the different combinations and it’s bound to put a smile on your face.
9. Inside
Inside is a dark game, both aesthetically and emotionally. It’s predominantly monochromatic, with little sound, and there’s an overbearing sense of dread and despair.
You take the role of a young boy on the run, hunted by shadowy forces. Whether it’s being chased by angry dogs, swimming against rising water, or getting shot with a tranquilizer dart, there’s rarely a moment’s rest for the protagonist.
Inside is a puzzle platformer, so you need to manipulate the environment to keep progressing. Whether there’s light at the end of the tunnel is for you to find out.
10. Stardew Valley
No list of indie games is complete without mentioning Stardew Valley. This game is the definition of a labor of love, developed with dedication over four years by Eric Barone.
Stardew Valley was heavily inspired by Barone’s passion for Harvest Moon. In his game, you’ve inherited your grandfather’s farm plot and need to get to grips with the fields in order to earn a living.
You can master skills like mining and fishing, meet other characters in the community, explore underground caves, and much more. Say goodbye to your real life and embrace your new virtual one in Stardew Valley.
There Are Lots of Good Indie Games Out There
If we’re honest, this list of the best indie games to buy on Steam could have gone longer, such is the wealth of indie games available today. However, we consider these to be the very best and hope you enjoy playing them.
If you want more gaming fun, be sure to read our article listing the most influential PC games of all time.
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Google’s Quantum Supremacy Signals Huge Advance in Computing
Google is pushing civilization closer to quantum computing, a development which will change computing and most likely, the world. A Google-developed quantum computer, called Sycamore, solved a problem in seconds that would take a “normal” supercomputer 10,000 years.
Is the age of quantum computing upon us? Has Google achieved “quantum supremacy?” And what does quantum computing mean for you?
What Is Quantum Computing?
Quantum computing fundamentally alters how computers process data, using quantum physics.
A regular semiconductor-based processor (like the one in your laptop or smartphone) uses “bits” of information. The bits exist as a 1 or 0, somewhat like a switch that is on or off. The bits can only exist as a 1 or 0 on traditional hardware.
Quantum computers use quantum bits, known as “qubits.” A qubit can exist as both 1 and 0 simultaneously. The ability for a qubit to hold its state as a 1 and 0 is a central tenet of quantum computing and is known as superposition.
Superposition lets multiple calculations take place at the same time. But to do that, the qubits must be synchronized using a quantum effect known as entanglement.
Still unsure? Here’s quantum computing explained in 60 seconds.
What Is Quantum Supremacy?
Although it sounds like the name of an action-packed James Bond film, quantum supremacy is far more ground-breaking. Quantum supremacy is the name given to the moment when a quantum computer completes a calculation faster than a classical computer.
Google claims their Sycamore quantum processor has achieved quantum supremacy for the first time. The team of researchers, led by John Martinis, an experimental physicist at the University of California, set the quantum processor a random sampling task. The sampling task produces a set of numbers with truly random distribution.
“It is likely that the classical simulation time, currently estimated at 10,000 years, will be reduced by improved classical hardware and algorithms,” said Brooks Foxen, a graduate student researcher in Martinis’ lab. “But since we are currently 1.5 trillion times faster, we feel comfortable laying claim to this achievement.”
Has Google Achieved Quantum Supremacy?
The paper detailing the quantum supremacy experiments leaked on the NASA website. Although it was taken offline quickly, it caught the eye of a lot of people due to its bold claims. The paper has since published formally in the scientific journal, Nature.
However, IBM is unconvinced.
Days before the formal release of the Google quantum supremacy paper, IBM issued a paper claiming that the same performance gains can also work on classical hardware, given time to make extensions to a supercomputer. So, while Google argues that it has achieved quantum supremacy, IBM is arguing that it hasn’t because if, given time, it could theoretically extend their Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Laboratories to complete the same task in “approximately two and half days.”
IBM’s claims are not without basis, although not echoed throughout the scientific and computing community.
“The Google paper is reporting a substantial advance. We see wonderful fabrication, wonderful diagnostics, real care towards all the details that make this an advance,” says Sir Peter Knight, president of the Institute of Physics and board member of the Quantum Technology Strategic Advisory Board.
“Nevertheless, there are a number of assumptions in the paper. Like Google, IBM have also looked very carefully at the way that the supercomputing classical simulations could be done differently to check the idea of ‘computing supremacy’. Until the quantum community have had a chance to road test the data from the experiment using the Sycamore chip, how far Google have achieved this, is still an open question. But science progresses by challenging assumptions and I would expect to see more of this.”
Until IBM can provide evidence that the Summit supercomputer can complete the same test within a reasonable time frame, Google has achieved quantum supremacy.
What Does Quantum Supremacy Mean for You?
In the short term, quantum supremacy and quantum computing mean little to regular computer users. Quantum computing is an iterative process. Google’s development is an exciting and intriguing step forward. But, just as modern computing took time, so will quantum computing.
The second thing to consider is that a quantum computer requires a phenomenal amount of cooling. A quantum computer requires liquid nitrogen to operate. There is no way to replicate the amount of cooling required to bring quantum computing to a smartphone or laptop. The technology doesn’t exist.
That point when your non-scientific parent(s) asks you to explain Google’s Quantum Supremacy and if the robots are taking over yet. #QuantumSupermacy
— Shyam D. (@PeakSquirrel) October 24, 2019
Concerning the first point, it is a long-term goal. The first computers were the size of an entire room and took a whole team of scientists to run and program. Quantum computing is at the same stage.
Others have doubts that quantum computing will ever replace classical semiconductor-based computing. Moore’s Law dictates that the number of transistors in a processor will double every two years, increasing computing power along with it. (It doesn’t dictate that the processing power will increase, which is a misconception of the law.)
The prediction proved correct over four decades, although Gordon Moore himself believes progress will reach saturation “in the next decade or so.”
Even with the eventual and probable slowdown of semiconductor-based processors, processing power will continue to increase. Brian Krzanich, the former CEO of Intel, confirmed that Intel’s processor scaling is “closer to two and a half years than two,” but that the company would continue to pursue processor power advancements.
Quantum computing is just one alternative to classic semiconductor processing when Moore’s Law ends.
What Is Neven’s Law?
Neven’s Law dictates how quickly quantum processors are improving and is named after Hartmut Neven, director of the Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab at Google.
Neven’s Law states that quantum processing power will grow with a double exponential rate—that’s insanely fast. For example, processing power grows by a factor of 2^2^1 (4), then 2^2^2 (16), then 2^2^3 (256), then 2^2^4 (65,536), and so on. Using this format, you can see how the rate of processing will rapidly massively increase.
Quantum Supremacy Is Here
Google’s quantum supremacy development is ground-breaking. Despite IBM’s efforts to undermine the quantum development, Google is pushing quantum computing forward. If scientists can find fault with Google’s claims, then the process and development will become stronger for it.
« Quantum computer took just 200 seconds to perform a calculation that would have taken the world's top supercomputer 10,000 years to crack »…Google proclaims quantum supermacy, let’s say bye bye to encryption…
— pathus (@pathus90) October 25, 2019
Quantum computing is a difficult area of computing and science for many to process. The ideas are equal parts abstract and enormous, the outcomes difficult to process, and impact unknown.
That said, there are some areas that quantum computing will impact that are well understood. Quantum computers could spell the end of cryptography as we know it. And that’s an impact that affects everyone.
Image Credit: Erik Lucero/Google Quantum Supremacy
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Can You Trust Facebook Portal Devices With Your Privacy?
The social media giant’s latest bold move is to launch the Facebook Portal. These devices are designed for video chats with motion-sensitive cameras, smart displays, and Alexa built-in.
But this is the company with an extensive history of privacy scandals, including concerns about data collection and facial recognition. Can you really trust Facebook Portals with sensitive information?
What Is Facebook Portal?
The Facebook Portal lets you make video calls via Messenger or WhatsApp. Each unit has a 12MP motion-sensitive camera which follows you around the room with a 140-degree field of view. It also uses Augmented Reality (AR) to integrate animation into chats, reminiscent of Snapchat’s filters, lenses, and stickers.
Because Alexa is built-in, you can search the web (in a limited capacity), play music via Spotify, and control your smart home.
A standard Portal features a 10-inch display, though cheaper alternatives include the Mini (eight-inch display) and TV. The latter integrates with your smart television, meaning chats can be carried over to the biggest screen in your house.
It sounds like a handy device akin to other voice assistant devices like the Amazon Echo or Google Home Hub, right? So what’s the problem?
Why Should You Worry About Facebook Portal?
A camera permanently trained on your living room should immediately raise concerns. So, too, should its microphone, which some think can be used to listen in on everything you do.
After all, worries about smart devices spying on you persist. Just look at those reports of targeted advertisements apparently based on discussions had with family and friends.
People are now naturally sceptical of Facebook’s intentions. Admittedly, that doesn’t stop millions from using it every day. Still, you can reduce the amount of information you put online. The main potential issue with Facebook Portal is that you don’t know what’s collected and who can access that data.
We’ll come back to that.
It’s especially concerning as Facebook isn’t known for its transparency. In July 2019, the Federal Trade Commission fined Facebook $5 billion for failing to tell its users about a data leak which led to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, however, now admits the firm has a responsibility to look after personal information.
What Safety Features Do Facebook Portals Have?
Facebook says that the Portal was created with “privacy, safety, and security in mind”, so what exactly does that mean? How does the Facebook Portal protect your privacy?
The camera and microphone can be disabled with the touch of a button. A red light demonstrates that they’re inactive. But why should you trust that? After all, even Zuckerberg covers the camera on his laptop with tape—a smart move given how snoopers can spy on you through such devices.
3 things about this photo of Zuck:
Camera covered with tape
Mic jack covered with tape
Email client is Thunderbird pic.twitter.com/vdQlF7RjQt— Chris Olson (@topherolson) June 21, 2016
With that in mind, second-generation Portals have a physical cover you can slide over the lens. This doesn’t automatically disable the microphone, however, because you may still want to use the voice interface.
You can also activate the screen lock. It’s like your smartphone: it stops others from using the device without inputting a four- to 12-digit passcode.
And as Portals piggyback off Messenger and WhatsApp, calls are encrypted. This means data sent between units (whether Portal to Portal or via another device) is scrambled in transit so is difficult, though not impossible, to intercept.
Perhaps most importantly, the Portal can’t record and save videos or broadcast using Facebook Live. Your video calls aren’t listened to or stored anywhere.
Can Facebook Portal Identify Faces?
You’ve seen facial recognition at work. Tags are suggested when you add photos of family and friends on Facebook. This uses the company’s Deep Face technology to build an artificial map of faces. Naturally, you should be wondering, does Facebook Portal use facial recognition software? Does it know who’s talking?
Fortunately not. The Portal doesn’t recognise your face. The AI is used to track motion, so the camera can pan across a room. It isn’t there for malicious intent. Nonetheless, it can lock onto faces, so the Portal automatically zooms and still keeps you in shot. It’s also used when activating AR.
This AI runs locally, meaning on your actual Portal, not on Facebook’s servers.
Does Facebook Portal’s Microphone Listen All the Time?
As previously mentioned, you can disable the microphone. You have to physically turn it back on again before it’ll listen to voice commands again. If you use the camera shutter to cover the lens, your mic stays on, so it can still react when you say “Hey Portal”.
The Portal activates when it detects you saying that phrase then waits for commands. If activated, a notification appears at the bottom of the screen.
But no system is infallible, so Facebook coyly warns about “false wakes”, i.e. when it incorrectly identifies something you say as “Hey Portal”. These misunderstandings are deleted within 90 days.
What Information Does Facebook Portal Collect?
Read that last sentence again. Because yes, Facebook nonetheless collects some information from you. This primarily relates to voice commands.
Once the unit hears “Hey Portal”, it records and transcribes what it hears. This information is then sent to Facebook’s servers, including background noises. Facebook deletes this—eventually. It can take three years.
To prevent this and “false wakes”, you need to turn your microphone off. It means it won’t respond to “Hey Portal”, however.
So does Facebook Portal store anything related to your video calls? Unsurprisingly, the answer is: yes. Though your actual video contents stay private, technical details are sent to Facebook. The company says this includes “volume level, number of bytes received, or frame resolution”.
Further data is logged on your Portal and only sent to Facebook in the form of crash reports. This can tell the social network how many people were in frame when the Portal stopped working and their distances from the microphones.
This is indicative of more information sent to Facebook. The onus is on performance, so it’ll also collate data about ambient light, system logs, and settings.
That’s what happens to your video calls. What about third-party apps? The Portal has an in-built browser and a limited app store; some apps are pre-loaded too. And yes, these open more questions about privacy. Facebook communicates with third-parties.
Sometimes, this is merely about app usage: frequency, bugs, and length of time you use them. Sometimes, more information is mined. To find out more, you have to check out the independent privacy policies of each app. It takes time, but it’s worth finding out exactly what personal details you’re surrendering.
How Is Collected Information Used?
Facebook assures users that most of the data collected is for performance reasons only. Information develops the AIs, so, for instance, results to “Hey Portal” enquiries are accurate. These are reviewed by actual people, not merely a computer. These Facebook workers are monitored so they comply with privacy and security strictures.
But your voice commands can be shared with third parties. Recordings and transcripts are sent to service providers like Alexa once more to improve the service. Transcripts are shared with apps for accuracy in response to “Hey Portal” enquiries.
An added caveat is in your favor: the pitch of your voice is altered so no one can personally identify you that way.
However, further identifiers are shared, like your Portal’s name, IP address, and zip code.
How Can You Protect Your Information?
“Hey Portal” is only available in English at the time of launch, so if you select another language, voice commands are disabled. This will greatly reduce how useful your device is, though.
Fortunately, there is something you can do to protect your privacy. Thanks to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you can access and delete your recordings—meaning Facebook won’t store any voice commands.
You can disable storage completely in your Portal Settings, so you can still use “Hey Portal” but it won’t log what you say. The downside is that it won’t be as fast or as accurate as devices which store data, although it’s doubtful you’ll even notice this lag.
System usage is still logged. The company can tell what times you use Portal and how often.
To alter this, you’ll need to sign into Facebook, navigate to your profile, then click on Activity Log. This is a list of every time you’ve signed into Portal or Facebook, plus all your reacts and comments. You can delete accordingly. It may take some time if you’ve never looked before.
There’s nothing you can do about the company sharing device information like IP address, sadly.
Don’t forget that anyone else who uses your Portal can access your recordings. If you’re nervous about this, use a passcode.
Can You Trust Facebook Portal With Your Privacy?
This might surprise you, but… Yes. We’re very nervous about Facebook’s security scandals, but the Portal is designed with your privacy in mind. It’s not perfect, of course. You’ve should be wary of “false wakes”, where information is recorded when the unit thinks you’ve said “Hey Portal”.
Then again, that’s a concern with all voice assistants. The Facebook Portal is as safe as such devices get right now.
But of course, you should always stay vigilant about your privacy. It’s always worth reviewing the data you submit to Facebook.
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