Black Lives Matter protests come under scrutiny

China, General, Government, Health, Oceania, Politics, Social Issues

An Australian court has ruled against Black Lives Matter protesters’ request to appeal the decision that denied the permission for a protest scheduled on Tuesday 28th July 2020. The decision comes as Australia reported a record number of new cases per day, with the total number reaching over 500 for the first time since the virus was reported in the country in January 2020. 

In response to the decision to deny the appeal, David Elliott, New South Wales police minister, said: ‘I welcome the court of appeal’s decision to uphold the supreme court’s verdict on the authorisation of a protest planned for Tuesday 28 July.’ He went on to describe how the ‘NSW government urges both the organisers and anyone thinking of attending to stay away, abide by the law and seriously consider the consequences of their potential actions. A pandemic is no time to attend a mass gathering, no matter how honourable the cause.’ The decision is a controversial one as Black Lives Matter protests have begun around the world, with momentum behind the movement increasing after the death of George Floyd in the USA on 25 May 2020. Starting in Minneapolis, the protests have spread globally, with Aljazeera even creating an interactive map of the rally site locations. 
The July record high comes following numbers as low as 3 and 12 back in May and June. The last peak of record new cases per day came back in March, which saw 469 cases reported in one day likely because of high numbers of returning international travellers. The majority of new cases were found in Victoria, with others in New South Wales and one in Queensland. As of the 22nd July there were currently 214 in hospitals around Australia following an additional 31 people submitted since the 14th July. Over 20 of the patients are intensive care units on ventilators.

UK becomes the next country to ban Chinese tech company Huawei

Australia, Big Data, Business, China, Communications, Data Management & Networks, Digital Systems Technology, Europe, Social Issues, Technology, Technology News

Following the ban of Huawei from Australia back in August 2018, the Chinese giant tech firm has been making headlines in the UK recently in a recent controversial battle. The debate stems from a wide range of concerns, with some conspiracy theories ranging from the 5g network it was working on being the cause of the coronavirus, or rumours of it being able to supposedly break down blood cells like acid, to more serious concerns regarding data privacy. 

Similar to the decision from the Australian government back in 2018 to ban Huawei and fellow Chinese firm ZTE from supplying Australia with 5g technology. The ban came over much discussion and investigation into the companies as a security risk. This sentiment has not been successfully dissipated by Huawei, who have continued to face trouble around the world. At the time the responded in a tweet with the following statement: ‘We have been informed by the Govt that Huawei & ZTE have been banned from providing 5G technology to Australia. This is a [sic] extremely disappointing result for consumers. Huawei is a world leader in 5G. Has safely & securely delivered wireless technology in Aust for close to 15 yrs’. 

The most recent trouble comes as Huawei is banned from the UK from taking part in setting up its 5g wireless network for heightened connectivity. With much debate and protest from both sides the decision was made in July 2020 that there would be no more sale of Huawei technology in the UK after December of this year, and removed entirely from Britain’s 5g network by 2027, it was announced by the government. 

The decision has been suggested to be influenced by geopolitical tensions between the USA and China currently, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declaring last month that “The tide is turning against Huawei as citizens around the world are waking up to the danger of the Chinese Communist Party’s surveillance state.” 

Let them eat packages

Business, Communications, Data Management & Networks, General

As of this writing, nearly 640,000 people around the world have died from COVID-19. Many millions more have lost their jobs due to the pandemic. A good percentage of those jobs are gone for good. Scientists are scrambling for a vaccine as “second waves” of the virus sweep across the globe. The overall damage caused by the pandemic is incalculable and much of it is irreversible.

In other news, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos made $13 billion in one day this week. That’s not $13 billion for his company—it’s $13 billion for Bezos himself. His net worth now stands at a modest $186 billion.

As Business Insider reports, Bezos is now worth more than some of the largest corporations in the world, including Nike, Costco, McDonald’s, and IBM. The article continues: “His wealth is more than double the market caps of Starbucks ($88 billion) and Goldman Sachs ($73 billion), and more than triple the market caps of General Electric ($62 billion) and Target ($60 billion).”

I think it is safe to say that Bezos has achieved Marie Antionette status. Unless you’re a technocrat, working for Amazon is a living hell. Go ahead and read some of the stories out of Amazon’s sweat shops—or “fulfillment centers” in corporate-speak. Last year the Atlantic published an article detailing how often Amazon workers are injured on the job.

“Taken together, the rate of serious injuries for [23 Amazon warehouse] facilities was more than double the national average for the warehousing industry: 9.6 serious injuries per 100 full-time workers in 2018, compared with an industry average that year of 4.”

In other words, if you’re an Amazon “fulfillment worker,” you have a 10 percent chance of getting seriously injured when you’re at work.

The Atlantic piece goes on to list some of the other ways in which Amazon abuses and exploits its workforce. For example, mandatory 12-hour shifts and impossible packaging quotas. One worker—a disabled veteran—was fired after performing at a rate of 98.45 percent. (“He had to pick 385 small items or 350 medium items each hour.”)

There’s also the well-known fact that Amazon traces the movements of its warehouse workers—right down to the positioning of their hands—by making them wear bracelets, and uses a heat map to show which of its locations are most at risk of unionizing. That includes its pretentious Whole Foods locations.

Last month demonstrators put a mock guillotine outside of Bezos’ DC mansion. The sentiment is understandable. Where is Robespierre when you need him?

Tick-tock, tick-tock: time is running out for TikTok in the US

Asia, Australia, Big Data, Business, China, Communications, Countries, Data Management & Networks, Digital Systems Technology

Here is a syllogism: TikTok is owned by a company called ByteDance. ByteDance is based in Beijing. Therefore, Washington is moving to ban TikTok in the United States.

Just this week the US House of Representatives voted to prohibit federal employees, including senators and reps, from using TikTok on government devices. Politico reports that the amendment (it’s part of a $741 billion “defense” budget bill) passed comfortably—336-71.

Why any federal employee would want to use TikTok in the first place is beyond me. Last I checked it was an app for preteens. But I suppose that is neither here nor there.

The point, according to Washington, is that TikTok represents a unique national security threat. Asked whether Americans ought to use TikTok, America’s top diplomat—the fleshy Mike Pompeo—said:

“Only if you want your private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”

The argument being that TikTok collects its users’ data and then shares said data with the sordid Politburo. It’s not a frivolous concern, and TikTok’s insistence that it would never ever do such a wicked thing is not impressive. It’s just really hard to agree with Mike Pompeo, who went on to say that banishing TikTok, along with other Chinese apps, is “something we’re looking at.”

Well, this has reportedly engendered a frenzy in the American business world. A group of investors is considering purchasing a majority stake in the app with a view to saving it. TikTok hasn’t commented on this development yet, simply stating that “We are very confident in the long-term success of TikTok and will make our plans public when we have something to announce.”

But even if such a change in majority ownership were to occur, Washington probably wouldn’t be mollified. Paul Triolo, head of global tech policy at Eurasia Group, put it this way to CNN:

“It does not seem likely that US investors alone buying a majority ownership stake would satisfy CFIUS or broader US government concerns about the Chinese ownership piece and the potential for US personal data to find its way back to Beijing.”

TikTok is under fire elsewhere too. India has already banned it and other Chinese apps following a deadly skirmish between Indian and Chinese soldiers along their mutual border in the Himalayas.

European Central Bank official rails against Facebook Libra

Europe, Financial News, Politics, Regulation News, Technology NewsNo Comments

Yves Mersch, executive board member of the European Central Bank, outlined on Monday a series of warnings concerning Facebook’s proposed blockchain digital currency Libra.

What is Libra?

Development of Libra began in 2017, and public reports first came to light the next year. Creators Morgan Beller, David Marcus, and Kevin Weil formally announced it this June. They also revealed its planned release in 2020.

Whereas Bitcoin and many other blockchain currencies are decentralized, relying on unaffiliated miners to maintain solvency and stability, Libra’s assets are centralized by the Libra Association. Guarantees of $10 million investments from each supporting partner—injected before Libra opens to the public—intend to stabilize the digital currency. Concerns with volatility significantly deter investment in blockchain currencies.

Libra’s expected 2020 release coincides with the release of a digital wallet, Calibra, that will allow payment through Messenger and WhatsApp. Similar messaging-app-integrated payment systems are hugely popular in China (WeChat Pay, AliPay) and Japan (LINE Pay). This market gap still exists in other parts of the world; apps such as Google Pay, Venmo, and Cash App do not integrate payment and SMS services. Investing partners include Mastercard, eBay, PayPal, and Uber, which should give a likely indication of Libra’s plans for market implementation.

Governments push back

The criticism from the ECB is both general and specific. 

Mersch expressed distrust in Facebook as a whole, reminding the public that Libra’s developers are:

“the very same people who had to explain themselves in front of legislators in the United States and the European Union on the threats to our democracies resulting from their handling of personal data on their social media platform.”

He also criticized its centralized, hefty investment-based structure:

“With such a setup, it is difficult to discern the foundational promises of decentralization…normally associated with cryptocurrencies and other digital currencies. On the contrary, similarly to public money, Libra will actually be highly centralized, with Facebook and its partners acting as quasi-sovereign issuers of currency.”

Be humble

Digital currencies have always been subject to criticism and regulation from governments; they disrupt traditional wealth distribution and storage. Libra also seeks to profit off market disruption, creating a currency privately regulated by the very companies that are selling you their products.

Libra has received criticisms and/or cease and desist requests from the United States, France, England, Germany, and Japan.

Churchix, digital shepherd

Technology NewsNo Comments

John 10:14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me.”

Churchix is a facial recognition software designed to identify individuals attending an event. As the name suggests, the product markets itself largely to churches, where it could track the attendance habits of individual congregation members.

Easy set up

The program initially requires a database of member photos as well as a video surveillance system, both of which are already relatively common in churches. The database, camera, and software provide metrics on each member.

Two suggested ways of leveraging congregants

Churchix CEO Moshe Greenshpan outlined two ways a church might employ the attendance data. The first conveys a traditional ‘tending to one’s herd’ mentality:

“It’s simple to see if a member isn’t attending three or four events. Then they can give the member a call and say something like, ‘See you on Sunday.’”

The second formalizes a tiered-donation structure that surely has also 

“If they see a member who is regularly attending events, they could feel more comfortable giving them a call and asking for a donation.”

Churchix is a subsidiary division of Face-Six, which provides similar facial recognition services to other locations such as airports, casinos, and law enforcement agencies.

Another interesting Face-Six product

The FA6 facial recognition capable drone, according to the website, “allows you to collect personal information and find your target in a crowd,” and can “easily collect faces of people in a crowd…whether it’s a riot or an illegal demonstration.”

CCTV facial recognition and the Hong Kong protests

Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Digital Systems Technology, Internet of Things (IoT)

August 24 marked another long day of clashes in Hong Kong between police and protestors.

The nearly three-month long protests generally choose their location based on certain problematic aspects of Hong Kong’s relationship with China. 

That day, the focus opposed police digital surveillance tactics, specifically the city’s installation of ‘smart lampposts’; street lights that come equipped with cameras and sensors. Hong Kong authorities insist the lampposts are only used to monitor weather, traffic, and air quality. 

Police and protestors on Aug 24

After riot police forcibly dispersed an initial gathering of tens of thousands of Hong Kong citizens, groups of protestors broke off and regrouped in different neighborhoods. Several smart lamps were pulled down, dismantled, and occasionally kicked. Police fired projectiles, released tear gas, and wielded batons and riot gear while charging lines of protestors.

Facial recognition already common

Various facial recognition technologies and devices are already common across Hong Kong. They unlock mobile devices, confirm identities at ATMS, and identify individuals in photos based on their social media profile.

Suspicions of increased mainland monitoring

The renewed concern of protestors directly relates to the catalyst for the entire protest movement: the extradition bill that sought to allow Hong Kong citizens to be tried by the mainland Chinese judiciary system.

The general public simply does not trust the new cameras, many of them developed and sold by Chinese companies, to innocuously report weather and traffic data. 

China obviously wants the ability to extradite Hong Kong citizens for crimes committed outside of the mainland. A video surveillance network in which Chinese authorities can monitor individual Hong Kong citizens is a clear path towards building cases against political targets that could facilitate a case for extradition. 

Darwin council claims new CCTV cameras “will not use facial recognition”

Internet of Things (IoT)

Darwin council insists that the new set of cameras in the Central Business District will not employ facial recognition until the technology is more carefully considered.

The 138 cameras were installed as part of the Switching On Darwin project, which also provides public wifi, new lighting, and traffic sensors. Although the cameras do have facial recognition hardware in them, the city does not plan to utilize it at this time.

However, council general manager Josh Sattler stated that although the city will not employ the technology, “requests coming from a state or federal agency” will “need to be complied with.” 

Install first, question later

Of the 81 grants offered by Australia’s Smart Cities and Suburbs program, only the Darwin proposal included funding for facial recognition technology. The Darwin council’s addition of the technology was done without public consultation. An estimated six month study by an outside consultant agency began in August.

Concerns with facial recognition

Many question the council’s decision to include a technology that will supposedly not be employed. Julia Powles, researcher and associate professor at the University of Western Australia, questions “the real reason why [the technologies] were sought in the first place”, adding “it’s like buying a supercomputer and then saying you’re just going to surf the web and check emails.”

Security of camera feeds also stands out as a major concern. Elise Thomas from the International Cyber Policy Centre, offered a warning along these lines:

“The ways in which a lot of these projects are being implemented at the level of local councils, particularly from a cyber-security perspective, those councils may not necessarily have the resources to ensure that their systems are secure”

Internet connected devices are notoriously vulnerable to security breaches. Any gateway into a network-connected device can open doors to the entire network. Depending on the type of access provided, compromised devices can be mined for data, or even remotely controlled by outside parties.

WeChat Pay Partners up with Japan’s Line

Asia, ChinaNo Comments

WeChat, China’s hugely popular messaging and social media app, has announced plans to integrate with LINE, a similar app based in Japan. The partnership will unilaterally allow WeChat users to pay for goods and services over the Line platform.

WeChat

Tencent, a Chinese multinational holding conglomerate, released WeChat in 2011.  (Tencent has garnered a whopping zero out of 100 score from Amnesty International’s report on companies’ use of encryption to protect user data.)

WeChat Pay was introduced during the 2014 Lunar New Year, allowing users to send digital hongbao packets to friends and family. Users sent 20 million packets that year. In 2016, over 3 billion were sent.

The service has been wholeheartedly integrated into Chinese life. An estimated 900 million different accounts use WeChat Pay every month for private transfers, online goods and services shopping, and bill payments. Its messaging services have mostly replaced email for personal and business communications, the payment system largely renders credit cards obsolete, and its social media feeds and user “Moments” are one of China’s most popularly used media sharing platforms. It offers a stuffed animal, MonMon, for small children to send and receive WeChat voice messages from their parents. WeChat Pay can link to bank accounts in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and South Africa.

Line

Line was released in 2011 after an earthquake and tsunami disrupted telecommunications across Japan. Within two years 300 million users had installed the text, voice, and video communication app. Today almost half of the Japanese population, an estimated 78 million, uses Line. It is also one of the most popular messaging apps in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia, with an estimated 164 million active users in those four countries. As of 2016, it had released over 320,000 sets of stickers. 

Line introduced Line Pay in December 2014. Like WeChat Pay, it facilitates user to user as well as user to merchant payments. In 2016, it released a free card that could be used for in-store purchases. It also allows the use of Line Taxi, a popular ride-hailing service in Japan.

One app, two countries

The cooperation between the two is intended to simplify payments for Chinese tourists or visitors in Japan. WeChat users will be able to buy goods and services in Japan without exchanging cash, or setting up a Line Pay account of their own. Line, which offers end to end encryption, is banned by the Chinese government.

AirAsia X Places Order for 42 Airbus Planes

Asia, Australia, Oceania, South East Asia, UncategorizedNo Comments

AirAisa X has closed a deal with Airbus for 42 new aircraft. Twelve A330-900 and thirty A321XLR are set to bolster the trans-Asian airline’s already formidable presence in the affordable air travel market. 

The Airline

AirAsiaX is, unsurprisingly, a sister company of AirAsia, the largest Asian international carrier. Based in Malaysia, AirAsia runs a myriad of routes between many nearby Asian (especially Southeast Asian) cities. AirAsiaX focuses on long distance routes, especially between Asia, Australia, and the United States. Its first route, commenced in 2007, was between Kuala Lumpur and the Australian Gold Coast. It tends to use peripheral airports rather than central ones to keep ticket prices down; in 2018, it swapped its KL-Melbourne route for nearby Avalon Airport.

The Aircrafts

The A330-900 is an extended fuselage version of the Airbus A330neo.  It can seat up to 300 passengers in a three-class layout; that number rises to 440 if an airline choses to forgo luxury seating options. Its range of 13,400km is sufficient for most intercontinental routes, with the exception of some trans-Pacific flights.

The A321XLR is the newest adaptation of the A321neo, the world’s best-selling single aisle aircraft. It has been refined to make its range “Xtra Long”, and can now travel up to 8500km. Smaller bodied planes better accommodate smaller airports; the A321XLR is a popular choice for smaller regional airlines. For AirAsiaX, the more efficient, but still lower passenger capacity model will enable the opening and continuation of less-traveled routes such as India-Europe and China-Australia, according to the Airbus website.