The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust will hear from the tech giants‘ leaders.
Archiv: Amazon / Amazon Web Services (corporation)
Amazon puts one-year moratorium on police use of its facial recognition technology
Amazon on Wednesday announced that it is placing a one-year moratorium on police use of its facial recognition technology, Rekognition.
„We’ve advocated that governments should put in place stronger regulations to govern the ethical use of facial recognition technology, and in recent days, Congress appears ready to take on this challenge,“ the company wrote in a blog post.
Superreiche in den USA werden noch reicher
Das Vermögen der 600 reichsten US-Amerikaner wuchs zwischen dem 18. März und dem 19. Mai um insgesamt 434 Milliarden Dollar (395 Mrd. Euro) – das entspricht einer Steigerung von fast 15 Prozent, wie das US-Magazin „Forbes“ gestern berichtete.
Open Letter, May 18, 2020, London: Dear Matt Hancock, we are civil society organisations, privacy advocates and academic researchers writing to express concerns about the NHS’s plans to build a COVID-19 datastore.
We share the common goal of preserving public confidence in systems that can help make us all safer. Therefore, before the NHS continues its plans, we urge you to provide the public with more information and take appropriate measures to reduce risk of data sharing and keep the aggregated data under democratic control.
In March, the NHS announced a new plan to build a datastore that aggregates COVID-19 health data. Microsoft, Google, Palantir, Faculty and Amazon will assist in the development of the datastore and the processing of the data.
Privacy advocates demand clarity over Covid-19 datastore
(yesterday)
In an open letter directly addressed to the health secretary, civil society organisations, privacy advocates and academic researchers urged Hancock to give the public more information about the datastore and take appropriate measures to reduce data-sharing risks and keep it under democratic control.
Facebook: Here’s Proof Israeli WhatsApp Hackers Ran Cyberweapons In America
(24.04.2020)
The tech giant’s counsel filed a response to NSO’s move for dismissal that included two IP addresses and a handful of websites it claims were used by NSO Group to attack WhatsApp users in spring 2019. One was hosted by Amazon Web Services in the U.S., the others by Californian company QuadraNet and a German provider.
Cyber Valley, MPI und US-Geheimdienste
Ein militärisch-forschungsindustrieller Komplex?
Brazil: Coronavirus Kills Historic Leader of Amazonian Peoples
Messias Kokama, the main Indigenous leader of the Manaus city, died a victim of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus on Wednesday. His community mourns his departure without being able to pay homage to him with their traditional rituals.
Cyber Valley: Forschungsgruppe von US-Geheimdiensten finanziert
Die Forschungsgruppe ist Kernbestandteil des sog. Cyber Valley. Bereits in jener Pressemitteilung Ende 2016, mit der die baden-württembergische Landesregierung, die Max-Planck-Gesellschaft und die Industrie die Gründung des Forschungsclusters bekanntgaben, wurde die Bildung dieser Forschungsgruppen angekündigt, die den Wissenstransfer zwischen Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft garantieren sollten.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos Makes US$24 Billion More Amid Pandemic
The index updates followed a report published Saturday by Forbes about how „market gains led to a combined US$51.3 billion boost for 10 of the world’s billionaires since the market closed a week ago, on April 2.“ Bezos gained US$6.8 billion in that time.
Jeff Bezos asked Michael Bloomberg months ago if he’d consider running for president
(09.11.2019)
A spokesperson for Bloomberg confirmed the conversation. An Amazon spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.
Brazilian tribes back manifesto to save Amazon habitat from Bolsonaro
The meeting in the village of Piaraçu on the Xingu river was called by Raoni Metuktire, the 90-year-old Kayapó chief who became an environmental campaigner in the 1980s with British rock singer Sting at his side.
Indigene Völker fordern mehr Umweltschutz von Regierungen in Ecuador und Peru
Sie zeigten sich empört darüber, dass der ecuadorianische Präsident Lenín Moreno behauptete, „dass die Ausweitung der Ölbohrungen im Heiligen Quellgebiet des Amazonas mit dem Pariser Abkommen vereinbar ist und die indigenen Rechte nicht beeinträchtigt werden“, äußerte Sandra Tukup, Leiterin des Verbandes der Indigenen Nationalitäten des ecuadorianischen Amazonas (CONFENIAE), am Rande der Konferenz.
Brazil: Attack on Guajajara Indigenous People Leaves 1 Dead
Firmino Prexede Guajajara died on the spot and Nelsi Olimpio Guajajara was shot in his leg. They were returning from a political meeting in which the defense of Indigenous territories was discussed.
Bundespolizei speichert Bodycam-Aufnahmen weiter bei Amazon
Die Bundespolizei müsse den Einsatz der neuen Instrumente ausführlich dokumentieren und eine Evaluation dürfe nicht dem Bundespolizeipräsidium überlassen werden. Eine unabhängige, wissenschaftliche Bewertung durch eine externe Stelle ist laut Innenministerium aber nicht geplant und wird auch nicht als notwendig erachtet.
Outrage in Brazil at the killing of an indigenous “guardian of the forest”
“Violence and death threats against the guardians have been happening for years,” Sarah Shenker, a researcher with Survival International who knew Paulo Paulino, said
“There is a lot of impunity. The authorities are unwilling to protect the indigenous lands,” Shenker charged.
“Their racist words and genocidal, anti-indigenous proposals give a kind of green light.”
Greenpeace said the two men were “the most recent victims of a state that refuses to comply with what the constitution determines.”
IIlegal loggers kill Amazon indigenous warrior who guarded forest, wound another
Paulino Guajajara, who was in his twenties and leaves behind one son, told Reuters in an interview here on the reservation in September that protecting the forest from intruders had become a dangerous task, but his people could not give in to fear.
Civil Rights Groups Ask Legislators To Block Ring’s Surveillance Partnerships With Law Enforcement
Ring has cornered the market. It also has 400+ law enforcement agencies in its pocket. The expansion isn’t slowing and Ring has shown it’s willing to speak on behalf of the government through press releases and to edit the government’s statements if it doesn’t like what’s being said. This isn’t normal. And the potential downsides of allowing cops and private companies to coexist as equal partners in surveillance have just begun to be explored.
Ecuador’s Petroamazonas suspends operations at three oilfields amid protests
Ecuadorean state-run oil company Petroamazonas EP suspended operations at three oil fields in the Amazon region on Monday, the country’s energy ministry said, as protests against austerity measures convulse the country.
Your ability to get insulin or see a doctor shouldn’t depend on how generous a billionaire is feeling today. Employers stripping healthcare, either by taking it away or worsening it, is just part of the casual dehumanization of working people to increase returns for the rich.
Whole Foods is cutting medical benefits for hundreds of part-time workers
A 15-year employee of Whole Foods said she was devastated by the news.
She told Business Insider in an interview that her family was covered by the health-insurance plan she is enrolled in through her job at Whole Foods.
She said she would have to increase her hours to become eligible for full-time benefits and pay for childcare, or shop for a new and potentially more expensive health-insurance plan on the private marketplace.
Amazon’s Ring camera raises civil liberties concerns: U.S. senator
Facial recognition technology has been shown to disproportionately misidentify people of color. In a 2018 American Civil Liberties Union study, Rekognition incorrectly matched 28 members of Congress, including Markey, to a database of 25,000 publicly available arrest photos.
Bernie Sanders TRIGGERS Washington Post With Facts
The establishment media only wants to attack Bernie Sanders. Cenk Uygur and John Iadarola, hosts of The Young Turks, break it down.
Washington Post editor calls Sanders claim about campaign coverage a ‚conspiracy theory‘
Sanders and his campaign have begun arguing recently that a variety of news outlets, including the Post and the Times, are biased in their coverage of his 2020 White House bid.
„We have pointed out over and over again that Amazon made $10 billion in profits last year. You know how much they paid in taxes? You got it, zero! Any wonder why The Washington Post is not one of my great supporters, I wonder why?“ Sanders said in North Conway, N.H. on Monday night, according to CNN.
Amazon’s Ring Is a Perfect Storm of Privacy Threats
Doors across the United States are now fitted with Amazon’s Ring, a combination doorbell-security camera that records and transmits video straight to users’ phones, to Amazon’s cloud—and often to the local police department. By sending photos and alerts every time the camera detects motion or someone rings the doorbell, the app can create an illusion of a household under siege. It turns what seems like a perfectly safe neighborhood into a source of anxiety and fear. This raises the question: do you really need Ring, or have Amazon and the police misled you into thinking that you do?
Peru Declares 60-Day State of Emergency for Amazon Oil Spill
A total of 1,230 families have been affected by a ruptured oil pipeline that has poured into the Maraňon River in the Loreto department of northeastern Peru, say the nation’s defense department.
Ausgebucht: Microsoft löscht verkaufte eBooks
Wenn Ihr jetzt denkt, das geht Euch nichts an, weil Ihr ja nicht bei Microsoft Kunden gewesen seid, sondern etwa Amazon Prime nutzt: Da gibt es dieselben Probleme: Amazon verkauft beispielsweise Filme online und bei den Kunden entsteht der Eindruck, das wäre vergleichbar mit einer gekauften DVD. Aber auch diese Online-Filme können schnell verschwinden, beispielsweise wenn ein Lizenzdeal zwischen einem Filmstudio und Amazon ausgelaufen ist.
Digital-Rights-Management-Systeme waren und sind ein schönes Beispiel für: Digital ist eben nicht immer besser.
Ecuador’s Waorani Set to Save Their Amazon Homeland From Oil Industry
This comes as Moreno’s administration is planning to sell off seven million acres of rainforest territory, some of the most biodiverse on the planet, to the international oil industry. As non-governmental organization Amazon Frontlines, explains, if exploited, 70 percent of the oil would be shipped up to refineries in California, and eventually pumped at gas stations across the United States.
Amazon gets U.S. patent to use delivery drones for surveillance service
The application for the patent was filed by the e-commerce giant in 2015 and granted on June 4.
Brazil indigenous affairs official fired amid push to develop reservation land
The right-wing president alarmed anthropologists and environmentalists by planning to assimilate Brazil’s 800,000 indigenous people and open reservation lands to commercial development, even in the Amazon rainforest.
U.S. natural history museum will not host event honoring Brazil president
The museum had expressed concern over the event last week, saying it had been booked before the decision was made to honor Bolsonaro.
“With mutual respect for the work & goals of our individual organizations, we jointly agreed that the Museum is not the optimal location for the Brazilian-Am. Chamber of Commerce gala dinner,” the museum said on its official Twitter account.
Brazil: Over 200 Lawmakers Form Bloc to Defend Indigenous Rights Threatened by Bolsonaro
A total of 219 lawmakers and 29 senators launched a new campaign on Thursday as part of Brazil’s Joint Parliamentary Front in Defense of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a progressive initiative aimed at opposing the Parliamentary Farmers‘ Front, the „ruralist group“ which is linked to local agribusinesses.
Waorani Women Denied From Entering Court, Protest
Waorani women were not allowed to enter a courtroom where they were called to present arguments in favor of their historic claim against the Ecuadorean state for illegally trying to drill for oil in the heart of their territory located in the country’s eastern Amazon region.
Nicht Amazon ist Skandal sondern Videos durch Bundespolizei
Angst wird geschürt, dass ausländische Dienste auf diese Daten Zugriff erhalten, diese Amazon-Server befinden sich in Frankfurt/Main. Beruhigt wird die Bevölkerung, dass eine Infrastruktur geschaffen werden soll, die ausschliesslich in Deutschland durch deutsche IT-Techniker verwaltet wird.
Three dead after a Boeing 767 Atlas Air cargo jet operating for Amazon Prime Air crashes into a bay on landing approach to Houston plunging more than 3,000ft in 30 seconds
According to FlightRadar the jet had departed Miami at 11.33 local time and was scheduled to arrive at Houston Intercontinental at 12.53 local time.
Huawei to build data centers in South Africa
The Chinese firm, at the center of global security concerns, will challenge Amazon.com Inc, which is also expanding its presence in the emerging tech hub of Cape Town in a challenge against cloud computing rival Microsoft Corp.
The Bezos-National Enquirer Story Has *Everything*
Bezos’s accusation last night that National Enquirer owner American Media Inc. is trying to blackmail him had everything: Extortion, murder, politics, a billionaire’s private parts. It inspired both HuffPost and the elder Post to write the mathematically perfect tabloid headline, which I will not reprint in this wholesome family newsletter. More seriously, this is the latest and weirdest front in a clash of titans pitting the President of the United States against the World’s Richest Man.
I’ve written a post about developments with the National Enquirer and its parent company, AMI. You can find it here:
Bezos wirft Skandalblatt Erpressung vor
Wenig später machte der „National Enquirer“ die Affäre des Amazon-Chefs mit der früheren TV-Moderatorin Lauren Sanchez öffentlich und verbreitete dabei unter anderem intime Textnachrichten und Fotos von ihm.
Bezos ließ daraufhin untersuchen, wie das Blatt an dieses Material gelangt war.
Amazon-Chef: Jeff Bezos macht Erpressungsversuch mit intimen Fotos öffentlich #JeffBezos #Erpressung #NationalEnquire
Amazon sucht ehemalige Bundeswehrangehörige als Führungspersonal
Inzwischen weiß man, dass diese Amazon-Teamleiter mit gewisser Wahrscheinlichkeit ehemalige Bundeswehr-Angehörige sind. Der Weltkonzern rüstet im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes auf. Der Grund dafür sind die unmenschlichen Arbeitsbedingungen, von denen die Amazon-Arbeiter berichten
Daten-Infrastruktur: Europa im Visier der Cloud-Giganten
Die beiden Big Player im Cloud-Infrastruktur-Markt sind Unternehmen, die eher in anderen Zusammenhängen bekannt sind. Amazon beispielsweise wird vorwiegend als Onlinehändler gesehen. Tatsächlich aber ist die Sparte Amazon Web Services (AWS) weltweit führend im Cloud-Segment. Rund 32 Prozent betrug der globale Marktanteil im dritten Quartal 2018, hat das Research-Unternehmen Canalys ausgerechnet.
Bosses round on ministers after May defeat
Sky News has learnt that the bosses of companies including construction giant Balfour Beatty, Tesco and Amazon told a trio of ministers – including the chancellor, Philip Hammond – in a hastily convened conference call – that protracted Brexit uncertainty was damaging Britain’s economy.
During the call, which lasted nearly an hour, Mr Hammond, the Brexit secretary and business secretary were repeatedly asked for reassurance about the likelihood of a „no-deal“ departure from the EU.
Brazil: Environment Agency Head Resigns After Bolsonaro’s Trump-like Tweetstorm Attack
Suely Araujo, the head of Brazil’s environmental protection agency the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) resigned Monday after far-right President Jair Bolsonaro criticized the amount of money it spends to rent vehicles, his latest attack on the agency.
NGO: Amazon Critical, Bolsonaro Projects Threaten More Loss
Several projects, proposed by President-elect Jair Bolsonaro, threatens the protected Amazon forests and peoples, who are already severely neglected.
Amazon: Mehr als nur Päckchen
Amazons Rolle in der Militärtechnik und dem Cyber Valley
Amazon kann einpacken
Der US-Monopolist Amazon warb am Freitag auf seiner Homepage: »Nur bis Mitternacht. Alle fünf Minuten neue Angebote. Nur solange der Vorrat reicht.« Die Arbeiter des Onlinekonzerns waren allerdings nicht in Shoppinglaune: An mehreren Standorten in Frankreich, Großbritannien und Spanien traten die Beschäftigten in den Ausstand. In Deutschland rief Verdi die Mitarbeiter im hessischen Bad Hersfeld und im nordrhein-westfälischen Rheinberg zum Streik auf.
Proud to announce that legendary musician Roger Waters will be in Ecuador’s Amazon on Monday to bear witness to @Chevron’s “Rainforest Chernobyl” disaster. #RogerWatersEcuador #ChevronEcuador #usandthemtour
Roger Waters Arrives in Ecuador to Visit Indigenous Communities in Amazon Affected by Chevron
„Can I speak with someone higher up the ladder because this is ridiculous, trying to stop me from visiting these people?“ Waters asked civilly. He pleaded with the airport authority saying he’s trying „trying to help your brothers and sisters, these are your Ecuadorean brothers and sisters. We’re trying to help them.“
Apple Demands Retraction Of Bloomberg’s Big ‚Chip Infiltration‘ Story; Bloomberg Has Some Explaining To Do
Some companies may misrepresent things, or try to play down stories, but outright fabrication is not at all common (and the consequences of a company doing it would be severe). And here, both Amazon and Apple’s denials were so clear, so specific and so adamant that it raised serious questions about the reporting.
Hype um „chinesische Spionagechips“ kommt vom Pentagon
Die Sensationsmeldung des Wirtschaftsportals Bloomberg über manipulierte Hardware für Cloud Computing stellt sich im FM4-Faktencheck als fast völlig faktenfrei heraus. Am Freitag kam ein langerwarteter Bericht des Pentagon heraus, der vor der Elektronikfertigung in China warnt.
French fountains site of protest against Total’s Brazil oil project
Fountains were tinted black in several French towns Saturday during protests against plans by oil giant Total to drill near a coral reef at the mouth of the Amazon.
The protesters insist the plan threatens a „unique“ natural habitat.
Amazon, in a rare political response, calls Bernie Sanders‘ claims of poor worker conditions ‚inaccurate and misleading‘
Sanders has been dinging Amazon on Twitter and in public statements for months, claiming the company doesn’t pay its lower-level employees a fair wage.
It’s a rare public response for Amazon. It has been largely silent amid repeated public attacks by President Donald Trump on the company and CEO Jeff Bezos, who also owns The Washington Post.
Indigenous Environmental Defender killed as logging mafia targets tribe
It is not yet clear who killed him, but a powerful logging mafia has repeatedly targeted the tribe for its work protecting both its rainforest home, and the uncontacted members of a neighboring tribe, the Awá, who also live there, and face catastrophe unless their land is protected.
Peruvian Amazon Launches First ‚Ancestral Knowledges Encounter‘
According to the Peruvian government, there are 55 Indigenous groups in the country, totalling 4 million people: roughly 12 percent of the population. They speak a total of 47 languages and dialectal varieties, out of which 25 are spoken in Loreto.
Gesichtserkennung von Amazon verwechselte US-Abgeordnete mit Verdächtigen
Amazons umstrittene Gesichtserkennungssoftware Rekognition hat in 28 Fällen die Gesichter von Kongressabgeordneten versehentlich als Verdächtige aus einer Datenbank festgenommener Amerikaner erkannt. Der grobe Fehlgriff der Software kam bei einem Test der Bürgerrechtsorganisation ACLU zutage. Rekognition wird Polizeibehörden zur Identifikation von gesuchten Straftätern angeboten und kommt in der Metropole Orlando bereits zum Einsatz.
Amazon’s Face Recognition Falsely Matched 28 Members of Congress With Mugshots
Amazon’s face surveillance technology is the target of growing opposition nationwide, and today, there are 28 more causes for concern. In a test the ACLU recently conducted of the facial recognition tool, called “Rekognition,” the software incorrectly matched 28 members of Congress, identifying them as other people who have been arrested for a crime.
Amazon Spanien: Polizei greift Streikende an
Der Streik war bewusst auf den Prime Day gelegt worden. Am gleichen Tag streikten in Deutschland über 2000 Amazon-Arbeiter und in Polen organisierten sie eine Dienst-nach-Vorschrift-Aktion.
Radio Utopie abonnieren und die Richtigen unterstützen
Geschätzte Leserinnen und Leser,
als wir vor elf Jahren als Medienstation begannen, gab es drei Milliarden weniger Menschen die das World Wide Web im Internet benutzten. Heute beherrschen Monopole de facto das Netz. Staatliche und kommerzielle Spionage und Manipulation sind allgegenwärtig und agieren fernab jedweder demokratisch-parlamentarischen oder gerichtlichen Kontrolle.
USA: Technologiekonzerne diskutieren mit Geheimdiensten über Internetzensur
Die New York Times und die Washington Post veröffentlichten diese Woche Berichte über ein privates Treffen zwischen acht großen Technologie- und Social-Media-Konzernen und den amerikanischen Geheimdiensten, das letzten Monat stattfand. Dabei wurde über die gemeinsamen Zensurbestrebungen im Vorfeld der kommenden Zwischenwahlen im November 2018 diskutiert.
Das Treffen fand am 23. Mai im Hauptsitz von Facebook in Menlo Park (Kalifornien) statt. Unter den Teilnehmern waren Vertreter von Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Snap, Twitter und Oath, ein 2017 gegründetes Unternehmen, zu dem auch Yahoo und der Telekommunikationskonzern Verizon gehören, sowie Agenten des FBI und des Heimatschutzministeriums.
Amazon employees protest sale of facial recognition software to police
(22.6.2018) Workers at Amazon have demanded that their employer stop the sale of facial recognition software and other services to the US government. In a letter addressed to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and posted on the company’s internal wiki, employees said that they “refuse to contribute to tools that violate human rights,” citing the mistreatment of refugees and immigrants by ICE and the targeting of black activists by law enforcement.
Washington Post Staffers Ask Richest Man in the World to Pay Them Fairly
On Thursday, about 400 staffers at the Washington Post signed an open letter to their newspaper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, politely suggesting that he’s being a cheapskate in their union’s ongoing contract negotiations.
Woman says her Amazon device recorded private conversation, sent it out to random contact
Every room in her family home was wired with the Amazon devices to control her home’s heat, lights and security system.
But Danielle said two weeks ago their love for Alexa changed with an alarming phone call. „The person on the other line said, ‚unplug your Alexa devices right now,'“ she said. „‚You’re being hacked.'“
That person was one of her husband’s employees, calling from Seattle.
Amazon patents wristband that monitors and directs workers’ hands
The patent for the ultrasonic wristband was filed in 2016 by Jonathan Cohn, a senior technical program manager for Amazon Go, the checkout-less store which recently opened in Seattle.
In a statement to technology site The Verge, an Amazon spokesperson said that the speculation that it times the toilet breaks of employees is “misguided.”
Was ist eigentlich der Unterschied zwischen USA und China?
China:
Government-backed surveillance projects are deploying brain-reading technology to detect changes in emotional states in employees on the production line, the military and at the helm of high-speed trains
Und USA:
Amazon has patented designs for a bracelet that would monitor workers’ hand movements and use vibrations – known as “haptic feedback” – to point them in the right direction if they put their hands on the wrong places.
Google, Amazon assist in blocking encrypted communications
On May 1, the developers of the Signal encrypted messaging application revealed that over the previous month, Google and Amazon took steps to stop Signal from continuing to bypass censorship measures in place in Egypt, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Workers, youth, journalists, lawyers and human rights advocates will no longer be able to use the application to send encrypted messages and evade government surveillance.
Silicon Valley may rethink open campuses after YouTube shooting
When a shooter opened fire on YouTube’s campus before killing herself, Silicon Valley didn’t just experience a tragedy that’s rocked other communities and prompted an intense debate over gun control in the United States. The incident may also have prompted a rethink among tech companies which have enjoyed a culture that’s embraced open spaces, including cafes, restaurants and gift shops, shared with the public.
Tech-Unternehmen: Plötzlich sind die Giganten verwundbar
Dabei war die Branche in der Vergangenheit durchaus zusammengerückt, wenn Druck von außen aufkam: Als die US-Bundespolizei FBI etwa Apple zwingen wollte, die verschlüsselten Daten eines iPhones preiszugeben, sprangen Google, Facebook und Microsoft dem Konzern zur Seite. Solcherlei Corps-Geist aber kann oder will sich die Branche in Zeiten zunehmender Probleme offenkundig nicht mehr leisten.
Trump holt zum Schlag gegen Amazon aus
Allein die Gerüchte über ein mögliches Vorgehen Trumps gegen Amazon hatten den Börsenwert des Online-Händlers am Vortag zeitweise um 53 Milliarden Dollar einbrechen lassen. Nach einer kurzen Erholung gingen die Amazon-Papiere am Donnerstag erneut auf Talfahrt. Allerdings hatten die Aktien andererer Tech-Unternehmen vor Ostern ebenfalls einen schweren Stand. Auch Facebook hatte nach dem Bekanntwerden des Skandals um Cambridge Analytica erheblich Federn lassen müssen.