Tech News and Miscellany
- Thread starter PatrThom
- Start date
Couldn't find an English-language news item about it, but the Belgian Authority for Data Protection has ruled that the whole Transparency and Consent Framework is against the GDPR.
For those who are now going "uh-huh, lots of letters don't like other letters" or "sure, and who cares about some Belgian institute saying something about something I've never used":
the BADP got to make this call in name of all European privacy/data protection agencies (since the company behind TCF is based in Belgium), so this is valid for all of the EU. TCF, then, is the basis for the whole "please accept cookies/give consent" thing you see when going to pretty much any website.
In its decision, the BAPD pretty much says that any of those "accept all" or even the separate "accept for advertising/necessary/UI/etc" tick boxes aren't valid, and any use of third party cookies for advertising is likely to be a violation of the customer's rights to data protection as an average user does not fully understand and, therefore, cannot legally consent.
Like the roll-out of GDPR, this is likely to have a big influence on how the internet and online advertising works (after it's been contested and fought for a few more years, most probably)
For those who are now going "uh-huh, lots of letters don't like other letters" or "sure, and who cares about some Belgian institute saying something about something I've never used":
the BADP got to make this call in name of all European privacy/data protection agencies (since the company behind TCF is based in Belgium), so this is valid for all of the EU. TCF, then, is the basis for the whole "please accept cookies/give consent" thing you see when going to pretty much any website.
In its decision, the BAPD pretty much says that any of those "accept all" or even the separate "accept for advertising/necessary/UI/etc" tick boxes aren't valid, and any use of third party cookies for advertising is likely to be a violation of the customer's rights to data protection as an average user does not fully understand and, therefore, cannot legally consent.
Like the roll-out of GDPR, this is likely to have a big influence on how the internet and online advertising works (after it's been contested and fought for a few more years, most probably)
The last English-language story I saw was this:
www.theregister.com
Google Fonts lands website privacy fine by German court
Now that's egg on your typeface
www.theregister.com
--Patrick
I got the news from a german tech site.
Apparently Elon Musk has explained in more detail what he means. Starting next year, Tesla will no longer sell cars at consumer prices as soon full self-driving is solved. The main focus will be a robot rental car market.
He already announced that years ago:
https://electrek.co/2019/07/08/tesla-will-stop-selling-cars-full-self-driving-elon-musk/amp/
And here is an english article from last day:
https://ploonge.com/elon-musk-will-tesla-stop-selling-cars-soon/
Apparently Elon Musk has explained in more detail what he means. Starting next year, Tesla will no longer sell cars at consumer prices as soon full self-driving is solved. The main focus will be a robot rental car market.
He already announced that years ago:
https://electrek.co/2019/07/08/tesla-will-stop-selling-cars-full-self-driving-elon-musk/amp/
And here is an english article from last day:
https://ploonge.com/elon-musk-will-tesla-stop-selling-cars-soon/
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Oh, like that. Well, yeah, of course Tesla wants to move to a mobility-as-a-service model. If it's up to companies, literally everything should be treated as a service with permanent recurring costs and one-sided possibility to remove options, change options, etc. Much easier to maintain, much cheaper, far more money to be made. This part of Cyberpunk is coming, and sooner than people may think. Thanks to the gaming/software industry proving that people are willing to put up with paying nearly full price yearly for a license instead of ownership.
Nah, much closer to current car sharing systems. In the long term, I can definitely see them try to combine systems - take a car like a regular car share today, indicate if you're willing to pay a premium to sit alone and go straight to your destination or go cheaper and accept other passengers, etc. Move to higher-occupancy vehicles on busy trajectories, allow people to try and find cheaper time slots to take a route...
I think it'll end up as a half-bus, half-taxi system that's more annoying to use (I can drive to my work at 8am for €5, or at 9am for €8 but more comfortable,... Huh, guess the guy from down the street is on vacation today, the 7am car costs more today!), but I'm sure we'll see them invent ways to nickel and dime us for more money and crappie service, somehow.
Just an advisory that there may be an upcoming v0.1K problem for some major browsers:
Savvy users can maybe edit the version string manually in settings as a stopgap, but ugh who knew their overly enthusiastic version numbering systems were going to bite them later?
--Patrick
Version 100 in Chrome and Firefox – Mozilla Hacks - the Web developer blog
Chrome and Firefox will reach version 100 in a couple of months. Let's work together on fixing User Agent detection issues.
hacks.mozilla.org
--Patrick
figmentPez
Staff member
*raises hand*
Ooooh, me, me! I knew! I figured this would be a problem. Like, if Windows 10 was a problem, then surely going through dozens of versions a year for web browsers was going to be an issue. Heck, User Agent identification is just a problem, period.
Hmm, setting Chrome to report the major version as 100 doesn't seem to break anything here. So that's probably good news (for @GasBandit anyway).Just an advisory that there may be an upcoming v0.1K problem for some major browsers:
Savvy users can maybe edit the version string manually in settings as a stopgap, but ugh who knew their overly enthusiastic version numbering systems were going to bite them later?Version 100 in Chrome and Firefox – Mozilla Hacks - the Web developer blog
Chrome and Firefox will reach version 100 in a couple of months. Let's work together on fixing User Agent detection issues.hacks.mozilla.org
--Patrick
GasBandit
Staff member
Nothing I could have done about it anyway. If it had been a problem, it'd have been either one for Chrome or Firefox to fix, or Xenforo - and we're not getting Xenforo updates anymore.
GasBandit
Staff member
Did you know Tumblr is still a thing? I know, I was surprised too. Anyway, remember when they banned all adult content in 2018 to avoid getting kicked off IOS?
It's happening again. But this time it's even more ridiculous. Tags like "sad" and "anime girl" and "submission" (as in, you know, those things artists make) are now all banned on the platform.
Because the Apple Gods demand it.
animemotivation.com
It's happening again. But this time it's even more ridiculous. Tags like "sad" and "anime girl" and "submission" (as in, you know, those things artists make) are now all banned on the platform.
Because the Apple Gods demand it.
Will you forgive me Senpai? | Anime Motivation
It looks like the page you're looking for has disappeared.
animemotivation.com
This can't be true.
Because you can't search for "boobies" as a tag any more, so now they're like "For boobies, search for 'orange juice'" and then they ban "Orange juice," so then boobies moves to "rebar" and then they ban "rebar," etc.
--Patrick
GasBandit
Staff member
Because it's a subscription service now.
Because what seemingly isn't anymore...
So I sure hope nobody here ever checked that box that tells Windows it's perfectly fine to always trust and install software signed by NVIDIA Corp:
www.bleepingcomputer.com
It IS possible to tell your computer to "un-trust" source, but it is also convoluted and annoying.
--Patrick
Malware now using NVIDIA's stolen code signing certificates
Threat actors are using stolen NVIDIA code signing certificates to sign malware to appear trustworthy and allow malicious drivers to be loaded in Windows.
--Patrick
Luckily I have my windows set to be paranoid and lazy unless I say otherwiseSo I sure hope nobody here ever checked that box that tells Windows it's perfectly fine to always trust and install software signed by NVIDIA Corp:
It IS possible to tell your computer to "un-trust" source, but it is also convoluted and annoying.Malware now using NVIDIA's stolen code signing certificates
Threat actors are using stolen NVIDIA code signing certificates to sign malware to appear trustworthy and allow malicious drivers to be loaded in Windows.
--Patrick
I remember someone who had an install guide for something that, when it got to the point where it gave the "Always trust software from xxx?" the caption they had under it was just HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA NO!
--Patrick
figmentPez
Staff member
Does this have anything to do with the hackers trying to force Nvidia to make their drivers open source?So I sure hope nobody here ever checked that box that tells Windows it's perfectly fine to always trust and install software signed by NVIDIA Corp:
It IS possible to tell your computer to "un-trust" source, but it is also convoluted and annoying.Malware now using NVIDIA's stolen code signing certificates
Threat actors are using stolen NVIDIA code signing certificates to sign malware to appear trustworthy and allow malicious drivers to be loaded in Windows.
It has to do with the hackers that broke into NVIDIA using the signing certificates they stole to digitally sign their malware with NVIDIA's signing certificate so that it can pose as genuine NVIDIA software. It's the software equivalent of the T-1000 stealing the police car so it can sneak around without anyone being suspicious. The first time you install any software signed this way, you get a pop-up asking whether you want to trust all future software signed by the same publisher and automatically install it without the pop-up. I know it's inconvenient, but this is exactly the reason why I never check that "always trust" box.
--Patrick
figmentPez
Staff member
Not sure if I'm not being clear, or you're misunderstanding me, but there are hackers who are threatening to release Nvidia employees passwords and other personal data if Nvidia doesn't open-source their drivers. I'm asking if the the stolen code signing certificates are related to that incident, or if it's merely a coincidence that Nvidia is dealing with two different types of hacks at the same time.
Hackers broke into NVIDIA and stole a LOT of stuff. Among the stuff that was stolen were (some of? all of?) NVIDIA's signing certificates. So...yes they were related to that incident because they were obtained during that incident, I guess? There are also many other demands being made of NVIDIA--to open-source their drivers, to remove the Ethereum mining blockers from their cards' drivers, and probably other things, and the threat is that if these demands are not met, the hackers will release all that data they stole to the public. Seeing as how the certificates have been leaked, the drivers have been leaked, and employee passwords and suchlike have also already been leaked, I feel like NVIDIA would be completely justified in ignoring all their demands, since it looks like the hackers have gone ahead and already done all the stuff they were threatening to do, regardless of what NVIDIA does/will do. It's a little bit like the Lindbergh kidnapping in that the hackers are making all these demands, but they've already killed the baby, so to speak.
--Patrick
I've started using password phrases just to have longer passwords
I use Twitter more than any other social media platform. And this feels like a bad sign of things to come.
GasBandit
Staff member
Firefox to become most popular browser in 2023, it seems
python.engineering
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They'd better hurry. They haven't been doing very well, of late. FF is fairly good in the privacy department IF you know what settings to tweak once it's installed, but the Chromium juggernaut will be hard to topple.
Full disclosure: Firefox is my privacy browser of choice on both macOS and Windows, mainly because once you tune the security settings, it just stays that way.
--Patrick
I've used Firefox for the last two decades or so. Not because of any specific privacy concerns or features, but because one day I wanted an alternative to IE and Firefox was the "other" browser at the time, so I got it and then never stopped using it.
I should probably look into these privacy thingamajiggers in this browser.
I should probably look into these privacy thingamajiggers in this browser.