Of Nine Tech Companies, Only Twitter Says It Would Refuse to Help Build Muslim Registry for Trump

The Intercept contacted nine of the most prominent such firms, from Facebook to Booz Allen Hamilton, to ask if they would sell their services to help create a national Muslim registry, an idea recently resurfaced by Donald Trump’s transition team. Only Twitter said no.

accessnow:
“ “Your passport, Facebook, and Twitter please.”
“ We already told you about the U.S. government’s proposal to add an “optional” field asking you to list your social media accounts every time you cross the border. And thousands of you have...

accessnow:

“Your passport, Facebook, and Twitter please.”

We already told you about the U.S. government’s proposal to add an “optional” field asking you to list your social media accounts every time you cross the border. And thousands of you have already told the U.S. government you think that’s a bad idea. Unfortunately, their proposal just got even worse.

We’ve seen the revised form (PDF download) Customs and Border Protection is proposing, and the “Social Media Identifier” field isn’t even marked as optional — making it mandatory for travelers entering the United States to divulge their social media accounts.

This kind of broad-strokes data collection violates fundamental privacy rights and hinders freedom of expression — and there’s no proof it would do anything to improve security. Instead, it sets a terrible example for countries around the world to start monitoring everyone’s social media at the border.

Take action now to stop the U.S. government’s expansion of social media surveillance.

The anti-censorship tech inspired by Turkey’s oppressive regime:
“The year is 2014. Freedom in Turkey is in active decay.
Seeking to further consolidate his power after over a decade in office, then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declares he...

The anti-censorship tech inspired by Turkey’s oppressive regime:

The year is 2014. Freedom in Turkey is in active decay.

Seeking to further consolidate his power after over a decade in office, then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declares he will “eradicate” social media services like Twitter after users link him to corruption.

“I don’t care what the international community says,” Erdoğan says at a campaign rally. “Everyone will witness the power of the Turkish Republic.”

That display of raw state power was met with anti-censorship graffiti that’s since become iconic. Armed with spray paint and technical know-how, dissidents painted buildings with instructions on how to circumvent Turkey’s Twitter ban alongside the words, “let your bird sing.

Source: dailydot.com

Twitter is censoring Turkish accounts for RTs and likes:
“The 5th Criminal Judgeship of Peace in Ankara, a court in Turkey’s capital, ordered a ban this year on 48 Twitter accounts that “spread posts of [journalist] @kamilmaman on Twitter by...

Twitter is censoring Turkish accounts for RTs and likes:

The 5th Criminal Judgeship of Peace in Ankara, a court in Turkey’s capital, ordered a ban this year on 48 Twitter accounts that “spread posts of [journalist] @kamilmaman on Twitter by retweeting and liking [his tweets].” The judge listed 23 accounts who liked and 25 accounts who retweeted Kamil Maman, a former reporter of Bugün TV.

The station was a critical Turkish channel that was raided violently by the police in October—four days before general elections—to replace its editors with government-appointed trustees. During the scuffle, Maman was handcuffed, dragged to the street, beaten by the officers, and spent the night in police custody; other journalists who opposed the new trustees’ editorial policy were fired on the spot.

Though no longer at Bugün TV, Maman has continued to tweet critically about the government despite being censored on the platform. His followers and supporters are now facing similar consequences. Of the accounts listed by the 5th Criminal Judgeship of Peace, four had both liked and retweeted Maman’s tweets.

Source: dailydot.com

Oculus CEO is latest tech boss hacked in embarrassing account takeover

Friendly reminder to practice good tech hygiene!

Not sure what that means? We can help!

Ethiopia blocks Facebook and other social media for exams:
“The government said the ban was to prevent students being distracted from studying during the exam period and to prevent the spread of false rumours.
The blocked sites include Facebook,...

Ethiopia blocks Facebook and other social media for exams:

The government said the ban was to prevent students being distracted from studying during the exam period and to prevent the spread of false rumours.

The blocked sites include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Viber.

[…]

Ethiopia was among the first African countries to censor the internet and opposition blogs and human rights websites are frequently blocked.

Social media sites have gone down in Ethiopia before but only for a matter of hours, with the government previously denying any involvement. This is the first time social media sites have been publicly blocked nationwide.

Source: bbc.com

Algeria bans Facebook and Twitter in an attempt to stop people cheating on exams:
“Algeria has blocked Facebook and other social networks in an attempt to stop people cheating in exams.
The country has taken the decision to cut off access to social...

Algeria bans Facebook and Twitter in an attempt to stop people cheating on exams:

Algeria has blocked Facebook and other social networks in an attempt to stop people cheating in exams.

The country has taken the decision to cut off access to social networks after papers and exam questions were leaked online. The decision comes ahead of the beginning of retakes of some important exams after they were already leaked, and the government said that it had taken the decision so that people would no longer be able to share leaked papers.

An Interview With the Hacker Probably Selling Your Password Right Now:
“For the last two weeks, the tech world’s security teams have been practically under siege. On an almost daily basis, new collections of data from hundreds of millions of stolen...

An Interview With the Hacker Probably Selling Your Password Right Now:

For the last two weeks, the tech world’s security teams have been practically under siege. On an almost daily basis, new collections of data from hundreds of millions of stolen accounts have appeared on the dark web, ripped from major web firms and sold for as little as a few hundred dollars each worth of bitcoins. And behind each of those clearance sales has been one pseudonym: “Peace_of_mind.”

“Peace_of_mind,” or “Peace,” sells data on the dark web black market TheRealDeal. His or her “store” page has a 100-percent satisfaction rating and feedback like “A+++,” and “follows up with your questions and delivers promptly.” And Peace’s growing selection of merchandise includes 167 million user accounts from LinkedIn, 360 million from MySpace, 68 million from Tumblr, 100 million from the Russian social media site VK.com, and most recently another71 million from Twitter, adding up to more than 800 million accounts and growing.

Source: Wired

If Mark Zuckerberg Can Be Hacked on Twitter, So Can You:
“There are several lessons to be learned from a data breach in which hackers gained access to Mark Zuckerberg’s social media accounts, but chief among them is probably this: Quit using the same...

If Mark Zuckerberg Can Be Hacked on Twitter, So Can You:

There are several lessons to be learned from a data breach in which hackers gained access to Mark Zuckerberg’s social media accounts, but chief among them is probably this: Quit using the same password for multiple websites.

It may be annoying and time-consuming, but following this simple rule can help you avoid the public pwning, or account takeover, that befell Mr. Zuckerberg, the billionaire owner of Facebook and Instagram.

A collective that calls itself OurMine boasted that it had broken into a handful of his social media accounts, including LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest. Screengrabs posted by Engadget showed the hackers notifying Mr. Zuckerberg of the breach using his own Twitter account. Bold move.

“We are just testing your security,” the tweet read.