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Elon Musk Wants to Merge Humans With AI. How Many Brains Will Be Damaged Along the Way? + More
Elon Musk Wants to Merge Humans With AI. How Many Brains Will Be Damaged Along the Way?
Launched in 2016, Neuralink revealed in 2019 that it had created flexible “threads” that can be implanted into a brain, along with a sewing-machine-like robot to do the implanting. The idea is that these threads will read signals from a paralyzed patient’s brain and transmit that data to an iPhone or computer, enabling the patient to control it with just their thoughts — no need to tap, type or swipe.
So far, Neuralink has only done testing on animals. But in May, the company announced it had won FDA approval to run its first clinical trial in humans. Now, it’s recruiting paralyzed volunteers to study whether the implant enables them to control external devices. If the technology works in humans, it could improve the quality of life for millions of people. Approximately 5.4 million people are living with paralysis in the U.S. alone.
But helping paralyzed people is not Elon Musk’s end goal. That’s just a step on the way to achieving a much wilder long-term ambition.
That ambition, in Musk’s own words, is “to achieve a symbiosis with artificial intelligence.” His goal is to develop a technology that helps humans “merg[e] with AI” so that we won’t be “left behind” as AI becomes more sophisticated.
But it’s important to understand that this technology comes with staggering risks. Former Neuralink employees as well as experts in the field alleged that the company pushed for an unnecessarily invasive, potentially dangerous approach to the implants that can damage the brain (and apparently has done so in animal test subjects) to advance Musk’s goal of merging with AI.
How Stores Are Spying on You Using Creepy Facial Recognition Technology Without Your Consent
Have you ever wondered if the stores where you shop are watching you? Not just with security cameras. With something more advanced and creepy.
Something that can recognize your face and identify who you are, where you live, what you like and what you buy. Something that can track your every move and use your data for their own benefit.
Well, guess what? They are. That’s right, some of the biggest retailers in this country are secretly using sneaky facial recognition technology in their stores.
Facial recognition technology is a type of biometric identification that uses cameras and software to analyze and match your facial features. You may already be using this type of tech to unlock your phone or verify your identity. What you might not know is that some stores are using facial recognition technology to monitor you and your behavior without your permission or knowledge.
Google Asks Congress to Not Ban Teens From Social Media
Google responded to congressional child online safety proposals with its own counteroffer for the first time Monday, urging lawmakers to drop problematic protections like age-verification tech.
In a blog post, Google released its “Legislative Framework to Protect Children and Teens Online.” The framework comes as more lawmakers, like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), are lining up behind the Kids Online Safety Act, a controversial bill intended to protect kids from dangerous content online.
In the framework, Google rejects state and federal attempts at requiring platforms to verify the age of users, like forcing users to upload copies of their government IDs to access an online service. Some states have recently gone as far as passing laws requiring platforms to obtain parental consent before anyone under 18 is allowed to use their services. Google dismisses these consent laws, arguing that they bar vulnerable teens from accessing helpful information.
YouTube published its own set of principles for protecting kids on Monday, laying out how the platform implements some of the guidance from Google’s policy framework. In a blog post, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan said the platform doesn’t serve personalized ads to kids and provides parents with a set of family controls.
Meta Confesses It’s Using What You Post to Train Its AI
How would you feel if your social media posts were used to train a virtual assistant without your consent? That is exactly what is happening to millions of people who belong to Facebook and Instagram.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, admits that it is using public posts from both Instagram and Facebook members to train its new artificial intelligence assistant, Meta AI.
According to Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, the tech giant is using both text and photos from public posts from people’s Instagram and Facebook to train Meta AI. He says the posts are selected based on their popularity and engagement and that they are stripped of any personal details before being fed to the AI system. He also says Meta has built safeguards into Meta AI to prevent misuse and abuse, such as filtering out harmful or offensive content.
Some of the people who use the platforms have raised concerns about the privacy and ethical implications of using their public posts to train Meta AI. They argue that Meta did not obtain explicit consent from them to use their posts and that they have not been made aware of how their data is being used.
School Forcing Students With COVID to Leave Sparks Republican Anger
The Republican-led Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic launched a probe this week into the University of Maryland’s COVID-19 policy for students.
“Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic Chairman Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) has joined forces with all Majority Members to shed light on coercive and potentially harmful COVID-19 policies that are reemerging at the University of Maryland,” the subcommittee wrote in a press release on Friday. “Under the University’s new directive, Maryland students who test positive for COVID-19 are to be immediately removed from their dorms and forced into isolation, either at a nearby hotel or by boarding a flight home — presumably at their own expense.”
According to the University of Maryland’s university health center, students who test positive and are living in “residence halls or university-owned fraternity and sorority houses will need to isolate at their permanent home or another off-campus location if they test positive.”
Australia Fines X, Accusing It of ‘Empty Talk’ on Fighting Child Sexual Abuse Online
Australia issued a fine of $610,500 Australian dollars ($386,000) on Monday against the company formerly known as Twitter for “falling short” in disclosing information on how it tackles child sex abuse content, in yet another setback for the Elon Musk-owned social media platform.
Just days earlier, the European Commission formally opened an investigation into X after issuing a previous warning about disinformation and illegal content on its platform linked to the Israel-Hamas war.
Australia’s e-Safety Commission, the online safety regulator, said in a statement Monday that X had failed to adequately respond to a number of questions about the way it was dealing with the problem of child abuse materials. The commission accused the platform of not providing any response to some questions, leaving some sections entirely blank or providing answers that were incomplete or inaccurate.
“Twitter/X has stated publicly that tackling child sexual exploitation is the number 1 priority for the company, but it can’t just be empty talk, we need to see words backed up with tangible action,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in the statement.
U.S. Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Order Curbing Biden Social Media Contacts + More
U.S. Supreme Court Temporarily Blocks Order Curbing Biden Social Media Contacts
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday maintained a block on restrictions imposed by lower courts on the ability of President Joe Biden‘s administration to encourage social media companies to remove content deemed misinformation, including about elections and COVID-19.
Conservative Justice Samuel Alito temporarily put on hold a preliminary injunction constraining how the White House and certain other federal officials communicate with social media platforms pending the administration’s appeal to the Supreme Court.
The Republican attorneys general of Missouri and Louisiana and a group of social media users had sued federal officials, accusing them of unlawfully helping suppress conservative-leaning speech on major social media platforms, such as Meta’s (META.O) Facebook, Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) YouTube and X, formerly called Twitter.
Friday’s action keeps the matter on hold until Oct. 20. This gives the justices more time to consider the administration’s request to block an injunction issued by a lower court that had concluded that administration officials likely coerced the companies into censoring certain posts, in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment free speech protections.
Dumbocracy Achieved: ACT Test Scores for U.S. Students Drop to 30-Year Low
The government-enforced lockdown of schools and months of forced remote learning during COVID have devastated the education of America’s future leaders. New data on ACT college admissions tests shows high school students’ scores have plunged to the lowest in over three decades.
According to data published by ACT, the nonprofit organization that administers the college readiness exam, the average composite score on the ACT test fell to 19.5 for the class of 2023, a decline of .3 points from 2022. The average scores in mathematics, reading, and science subjects were below ACT College Readiness Benchmarks, indicating fewer seniors than ever are ready for college. About 1.4 million high school seniors took the ACT test, and about 21% of them met benchmarks for college subjects. And a shocking 43% met none of these benchmarks.
Readers have well-understood the COVID crisis and government lockdowns unleashed a ‘learning poverty.’ Last fall, Anthony Fauci told corporate media he had “nothing to do” with school lockdowns and the resulting learning loss among public school students. But history shows Fauci is a liar.
Meanwhile, some universities and colleges no longer require applicants to submit ACT and SAT standardized tests. This may be because the education-industrial complex understands the dumbing down of the youth — plus, the continuation of the EDU bubble is only made possible by giving false promises of future success to the younger generation while strapping them with $100,000 in student debt.
Apple Accused of Not Doing Enough to Stop AirTag Stalking in Class-Action Lawsuit
Apple received a class action lawsuit filed last week from people who claim its AirTag tracking devices allegedly led to “multiple murders.” The lawsuit claims stalkers or would-be killers use AirTags to track their victims by slipping them into a bag, in a car or directly on the individual. It adds that Apple hasn’t taken adequate steps to “protect people from unwanted, dangerous tracking.”
Apple claims its AirTags are built to avoid or discourage unwanted tracking via a phone alert. Its website says that if someone else’s AirTag is placed in your bag or coat, for example, your iPhone will notice and send an alert saying: “AirTag Found Moving With You. The location of this AirTag can be seen by the owner.” The company further claims if the person can’t find the AirTag, after a certain amount of time, the device will play a sound to let the individual know where it is.
However, the lawsuit argues that because the alert isn’t immediate and AirTag won’t alert you if its owner is near, it has made it ideal for stalkers to track a person’s whereabouts. While Apple reduced the amount of time it takes for a person to receive an alert, the lawsuit claims individuals have reported not receiving a notification that they were being tracked until as much as a day after the device was planted on them. It cites one industry expert who says Apple takes an estimated four to eight hours before sending the message.
An increasingly concerning aspect of AirTags, the lawsuit says, is that Android users don’t have the same protections as iPhone users, because their devices run on a different operating system, meaning they won’t receive an alert that they’re being tracked. Apple plans to roll out the tracking option for Android users, but only after striking a deal with Google to collaborate on anti-stalking measures back in May, more than two years after Apple rolled out the AirTags.
British Columbia Court Hears Cases Pushing Back Against Dystopian Vaccine Passports
The British Columbia Court of Appeal set the stage for an intriguing legal discourse on the contentious vaccine passport mandate this month. This came in response to an appeal lodged against its initial dismissal by Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson in September. The disconnect at the heart of this debate revolves around the charge of discrimination embedded in the province’s controversial vaccination passport mandate.
The dissidents, among them the Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry, hold the view that the prevailing vaccine passport system, an attack on civil liberties, is unconstitutional.
As reported by Rebel News, the appeal, lodged by individuals and advocacy groups alike, is symptomatic of an increasing concern over possible governmental surveillance and infringement on personal privacy rights. The justice panel, consisting of Justice Abriuox, Justice Groberman and Justice Skolrood, is entrusted with oversight of this delicate matter.
How a Billionaire-Backed Network of AI Advisers Took Over Washington
An organization backed by Silicon Valley billionaires and tied to leading artificial intelligence firms is funding the salaries of more than a dozen AI fellows in key congressional offices, across federal agencies and at influential think tanks.
The fellows funded by Open Philanthropy, financed primarily by billionaire Facebook co-founder and Asana CEO Dustin Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna, are already involved in negotiations that will shape Capitol Hill’s accelerating plans to regulate AI. And they’re closely tied to a powerful influence network that’s pushing Washington to focus on the technology’s long-term risks — a focus critics fear will divert Congress from more immediate rules that would tie the hands of tech firms.
Acting through the little-known Horizon Institute for Public Service, a nonprofit that Open Philanthropy effectively created in 2022, the group is funding the salaries of tech fellows in key Senate offices, according to documents and interviews.
The network’s fixation on speculative harms is “almost like a caricature of the reality that we’re experiencing,” said Deborah Raji, an AI researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, who attended last month’s AI Insight Forum in the Senate.
She worries that the focus on existential dangers will steer lawmakers away from addressing risks that today’s AI systems already pose, including their tendency to inject bias, spread misinformation, threaten copyright protections and weaken personal privacy.
White House AI Order to Flex Federal Buying Power
The Biden administration’s long-awaited executive order on artificial intelligence is expected to leverage the federal government’s vast purchasing power to shape American standards for a technology that has galloped ahead of regulators, according to three people with knowledge of the White House’s deliberations.
The White House is also expected to lean on the National Institute of Standards and Technology to tighten industry guidelines on testing and evaluating AI systems — provisions that would build on the voluntary commitments on safety, security and trust that the Biden administration extracted from 15 major tech companies this year on AI, the people said.
Biden’s order is also expected to require cloud computing companies to monitor and track users who might be developing powerful AI systems, two people said. The EO is likely to contain provisions to streamline the recruitment and retention of AI talent from overseas and to boost domestic AI training and education as well, one person said.
The White House declined to comment on specific provisions in the executive order, which is still being finalized. It is expected to come out in late October.
World Economic Forum Calls for ‘Collective Action’ to Fight ‘Misinformation’ and ‘Disinformation’ + More
World Economic Forum Calls for ‘Collective Action’ to Fight ‘Misinformation’ and ‘Disinformation’
We are now seeing tireless efforts by the same groups, official and informal, the same centers of power who spent years circulating alarmist statements about a supposedly dangerous prevalence of “misinformation” in the media — wanting to be the ones to tell the world how to “rebuild trust in the media.”
In the new episode of the World Economic Forum (WEF) series of musings — a bid to lay the foundations of a future “world (dis)order” on a number of key issues — the Switzerland-based global elite’s mouthpiece touches on precisely the trust in the media — and how to bake AI into their proposed solution.
It bears repeating, that the problem of mistrust in the media is created by the likes of the WEF, i.e., its “stakeholders”: it’s the censorship enacted by the most influential legacy media, with the excuse of fighting “misinformation.”
NY Officials Announce Legislation Aimed at Protecting Kids on Social Media
Two new bills meant to protect children’s mental health online by changing the way they are served content on social media and by limiting companies’ use of their data will be introduced in the New York state legislature, state and city leaders said Wednesday.
The “Stop Addictive Feeds Exploitation (SAFE) for Kids Act” would limit what New York officials say are the harmful and addictive features of social media for children. The act would allow users under 18 and their parents to opt out of receiving feeds driven by algorithms designed to harness users’ personal data to keep them on the platforms for as long as possible. Those who opt out would receive chronological feeds instead, like in the early days of social media.
The bill would also allow users and parents who opt in to receiving algorithmically generated content feeds to block access to social media platforms between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. or to limit the total number of hours per day a minor can spend on a platform.
The bill targets platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube, where feeds are comprised of user-generated content along with other material the platform suggests to users based on their personal data. Tech platforms have designed and promoted voluntary tools aimed at parents to help them control what content their kids can see, arguing that the decision about what boundaries to set should be up to individual families. But that hasn’t stopped critics from calling on platforms to do more — or from threatening further regulation.
Microsoft Discloses IRS Says the Tech Giant Owes Nearly $29 Billion in Unpaid Taxes
Microsoft just disclosed the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has asked for a hefty sum of taxes that it believes the tech company has not paid.
The funds, sought through notices of proposed adjustments, totaled $28.9 billion not including penalties and interest, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing submitted Wednesday by Microsoft. The IRS apparently believes the company owes that amount for tax years 2004 to 2013. Microsoft said the IRS sent the notices late last month.
“We disagree with the proposed adjustments and will vigorously contest the NOPAs through the IRS’s administrative appeals office and, if necessary, judicial proceedings,” the tech company said. The situation will likely not see a resolution at any time in the near future. The company estimated that appealing through the IRS could last “several” years.
Over the course of its 2023 fiscal year, Microsoft produced $211.9 billion in revenue, up roughly 6.9% compared to the $198.3 billion it generated in the prior year. Its annual net income, meanwhile, experienced a 0.5% decline, hitting $72.36 billion.
EU’s Breton Gives Meta’s Zuckerberg 24 Hours to Detail Disinformation Response
The EU’s industry chief Thierry Breton on Wednesday gave Meta Platforms (META.O) 24 hours to inform him of measures taken to counter the spread of disinformation on its platforms following the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel.
“I would ask you to be very vigilant to ensure strict compliance with the DSA rules on terms of service, on the requirement of timely, diligent and objective action following notices of illegal content in the EU, and on the need for proportionate and effective mitigation measures,” Breton told Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a letter.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) forces very large online platforms to remove illegal online content on their platforms.
Montana’s TikTok Ban Faces Skeptical U.S. Judge
A U.S. judge questioned Montana’s first-of-its-kind state ban on the use of short video-sharing app TikTok hearing arguments on a legal challenge before it is set to take effect on Jan. 1.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy, considering a court challenge from TikTok and users, on Thursday questioned the state attorney general’s office at a hearing on the state’s ban approved by the legislature. He noted that no other state has followed suit to ban TikTok. “Does that seem a little strange to you?” Molloy asked at the hearing.
More Countries Are Planning to Link SIM Cards to Digital IDs
Italy, Namibia and Mauritania are among the countries implementing SIM card activation via digital ID — and Italy has now reached the phase where its telecommunications regulator, AGCOM, has greenlit the practice.
A statement from AGCOM said that mobile operators are free to activate SIMs with either the electronic ID card (CIE), the national services charter (ID), known as CNS, or the SPID, the Public Digital ID System.
New York Wants to Be AI’s World Capital
New York-based tech firms and investors see the advent of AI as the latest opportunity to try to unseat the Bay Area as tech‘s global capital.
What’s happening: To achieve its potential, the generative AI industry must win adoption in key industries concentrated in the New York area — finance, communications and media, law and medicine.
Driving the news: New York will become an AI showcase next week as the city hosts a 370-event “Tech Week” beginning Oct. 16, coordinated by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. The big picture: A growing number of tech companies are opening and expanding offices and hosting major events in New York.
The intrigue: Even Amazon is having a New York revival — expanding into an iconic 600,000 square foot Fifth Avenue building, four years after nixing a second headquarters in the city amid a pressure campaign led by freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.).
AI Tool Forecasts New COVID Variants
Harvard and University of Oxford researchers are harnessing AI to predict threatening new strains of COVID-19 and other viruses. Why it matters: The approach could prove more efficient than lab-based testing, because it doesn’t rely on people becoming infected or getting vaccinated to develop antibodies.
This could lead to better and quicker vaccines, including in the next pandemic. How it works: Researchers developed a generative AI model that’s trained on historical viral sequences to predict ways in which the organism could mutate.
They then added structural details about the virus, like regions most easily targeted by the immune system. To test its predictive power, the researchers drew on the trove of data about COVID-19 from the pandemic, and how the stealthy virus kept evolving.
What they found: When presented with ancestral strains of coronavirus from before the pandemic, the tool, called EVEscape, predicted the most frequent mutations and dangerous variants of SARS-CoV-2, the researchers wrote Wednesday in Nature. What we’re watching: EVEscape is being used in real-time to make predictions about how COVID will evolve next.
They’re Back: Cleveland Clinic to Return to Masking at Ohio Hospitals
Patients at Cleveland Clinic hospitals may soon be seeing a little bit less of their doctors — their faces, that is.
The hospital system has requested that caregivers and visitors on inpatient floors of its Ohio hospitals return to masking, beginning next week.
The Cleveland Clinic stopped requiring masks for most patients, visitors and caregivers on April 20 of this year, but they were still required in specialized hospital units caring for particularly vulnerable patients.
Back in April, the Clinic alluded to the fact that the decision to relax its masking policy might only be temporary.
Utah Lawsuit Says TikTok Intentionally Lures Children Into Addictive, Harmful Behavior + More
Utah Lawsuit Says TikTok Intentionally Lures Children Into Addictive, Harmful Behavior
The state of Utah on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against TikTok, claiming the company is “baiting” children and teens into harmful social media habits.
The lawsuit, filed in state court in Salt Lake City, accuses TikTok of luring young users with its “highly powerful algorithms and manipulative design features,” creating addictive and unhealthy habits among consumers. Utah claims that the company misrepresents the app’s safety and deceptively portrays itself as independent of ByteDance, its Chinese parent company.
The lawsuit is the latest attempt by lawmakers to regulate and hold social media companies accountable for their content and protection of users’ private data. During a news conference alongside Gov. Spencer Cox, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes said his “top priority” is to protect children in the state.
Utah officials cited public health concerns and research showing the impact social media has on children’s mental health, including risks of depression, anxiety, higher levels of developmental sensitivity and disruptions to neurological development.
Costco Allegedly Shares Private Customer Info With Meta: Lawsuit
Costco is being accused of violating state and federal law by sharing the private healthcare information of millions of Americans with Facebook-parent Meta without their consent, according to a lawsuit filed Friday.
The warehouse club embedded Meta Platforms, Inc.’s Pixel Code, an analytical tool that tracks visitor’s activities, on its website, which allowed it to share “Pharmacy patients’ highly sensitive Personal Health Information and Personally Identifiable Information to third parties including Meta Platforms,” the suit stated.
The suit said that when customers “attempted to log in to their patient accounts, searched for prescriptions and related pricing, and inquired about immunizations, among other sensitive health-related topics, Pixel secretly intercepted, recorded, and transmitted those private communications to Meta.”
The sensitive information that was allegedly shared with third parties included, but was not limited to, computer IP addresses, patient status, prescription information, immunization information, treatments, patient location and health insurance coverage, the lawsuit continued.
California’s New Delete Act Is One of the World’s Most Powerful Privacy Laws
A new law in California gives consumers the power to do something meaningful about the companies buying and selling their data for the very first time. On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the Delete Act into law, introducing a number of provisions that beef up state privacy regulations. Among other stipulations, it lets Californians force every data broker to delete the fruits of their data harvest with one, single click.
California and several other states already require most companies to delete the information they collect on request. Unfortunately, the process is close to useless, because you need to contact every business individually. You also have to live in a fantasy world where you know the names of even a fraction of the businesses that spy on you for cash.
The Delete Act will create a system where you can make one single request that forces the entire data broker industry to delete the details they harvest from your life. It’s the first regulation of its kind from a major government.
Texas Lawmakers Again Try to Prohibit Private Businesses From Requiring COVID Vaccines
Conservative Texas lawmakers are taking another shot at prohibiting private businesses from requiring employees to get COVID-19 vaccines. The new legislation comes after years of Republican attempts to reign in COVID-related restrictions like mask mandates and vaccine requirements.
Senate Bill 7, by Galveston Republican Sen. Mayes Middleton, offers no exceptions to its proposed ban on vaccine mandates by private businesses and would subject employers to state fines and other actions if they fire or punish employees who refuse the shot. The Senate Health and Human Services Committee quickly passed the bill Tuesday, the second day of a special legislative session.
In late 2021, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order banning the mandates, but it touched off confusion over who was covered by the order and how enforceable it was. That order expired in June, triggering a legislative attempt to codify it during the regular session earlier this year. After that attempt failed, Abbott added the issue to the agenda for this year’s third special legislative session.
A new state law banning governmental entities from requiring the COVID-19 vaccine went into effect last month.
Baltimore Law Firm Sued Over COVID Vaccine Mandate Policy
A former legal secretary is suing Tydings & Rosenberg LLP over the law firm’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for employees.
The federal civil rights lawsuit claims the firm rejected a religious exemption for the ex-employee, Cheryl Shigley, and ultimately terminated her in September 2021.
Shigley’s suit asks a judge to reinstate her job at Tydings and order the firm to provide back pay and punitive damages.
The company has also not offered to reinstate Shigley as concerns about COVID-19 have waned, the complaint alleges.
BC Court Hears Merits in Vaccine Mandates Appeal, Rules Moot for Second Time
A provincial court in BC ruled a vaccine mandate appeal moot last week for the second time since its implementation — this time in a higher court.
The appeal, made by the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), was against the government-issued vaccine passports people were required to show at restaurants, gyms, libraries and other public spaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. It specifically focused on the lack of exemptions offered by the BC government.
The court gave the written ruling in court Friday, after orally stating the case was moot on Wednesday. However, it emphasized the importance of the CCF appeal to proceed and “outline the merits of the case,” because public interest was substantial enough for the court to hear the case anyway.
“This is one of those few rare cases where we’re actually going to be hearing the appeal in a COVID-era case about vaccines, on the merits of the case,” Christine Van Geyn, litigation director of CCF, said in a video overview of the case.
From France to Ireland, the EU Spyware Problem Is Even Worse Than We Thought
About two years after the Pegasus scandal drew back the curtains to reveal the lengths governments can go to spy on their citizens, another investigation has revealed that the EU has a spyware problem bigger than we could possibly imagine.
According to Donncha Ó Cearbhaill, Head of Amnesty International’s Security Lab, Predator “is arguably worse” than similar NSO-developed software. This is primarily because the tool wasn’t just used across the EU this time, but was developed, sold, and exported by EU-based firms mainly operating across France, Ireland, and Greece.
Now, a joint year-long investigation by media partners from the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) and Amnesty International’s Security Lab can reveal the failures of the EU in regulating highly lucrative and unethical surveillance business.
“The Predator Files investigation shows what we have long feared: that highly invasive surveillance products are being traded on a near industrial scale and are free to operate in the shadows without oversight or any genuine accountability,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General.