Edward Snowden
@Snowden
Read this. “It is the endorsement by one of the largest industry players of the principle that ubiquitous spyware on consumer computing devices is normal and acceptable in free societies.”
https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1423787107156381697
Julian Sanchez
@normative
50 years into the era of personal computing, the idea that all computers should come preloaded with spyware had only really been seriously entertained by authoritarian regimes like North Korea. Apparently now it’s going mainstream.
I’m curious how far they’ve thought out the legal end of this. A government (ours or an uglier one) approaches Apple with a court order saying “here’s a list of hash values we want you to add to the scan list you’re pushing out”. Can they refuse? Or even tell anyone?
This isn’t really a “slippery slope” — it’s a single heavily greased step. You need one order with a gag attached saying “you’re required to add this list of hashes” & your carefully crafted child protection system becomes an all-purpose population-scale search tool.
And a whole bunch of the arguments Apple deployed in the San Bernardino encryption case don’t obviously apply if they’ve already built the scan architecture & a government is just adding items to a preexisting list.
I should add, because a couple folks have noted this: IF this were implemented only as Apple intends and for the purposes it states, then yes, this would be functionally identical to the sort of scanning that’s routine on platforms & cloud storage services….
…and indeed, arguably significantly more privacy protective than most. But that strikes me as an incredibly naive way to evaluate technological architectures against a backdrop of compelled assistance by states with wildly varying commitment to civil liberties.
If everything operates precisely as Apple intends, scanning client-side is at worst an accounting detail & at best enables greater privacy. If everything does not operate precisely as Apple intends, moving scans client-side is a dangerous Rubicon to cross.
One in-the-weeds detail: Apple’s current design does have the final step of the “match” process happening server-side. That is: The phone checks images for a match but doesn’t “know” it found a match, which requires a server-side secret. https://apple.com/child-safety/pdf/CSAM_Detection_Technical_Summary.pdf
This is good design! And if your baseline is the quite common “file is uploaded unencrypted & scanned server-side” (rather than zero-knowledge) you could argue it’s a privacy improvement. But I doubt it’s worth crossing the Rubicon of coopting the device into the process.
https://twitter.com/normative/status/1423744003267338241
Documents reveal sexual allegations between state Sen. Tony Navarrete, two children
PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) - A $50,000 bond has been issued for an Arizona state senator who is accused of having sexual conduct with two boys. Sen. Tony Navarrete, a Democrat from Phoenix, was arrested Thursday, accused on multiple counts of sexual conduct with a child, including a single count of molestation with a minor.
According to court documents released late Friday afternoon, on Aug. 4, a 16-year-old boy told detectives during the first incident, Navarrete put his hand down the victim’s pants and touched him inappropriately and that Navarrete would go on to do this several times. The victim said this happened to him more than five times. Navarrete also reportedly touched the victim’s 13-year-old brother’s upper leg, who had to hit his hand away, documents state.
The victim told investigators he suffers from anxiety and anger issues stemming from the abuse. On Aug. 5, during an audio and video recording between the victim and Navarrete, the teen asked Navarrete if he regretted touching him. Navarrete responded saying “of course I regret any bad actions that I did, absolutely wishing everything could be different.” The victim asked Navarrete why he touched him, to which Navarrete responded saying “he wasn’t well” and that “nothing the (victim) did was his fault.” Navarrete went on to say he was not happy for his actions and that he will have to live with them for the rest of his life.
During Friday’s court hearing, prosecutors stated that Navarrete was considered a flight risk because if convicted on all charges, he would face a minimum sentence of 49 years in prison. They asked the judge that he have a restriction to have absolutely no contact with any minors, including family members.
Ultimately, a $50,000 secured bond was set for Navarrete. He was also ordered to surrender his passport, stay away from minors, and, in accordance with Arizona state law, have electronic monitoring put in place.