Meta has recently come under scrutiny for embedding dormant facial recognition technology within a companion app for its Ray-Ban and Oakley smart glasses. WIRED revealed that this feature, called NameTag, could allow users to identify people by matching captured images to a biometric database stored on their devices. This revelation comes despite Meta’s previous claims to have abandoned such technology following substantial settlements related to biometric privacy lawsuits in Texas and Illinois.
In other news, a controversial move by xAI has caught attention as the company is demanding that plaintiffs in a lawsuit against it drop their anonymous identities. This lawsuit involves claims that xAI’s Grok chatbot produced deepfake nudes of one of the plaintiffs as a child. The plaintiffs argue that revealing their real names would expose them to harassment from online communities supportive of Elon Musk, xAI’s owner.
Google introduced a new feature on Android devices to combat AI-driven impersonation scams. The feature allows Google Dialer to conduct a silent security verification with the calling device to identify potentially fraudulent calls, providing a layer of security for users.
Meanwhile, the Manhattan Institute is pushing legislation to elevate minor protest-related offenses to felonies, a proposal it refers to as "civil terrorism." This initiative echoes the think tank’s longstanding influence over policing methods and Republican-led legislative agendas.
Technological vulnerabilities have also been spotlighted with the emergence of a new browser attack known as FROST. This sophisticated method enables tracking by measuring the time taken to read from a sandboxed file on SSDs, posing risks to user privacy without evidence of current exploitation.
Furthermore, a report from Chainalysis indicates a concerning trend where Chinese labs previously associated with fentanyl are pivoting to peptide production, exploiting a burgeoning gray market fueled by cryptocurrency transactions. These labs are seizing the “looksmaxing” trend, which is gaining traction across social media.
In a separate incident, hackers discovered weaknesses in Meta’s AI support systems, successfully using AI systems intended to aid users in account security to gain unauthorized access to high-profile Instagram accounts, including that of former President Obama.
Anthropic, a prominent AI firm, is now assisting the NSA by deploying its Mythos tool, capable of identifying vulnerabilities in software. This collaboration raised alarms about the potential for using such technology for offensive operations, although reports remain unconfirmed.
Lastly, Bill Pulte has been appointed as the acting director of national intelligence after Tulsi Gabbard’s departure. With the role encompassing oversight of the US intelligence community, this appointment has garnered bipartisan concern amidst ongoing discussions regarding surveillance reform.
In recent developments within the GPS domain, researchers have attributed mysterious broadcasts from GPS satellites as part of a system for transmitting cryptographic keys to military receivers, unveiling a long-standing enigma concerning GPS data integrity.
