DHS’s facial scanning program may be inaccurate and illegal

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) doesn’t have a great track record with its own technology. DHS staff have been locked out of their own networks, first responder apps have been plagued by security issues and the federal employees were able to steal data from the agency. Now a new report calls DHS’s pilot facial recognition program into question, too, saying that it makes frequent errors and may even not be legal.

The report, authored by three lawyers at the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown Law, says that the pilot is currently at nine US airports to scan the faces of travelers leaving the country. The face scans are then compared to DHS’s biometric database to their identity, ostensibly to prevent anyone from being impersonated. According to the report, the system could cost up to one billion dollars, though it also states that Congress nor DHS have not justified the need for such a program. In fact, the authors say that the DHS itself has questioned the value such a “biometric air exit” system would actually provide for the cost.

Further, the report notes that Congress has not clearly authorized the collection of biometrics from US citizens via facial recognition technology. “DHS should not be scanning the faces of Americans as they depart on international flights—but DHS is doing it anyway,” wrote the authors. “DHS also is failing to comply with a federal law requiring it to conduct a rulemaking process to implement the airport face scanning program—a process that DHS has not even started.”

As for accuracy, the report asserts that the system rejects as many as 1 in 25 travelers scanned, too, even when they have valid ID and travel documents. Ultimately, though, privacy concerns are massive here – what the report’s authors call “a serious escalation of biometric scanning of Americans” with “no codified rules that constrain it.” The report’s authors recommend that the DHS stop scanning travelers’ faces until it has gotten clear authorization from Congress, guarantee privacy of those it does scan, and prove that this technology works as advertised.

Via: The Verge

Source: Georgetown Law

South Korea fittingly equips high-speed train with high-speed LTE

The Winter Olympics are in South Korea in 2018, which is the perfect excuse to refine old technologies and show off new ones in advance of the huge crowds that will descend on the country early next year. Today, Samsung announced that, in partnership with the Korean telecom company KT, the world’s first LTE-R network on a high-speed train is live.

The new Wonju-Gangneung high-speed train can travel up to 155 miles per hour and is 75 miles long. It was clearly built with the crowds of the Winter Olympics in mind, as the press release states that the train “will provide the public faster, easier access to the largest winter sports facilities in Korea, including PyeongChang.” LTE-R will operate across the line’s seven stations, and works with older technologies, such as the Trunked Radio System, VHF systems, and the public safety network (PS-LTE).

LTE-R, or LTE-Railway, is a wireless communication system to connect those operating and working on trains with those on the ground. It allows for fast, reliable communication and signaling, overcoming the challenges of using an LTE network at high speeds. It includes features such as Mission-Critical Push-to-talk, or MCPTT, and a dedicated core network to operate the service.

Samsung is the supplier for five different LTE-R projects in South Korea. The technology is already in place on the Busan Metro line, which was launched in April 2017. This is the first application of the technology to a high-speed train line.

Source: Samsung

Senate bill would help guard against election hacks

American election security is a mess. Many voting systems are vulnerable, but replacing machines is expensive — and then there’s the lack of coordination between different levels of government. The country needs a lot of help if it’s going to prevent a repeat of Russia’s 2016 interference, let alone full-fledged tampering. Some new legislation might sort things out, however. A bipartisan group of senators has introduced the Secure Elections Act, a bill that would support state election systems with resources and expertise that could help fend off hacking attempts.

The measure would form an independent, open panel that would produce a set of voluntary security guidelines. States could then get approval for block grants (out of a $386 million pool in 2018) to meet those guidelines and replace outdated voting tech. The federal government would have to “promptly” share security threats with state, county and city officials, while those same officials would get the clearances they need to act on information. To spur efforts to find security flaws, there would be a federal bug bounty that would reward researchers who discover and report vulnerabilities.

The act would theoretically harmonize defenses without stepping on the toes of states determined to run their own elections. It faces a few hurdles, though, and not just the need to survive votes in the Senate and (with a corresponding bill) House of Representatives. Previous bills like the SAVE Act haven’t made much headway. And the voluntary guidelines are just that — a state doesn’t have to heed the advice. There are also questions as to whether or not the total pool size and block grants would be enough to bolster security as much as necessary. All the same, giving states some incentive to upgrade their safeguards would be an important start.

Via: The Hill, Gizmodo

Source: Senator Lankford

Apple Being Sued for ‘Purposefully Slowing Down Older iPhone Models’

Apple yesterday confirmed that it has implemented power management features in older iPhones to improve performance and prevent unexpected shutdowns as the battery in the devices starts to degrade, and this admission has now led to a class action lawsuit, which was first noticed by TMZ.

Los Angeles residents Stefan Bogdanovich and Dakota Speas, represented by Wilshire Law Firm, this morning filed a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California accusing Apple of slowing down their older iPhone models when new models come out.

Defendant breached the implied contracts it made with Plaintiffs and Class Members by purposefully slowing down older iPhone models when new models come out and by failing to properly disclose that at the time of that the parties entered into an agreement.

According to the lawsuit, Bogdanovich and Speas have owned the iPhone 7 and several older iPhone models and have noticed that their “older iPhone models slows (sic) down when new models come out.” The two say they did not consent to have Apple slow down their devices, nor were they able to “choose whether they preferred to have their iPhones slower than normal.”

They’re seeking both California and Nationwide class action certification, which would cover all persons residing in the United States who have owned iPhone models older than the iPhone 8.

Apple yesterday addressed speculation that it throttles the performance of older iPhones with degraded batteries, confirming that there are power management features in place to attempt to prolong the life of the iPhone and its battery. Apple implemented these features last year in iOS 10.2.1.

When an iPhone’s battery health starts to decline, the battery is not capable of supplying enough power to the iPhone in times of peak processor usage, which can lead to shutdowns, Apple says.

“Our goal is to deliver the best experience for customers, which includes overall performance and prolonging the life of their devices. Lithium-ion batteries become less capable of supplying peak current demands when in cold conditions, have a low battery charge or as they age over time, which can result in the device unexpectedly shutting down to protect its electronic components.

Last year we released a feature for iPhone 6, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE to smooth out the instantaneous peaks only when needed to prevent the device from unexpectedly shutting down during these conditions. We’ve now extended that feature to iPhone 7 with iOS 11.2, and plan to add support for other products in the future.”

The lawsuit seemingly misrepresents Apple’s original statement and suggests the plaintiffs and their lawyers do not understand Apple’s explanation for how iPhone power management features work and why they were implemented, given the lawsuit’s suggestion that it’s tied to the release of new devices. As explained by Apple, when certain iPhone models hit a peak of processor power, a degraded battery is sometimes unable to provide enough juice, leading to a shutdown. Apple says it “smooths out” these peaks by limiting the power draw from the battery or by spreading power requests over several cycles.

Lithium-ion batteries degrade over time by nature, and this eventual wearing out addressed by the power management features is unrelated to the release of new iPhone models.

Apple does not deny that iPhones with older batteries can sometimes see slower performance, but power management is a feature that Apple says has been implemented to improve overall performance by preventing an iPhone from shutting down completely rather than a feature that’s been implemented to force users to upgrade by deliberately slowing devices.

As many people have suggested, Apple has done a poor job of explaining why it has implemented these power feature management and how the state of the battery ultimately affects iPhone performance. More transparent information about battery health should be provided, and customers should be better informed when their batteries start to degrade so they can choose whether or not to pay for a replacement. Apple may also need to relax its policies on when customers can pay for a battery replacement, as currently, a battery can’t be replaced unless in-store equipment registers it as near failing.

An iPhone’s battery is designed to retain 80 percent of its original capacity at 500 complete charge cycles. A defective battery that does not meet those parameters can be replaced for free for customers who have AppleCare+ or who have devices still under warranty.

For out of warranty customers, Apple offers a battery replacement service, which costs $79 plus $6.95 for shipping.

The lawsuit is demanding the replacement of the old iPhone and compensation for loss of use, loss of value, the purchase of new batteries, ascertainable losses in the form of the deprivation of the value of the iPhone, and overpayments because Plaintiffs and Class Members “did not receive what they paid for” when Apple interfered with the usage of their iPhones.

Tag: lawsuit
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Empire-builder ‘Civilization VI’ comes to the iPad for $30

Usually, playing Civilization on the go means playing one of the cut-down Revolution games. They’re fine, but they’re not the same thing. You won’t have to make that compromise from now on, however. Aspyr Media has released Civilization VI for the iPad — yes, the whole thing. If you can’t stand the thought of waiting to get home before advancing science or invading an empire, you just have to tuck an Apple tablet in your bag. That’s no mean feat given how visually and computationally intensive the turn-based strategy game can be.

Appropriately, Aspyr isn’t shy about treating this like it would a conventional computer game release, including stiff requirements and a high price price. You need a fairly recent tablet like the iPad Air 2, 2017 iPad or any iPad Pro just to run it. And while the game is free to play for the first 60 turns, you’re looking at spending $30 during the launch period ($60 after January 4th) to unlock the full experience. That it’s available at all is impressive, though — we’re now at the point where recent, complex PC titles can run on mobile tablets, not just simpler games from a studio’s back catalog.

Via: TechCrunch

Source: App Store

Eric Schmidt to step down as executive chairman of Alphabet

Eric Schmidt will no longer serve as the executive chairman of Alphabet’s board of directors. According to a company statement, he will be transitioning to a new role as technical advisor on “science and technology issues.”

Schmidt has held several roles within Google. He was Google’s CEO in 2001 and then became executive chairman in 2011 when co-founder Larry Page took over the role of CEO. He stayed as executive chairman after the Alphabet restructuring.

“Larry, Sergey, Sundar and I all believe that the time is right in Alphabet’s evolution for this transition. The Alphabet structure is working well, and Google and the Other Bets are thriving,” said Schmidt in a statement.

Alphabet expects to appoint a non-executive chairman in the near future.

After ten years as CEO and seven as Executive Chairman, I can’t wait to dive into the latest in science, technology, and philanthropy. I look forward to working with Larry and Sergey on our future here at Alphabet. https://t.co/nVnZqMEHoI

— Eric Schmidt (@ericschmidt) December 21, 2017

14 and 18-Core iMac Pros May Arrive Sooner Than Expected

While deliveries of the first 8 and 10-core iMac Pro orders are set to begin as soon as next week, customers who opted for upgraded 14 or 18-core options were given shipping estimates ranging from 6 to 8 weeks for the machine when ordering.

It appears the 6 to 8 week estimate may not be quite accurate for all orders, as MacRumors reader Adam, who ordered a top-of-the-line machine with an 18-core processor, has received an updated delivery estimate of January 8 to January 9, which will be just a little over three weeks after the iMac Pro was first was ordered.

MacRumors forum member gobluejd has also received a sooner-than-expected shipping estimate for his 14-core iMac Pro, which will arrive on January 9 to 10 instead of the end of January.

Other customers who purchased 14 and 18-core machines may also be seeing updated delivery estimates from Apple, though on Apple’s site, iMac Pro orders placed today still list the same 6 to 8 week shipping estimate for high-end iMac Pro configurations.

It’s likely that once initial orders go out, Apple will be able to improve those shipping estimates for new orders.

Customers who ordered 8 and 10-core machines will begin receiving their orders in the near future, as some iMac Pro orders started shipping just this morning in the United States and Canada.

The iMac Pro is still listed as unavailable in retail stores. Apple said the new machine would be available in stores by the middle of this week, a deadline that’s been missed, but we could still see them in pop up in stores on Friday or Saturday.

Apple’s iMac Pro is a workstation-class machine aimed at professional users who have demanding workflows. The iMac Pro supports up to an 18-core Xeon W processor, 128GB ECC RAM, an AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64 graphics card with 16GB of HBM2 memory, and up to 4TB of SSD storage.

Pricing on the iMac Pro starts at $4,999 and goes up to $13,199 for a fully maxed out model.

Related Roundup: iMac ProBuyer’s Guide: iMac Pro (Buy Now)
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Innovative robotic harness helps Parkinson’s patients battle mobility issues

Neurodegenerative disorder Parkinson’s disease can be debilitating for the growing number of people affected by it — 50,000 people are diagnosed each year in the United States alone. Although exciting breakthroughs are being made, there’s currently no cure for the disease. A team of researchers at Columbia University is working on alternative ways to help patients and has developed a smart robotic harness that can be used to “teach” Parkinson’s patients to improve their balance, thereby reducing the likelihood of falling.

“We have developed a cable-driven robot that consists of a lightweight belt worn by a participant on the pelvis to which several wires are attached,” Sunil Agrawal, professor of mechanical engineering and rehabilitation and regenerative medicine at Columbia Engineering, told Digital Trends. “Desired forces and moments can be applied at the pelvis in any direction, and at precise time points within the gait cycle. This technology, which we call Tethered Pelvic Assist Device (TPAD), does not add inertia and rigid links to the human body. In this study, we used the robot to apply unpredictable controlled waist-pull perturbations over short time duration, while subjects are walking. We found with such a training, subjects improved their balance post training.”

In experiments, the technology was used to work out exactly how Parkinson’s disease affects a person’s balance and ability so they can react while walking. It was also demonstrated as being capable of improving patients’ gait stability in a single session, both while they were using it and in the short term afterwards.

“At the moment we envision this development as a training device in the laboratory,” Dario Martelli, a post-doctoral researcher at Columbia Engineering, told Digital Trends. In the future, it’s also possible to imagine how some of these insights could one day be baked into a lightweight assistive exoskeleton, worn during waking hours, which could help counter certain body motions, like shaking, associated with the disease.

“Future studies need to examine whether a multisession training will demonstrate lasting effects on walking balance, accompanied by improved functional levels, and a reduction in the number of falls during long-term follow-up assessments,” Martelli continued.

A paper describing the work was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.

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Put all of humankind in the palm of your hands with ‘Civilization VI’ on iPad

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI wowed us upon its release in 2016, perfecting the formula after 25 years of refinement. It’s now one year later and Civilization VI has returned to fit in the palms of peoples’ hands. Strategy game fans can now download this award-winning title from the iOS App Store on iPad. Controlling an empire now takes only the touch of a finger.

This iPad port marks the first time the core Civilization series has been playable on iOS (Civilization Revolution was made exclusively for mobile). The full base game has been brought over, with the only exception being expansion content. Despite the missing expansions, this iPad version still features traditional local multiplayer modes, along with smaller bite-sized situations to complete in a single session. This way, short commutes are sure not to interrupt the game.

Published by 2K Games, Civilization is a turn-based strategy game from legendary game designer Sid Meier. The goal is to build an empire that begins in the Stone Age and lasts through the Information Age. Players become Ruler of the World by leading their civilization through war, conducting diplomacy, and advancing culture. Some of history’s greatest leaders go head-to-head with players to create the better empire.

New to the series in Civilization VI is a tutorial system designed to introduce newcomers to the game’s complexities. For veteran players, there are many new ways to build and improve their civilization for a greater chance at success. For example, instead of “one unit per tile,” units can now be combined. Pair anti-tank support with infantry, warriors with settlers, or similar units together to form powerful “Corps” units.In order to get a leg up, we’ve assembled some starting tips for both newcomers and veterans alike, including city planning and strategic resources. There is also a guide for the various strengths and weaknesses of each leader that players can choose from.

Civilization VI is currently available at the discounted price of $30, with newcomers able to play the first 60 turns for free before reaching for their wallets. This 50 percent discount is available until 11:59 p.m. PT on January 4. Before purchasing, be sure your iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, or iPad 2017 has been updated with iOS 11.

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5 things didn’t know you could buy with bitcoin

This year, bitcoin went from being a niche hobby to a money-making phenomenon. We can’t tell you exactly how much it’s worth when you are reading this (due to its constant fluctuation), but it’s probably enough to have gotten you curious at some point.

One of the biggest hurdles with any alt-currency is knowing what exactly you can do with it. However, the more established bitcoin becomes, the more retailers and businesses will be willing to accept it as a legitimate currency. Here are five things you probably didn’t realize you could buy with your bitcoins.

Gift cards

Not only can gift cards be used as actual presents, they also greatly expand where you can spend your stock of bitcoin. At sites like Gyft and eGifter, you can purchase gift cards for all sorts of retailers that don’t formally take bitcoin yet.

Perhaps most significantly, you can purchase Amazon gift cards and, from there, buy literally anything.

Pizza

We knew bitcoin was for real when we first found out you could buy pizza. PizzaForCoins has been around for a while, allowing you to place orders for various pizza chains through their website and paying with your bitcoin.

Like many of these methods of spending bitcoins, this is a workaround to pizza chains actually accepting cryptocurrencies, but hey — it works.

Airline/hotel/space flight tickets

Travel companies have been ahead of the game on bitcoin for a while now. Surprisingly, big companies like Expedia and CheapAir now accept bitcoin directly through their websites for hotel reservations and airline tickets.

You can even go to space with bitcoin through Virgin Galactic.

Computers

In 2014, Dell announced that it would be accepting bitcoin through its online retail store, making it the biggest company at the time to do so.

But you don’t have to limit yourself to Dell if you want to buy a computer with bitcoin. You can also head over to Newegg and buy pretty much any computer or computer component you could ever need.

Pretty much anything

We mentioned above that gift cards are a good way of opening up the purchasing power of your bitcoins, but this one takes it one step further.

The Amazon-competitor, Overstock, has become the first major online retailer to accept bitcoin for purchases. The CEO of the company is so all-in with cryptocurrencies that just this week he launched a $250 million Initial Coin Offering through the company’s exchange, tZero.

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