Tag Archives: Thomson Reuters Foundation

19Jan/23

Digital welfare dystopia

January 19, 2023SecurityAtos, Australia, Brisbane, China, Crime prevention, Data mining, Internet privacy, Law enforcement, Lina Dencik, Machine learning, Manchester, Mass surveillance, Melanie Klieve, Melbourne, National security, Netherlands, Philip Alston, Prevention, Profiling, Qian Ji Data Co, Samuel Woodhams Digital, Security, Skills, Surveillance, Thomson Reuters Foundation, United Kingdomadmin

By Samuel Woodhams | Digital rights researcher and journalist

Algorithms to determine welfare payments and detect fraud are becoming standard practice around the world. From Manchester to Melbourne, peoples’ lives are being shaped by secretive tools that determine who is eligible for what, and how much debt is owed.

Although the technology has been around for some time, the outbreak of COVID-19 renewed enthusiasm for the digital welfare state and, for thousands of cash-strapped public bodies, the promise of increased efficiency and lower costs has proven irresistible.
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13Jan/23

Reclaiming privacy

January 13, 2023SecurityCensorship, Circumvention, Computing, Content-control software, Digital technology, Egypt, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Great Firewall, India, Information and communications technology, Internet censorship, Internet censorship circumvention, Internet privacy, Internet security, Iran, IRanASignalProxy, Mahsa Amini, META, Proxy server, Russia, Samuel Woodhams Digital, Sri Lanka, Tehran, Thomson Reuters Foundation, United Statesadmin

By Samuel Woodhams | Digital rights researcher and journalist

Last week, WhatsApp announced a new proxy support feature that will help people stay connected during internet disruptions. The app is often targeted by government censors because messages on the end-to-end encrypted service can’t be intercepted, enabling people to organise protests and share critical information in private.
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01Dec/22

FTX collapse crushes crypto dreams in Africa and beyond

December 1, 2022FinanceAlfred Lee, Bahamas, Bangkok, Binance, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies, Cryptography, Economy, Edward Choy, Elisha Owusu Akyaw, Ghana, Japan, Kenya, Lagos, monetary authority of singapore, Money, Morocco, Nigeria, Osarieme Aghedo, Sam Bankman-Fried, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Stablecoin, Thomson Reuters Foundation, TikTok, United Statesadmin

FTX’s bankruptcy hurts small investors across the world
Young African crypto backers fret about damage to sector
Regulators repeat warnings about risks of crypto dealing

LAGOS/BANGKOK – Days before his FTX cryptocurrency exchange collapsed, co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted “Hello, West Africa!” – his latest nod to a region where a growing number of kitchen table investors had put their faith, and savings, in FTX.
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28Nov/22

Gangs, drill music, and police databases

November 28, 2022SecurityAdemola Adedeji, Awate Suleiman, Bryan Knight, Chicago, Chinx, Closed-circuit television, Crime prevention, Digga, Drill music, Law enforcement, London, META, National security, Police, Prevention, Safety, Security, Selam Gebrekidan, Simone Browne, Surveillance, Thomson Reuters Foundation, United Kingdomadmin

The Met has overhauled its ‘Gangs Violence Matrix’ database following a legal challenge by human rights organisation, Liberty. The tool is used by the police force to identify and monitor people suspected of being involved in gang-related crime.
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17Nov/22

The ads are watching you

November 17, 2022SecurityADTECH, Advertising, Belfast, Bermuda, Digital marketing, Facial recognition system, France, Glasgow, Internet privacy, Japan, Ji, London, Manchester, Market economics), Marketing, National security, Online advertising, Peter, Samsung Electronics, Samuel Woodhams Digital, Security, Surveillance, Targeted advertising, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Tokyo, United Statesadmin

By Samuel Woodhams | Digital rights researcher and journalist

Targeted online advertisements are impossible to ignore. Ads based on our browsing history, geolocation, and personal information appear constantly on our social media feeds, news articles, and streaming platforms. As the authors of a new report on the advertising surveillance industry put it: “Targeted advertising is unavoidable for anyone who owns a smartphone or goes online.”
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27Oct/22

Pegasus: invasive spyware or national security?

October 27, 2022Securityamnesty international, Andrés Manuel Obrador, Apple, Augustín Basave Alanís, Bangkok, Basave, Bill Marczak, Citizen Lab, Computer and network surveillance, David Kaye, Donncha, Espionage, Fred Guterl, India, Indonesia, Mexico, NSO Group, Pegasus, Prague, Ronan Farrow, Samuel Woodhams, Samuel Woodhams Digital, Shalev Hulio, Spain, Spyware, Thailand, Thomson Reuters Foundation, United Statesadmin

By Samuel Woodhams | Digital rights researcher and journalist

I’m Samuel Woodhams, a digital rights researcher and journalist based in London.

The saga of the NSO Group’s invasive Pegasus spyware continues, with yet another victim confirmed this month by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab and digital rights group, R3D. The organisations said Mexican opposition politician Augustín Basave Alanís was targeted in September 2021, making him the fourth person allegedly hacked during Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s presidency. Continue reading →

24Oct/22

Women turn to sex work to survive UK cost-of-living crisis

October 24, 2022EconomyAudrey Carradonna, Beatrice Tridimas, Claire Reindorp, Client, English Collective of Prostitutes, Human behavior, Human sexuality, Human trafficking, Laura Watson, London, Martha, Mastercard, Old Town, Prostitution, Runcorn, Service industries, Sex industry, Sex work, Sex workers' rights, Tess Herrmann, Thomson Reuters Foundation, Transgender sex worker, United Kingdom, Young Women's Trustadmin

Surging household costs take heavier toll on women
Sex workers see earnings shrink as clients stay away
Newcomers at risk from lack of information, support

LONDON – Online sex worker Martha blames Britain’s cost-of-living crisis for her dwindling earnings – partly due to increased competition as soaring household bills push more women to sell sex. Continue reading →

17Oct/22

Surveillance tech is weaponry

October 17, 2022SecurityAndrés Manuel López Obrador, Antonio Guterres, China, El Salvador, Espionage, Geneva, Guterres, Hungary, Jordan, Mexico, NSO Group, Obrador, Pegasus, Poland, Prevention, Privacy, Rand Hammoud, Security, Spyware, Surveillance, Thailand, Thomson Reuters Foundationadmin

By Rand Hammoud, Surveillance Campaigner, Access Now

Surveillance technology is weaponry – it targets, tracks, invades, and decimates – and its unbridled use is a far-reaching, destructive violation of human rights. It is an assault rifle in the sustained global offensive on civic space, and we need a global moratorium on its export, sale, transfer, servicing, and use. Continue reading →

07Oct/22

Reform must be the legacy of the Qatar World Cup

October 7, 2022FootballCountries, David Beckham, Doha, FIFA World Cup, FIFA World Cup controversies, Geography of Asia, Isobel Archer, Kafala system, Migrant workers, Nepalis in Qatar, Qatar, Thomson Reuters Foundation, United Kingdom, Western Asiaadmin

Isobel Archer
Published: September 27, 2022 | Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

Isobel Archer is the Gulf Programme Manager at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre.

Today is International Tourism Day and David Beckham’s latest glossy video promo for Qatar Tourism, which is being heavily promoted by the forthcoming World Cup hosts, will likely make it into one of your social feeds.

In it, Doha appears shining and luxurious; endless glass skyscrapers, hotels, parks and plazas form the horizon as Beckham tours the souqs and riviera. Continue reading →

07Oct/22

End-to-end encryption keeps us all safe

October 7, 2022SecurityAcademic disciplines, Articles, Bangladesh, Center for Democracy and Technology, Cryptography, Data security, Disk encryption, Encryption, End-to-end encryption, Global Partners, Human rights and encryption, India, Internet privacy, Mallory Knodel, Ryan Polk, Sheetal Kumar, Strong cryptography, Thomson Reuters Foundation, United Kingdomadmin

Mallory Knodel,Ryan Polk,Sheetal Kumar

Published: October 05, 2022 | Center for Democracy & Technology

Mallory Knodel is Chief Technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology, Ryan Polk is Director of Internet Policy at Internet Society and Sheetal Kumar is Head of Global Engagement and Advocacy at Global Partners Digital.

At the Human Rights Council in Geneva last month, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) presented the strongest endorsement of encryption yet by the world body in its report on privacy in the digital age, underlining that the technology that leverages cryptography to secure communications, is crucial to the rights to privacy, access to information, and free expression in an online world. Continue reading →

Tag: Thomson Reuters Foundation