The Chinese government is trialling new facial recognition software in Xinjiang, the region which is home to the majority of China’s persecuted Uyghur Muslim minority population. According to Radio Free Asia, the new systems are intended to notify police when individuals move out of specifically designated zones. Uyghur rights advocates have expressed concern, condemning the trials as an “unprecedented” step towards the creation of a high tech police state (Radio Free Asia).
The Centre for Humanitarian Data recorded a 30% increase in the number of organisations and a 45% increase in the number of datasets on the Humanitarian Data Exchange platform, including UNICEF, the ISCG, UNESCO and the Pacific Disaster Centre. The Centre is currently looking for feedback on the updated version of the Humanitarian Exchange Language (Centre for Humanitarian Data).
Fujitsu is supplying palm vein recognition technology to itwillbe.org, an organisation working with children living on the streets in India. The biometric technology will be incorporated into mobile app to be used by social workers to identify children. According to Fujitsu, participation will be voluntary and the data collected will be shared with local government authorities and services (Fujitsu).
Whilst the controversy ignited by the Strava data release has focussed mainly on potential risks to military actors, it should also be a wake-up call for humanitarian workers to start thinking about what information they may be giving away without realising it, as Nathaniel Raymond of the Signal Program on Human Security and Technology told the Washington Post. Strava has published an open letter on what they’re doing, and what options are available to users to protect their privacy (Washington Post).
A 1×1 tracking pixel was used against up to 30,000 people as evidence of treason in Turkey, leading to many wrongful imprisonments. Others lost homes and jobs based on the tracking pixel, which was only uncovered after two digital forensic experts began investigating the case. The tracking pixel was linked to Bylock, a free messaging app allegedly associated with Turkey’s Gulenist movement (CBC).
Citizen Lab has uncovered another mass phishing campaign targeting Tibetan activists, along with other minorities, community groups and government agencies in Asia. Citizen Lab has not made any attribution, but notes that “a commonality across these themes is that they are all of political interest to the government of China.” The campaign is notable for how relatively cheap it was – researchers estimate it cost around 1,000 USD to setup and that its maintenance required only basic system administration and web development skills (Citizen Lab).
Myanmar has hosted its second digital rights forum, bringing activists together to discuss the changes, opportunities and challenges which the recent explosion of connectivity is bringing to the country. Myanmar’s mobile penetration rate has gone from 2.5% to over 90% in just seven years. Topics included security, privacy and combatting hate speech online (Global Voices).
Infamous spyware vendor Hacking Team is still in business, partly thanks to a mystery investor who may be linked to the Saudi government. A hack of Hacking Team in 2015 exposed that the company had been selling highly sophisticated surveillance software to authoritarian regimes including Ethiopia and Sudan (Motherboard).
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