35+ Countries Are Leaving the Global Internet - YouTube

Question: Wouldn't all Western countries leave the internet if it was created by another country?

Map of countries that did internet blackouts to stop protesters et al from communicating

#Internet #Communication #HumanRights

Shein launches 3,000 to 4,000 new (fast fashion) female apparel products every day, reportedly. $2 to $30 per item.

Their product line is updated much faster than any other fashion brand (Zara, ASOS, H&M).

Shien is valued at $100b, more than H&M and Zara combined. However, H&M did $24b and Zara $19b last year, and Shein did $10.

They're private and don't give interviews. The CEO has only been seen a couple times.

They say they were founded in 2012, but others say in 2008 with Dianwei (knock offs and stuff, reportedly). So they developed along with mass adoption of smart phones (helps with product discovery). Also collected user info, algos, and the continuing development of Chinese manufacturing and distribution, as well as China-friendly global community.

Shein within China doesn't have the advantage it has over other world brands in the global market, because China is a more saturated market. It can't compete for speed and price like it does against the US.

Shein also made timely payments to suppliers (a rarity in China, reportedly) made it able to get smaller production orders. Small order, quick response. 100 to 500 items as the first batch (3 to 5 days), versus Zara's 100k items. No middle man or import tariffs because they're shipped straight from China to customers (not to retail chains).

Shein pays quite a bit for marketing. It pays influencers and celebs. They do a thing called a 'haul,' in which a tik-toker or instagramer buys/receives a big box, like $500 or $2000 worth, and they try it all on and stuff. This goes viral and creates its own marketing campaign. It's an algo that works through influencers and young women.

Shein was the #1 downloaded shopping app in 2021.

Shein's growth has recently slowed with the China city lockdowns.

Several independent fashion designers have gone on social media alleging Shein has knocked off their design to the tee. Exactly the same, and they sell the things for way less. Doc Marten's and Levi Strauss have sued them. I think to do this you have to be registered in China.

Shein contracts a lot of work to small factories and there are workers who are not in the social welfare system there, whatever the relevance of that is. This is the key to cheap, fast products like this. It's simply finding ways to pay workers less than other places.

An issue lots of people talk about with these fast fashion mass sales brands is waste. 100m tonnes of clothing are dumped in landfills every year now. These products are made to be used once or several times, and they are not good for a second-hand market (for example, a lot of first world used clothing is sent to Africa, and it still is, but they say the fast fashion stuff is not useable, it's basically garbage shipped to them).

Producing textiles is energy intensive, and is often done where there are less regulations which consider the environment. It's been interesting as an example of how the young generation, which has been perceived as more environmentally conscious and critical of past generations waste, doesn't really care because they seem to prefer the less expensive product regardless, because it's what they can more easily afford.

#Shein #Internet #Retail #China

You get a call, and a female actress says "Dad, help me!" and the dad might say his daughters name ("Is that you, Mary?") and then they have the daughter's name.

Or they might get the name and some other info from social media.

They're probably not using this yet, because it's not tech that's so easily available, but be aware that DeepFake calls/videos can do this sort of thing, too. This is especially a risk if you or your loved one posts a lot of videos with them talking on social media. Henry from Techlore noted that this could even just become an automated thing one day after a data breach of phone numbers.

#SocialMedia #Internet

Today, I was cancelled from two social media platforms. After questioning a redditor about his statement about a legal topic, and him responding, and me reviewing the case he cited and responding, it seems he just banned me (was not able to comment further - just read 'error' or something).

Then someone posted a news issue saying how much violence there was in the city/state I live in, and I posted stats (literally facts, numbers, putting it in context with the US's cities and states. I received a comment from the platform saying my comment had been removed.

I generally don't post comments on Facebook, but thought I'd contribute today, but after that I see no reason to try to comment on it in the future.

#BigTech #Internet

... a sentiment I'm hearing a lot. They base this on the epistemic inferiority or conspiracy of government officials in how they handled the pandemic and spoke to the public.

#PIC #Internet #Integrity

This service allows you to create multiple email addresses, and they all can forward to your main email inbox. So you can sign up for a newsletter, and then when they start spamming you you can delete that email. They don't have your actual address.

 

Link: Israel and Iran Broaden Cyberwar to Attack Civilian Targets - The New York Times

#Israel #Cyberwar #Internet #Iran

Video: Alternative facts - YouTube

#Censorship #Information #Internet

... his alleged crime was truancy. He was a member of Youth for Climate Action in Paris, and they were using Protonmail to schedule and organize an event where they would skip school to go and protest, reported Mental Outlaw on YT. The youths were going to protest governments and corporations they believed were causing climate change.

Have you ever skipped school?

Protonmail does not have any userside/clientside encryption. Tor or mixnet would have put something between the user and Protonmail.

Mental Outlaw pointed out that although Protonmail may not comply with a request from an outside state (France, US, whoever), they could just go through Switzerland.

Protonmail updated it's privacy policy to more accurately reflect what they do.

#Protonmail #Internet #Privacy #HumanRights

- send data files over the internet between two locations?

- cross borders without compromising information or sources?

#Journalism #Information #Internet

... goes into effect Nov. 1.

It targets digital companies. Collecting a lot of random info on users in order to 'provide a better service' seems it'll be not as available to businesses. The restrictions in the bill target businesses and don't really apply to the CCP.

Under the law, companies are required to only collect the minimal amount of data for a service, and must obtain consent for collecting sensitive info (like biometrics), offer easy opt-out options, and if they want to transfer data overseas they have to get govt approval first.

Does this put China ahead of the West in internet privacy?

#China #Internet #Privacy

We have got more info from the CCP on which sectors they really want to promote, as opposed to those whose recent growth has been seen to cause them problems (as usual for closed, authoritarian governments, this includes industries that control information).

EV, clean energy, and industrial upgrading have policy tailwinds, according to JPM's Julia Wang.

#China #Information #Internet #Politics

... unlike things Microsoft and Dropbox currently do, which is scan images people upload to their cloud storage, Apple has said they are going to actually scan users phones themselves. They cited 'harm against children' as their auspice.

Commenters have pointed out that in addition to just being privacy-invading and certain to lead to governments around the world monitoring journalists, dissidents, and everyone else, it means there will be unknown people in a room somewhere reviewing any photos they take of their children being bathed in a sink, etc.

Commenters say it marks a change in direction for Apple, who had built a (somewhat dubious but somewhat popular) rep as going against attempts to invade their customer's privacy.

#Apple #Phones #Internet #Privacy

... and targeting journalists in 50 countries, targeted by 10 states.

One Mexican journalist was on the list and 2 months later was killed, although journalists are frequently killed in Mexico.

The spyware is reportedly from Israeli company NSO Group (although there are many other similar companies). The software is sold to governments (only those who have been 'approved by Israel') to deal with 'terrorism' and 'criminals,' but is used by governments against their own civil society (journalists, activists, dissidents, lawyers) and heads of state.

The software is almost undetectable on your phone. It is not the kind of malware that you have to stupidly click something to have it install (spearfishing). It uses a zero-click exploit, using some app on your phone. It's not known which apps, but one is WhatsApp: it infected phones using a WhatsApp call and you don't even have to pick up the call. It has root access to the device (can do anything, including see all keystrokes, use camera, mic, contacts, archives, location). It might be stored in a temp file in RAM instead of on the hard drive.

The only way to get rid of it currently is get a new phone and new SIM.

#journalism #Surveillance #Internet

... including vocal journalists, activists, artists and researchers.

The website is titled after a derogatory term for Muslim Indian women.

#Internet #India #SocialMedia #Sex #MaleFemale

... according to everyone in the privacy forums and bloggers, because it updated it's policies to tell users it would be collecting unknown data from them and using it in unknown ways.

Audacity was bought by Muse Group (which owns Musescore and Ultimate Guitar). The new owners pledged to keep it 'free and opensource' but it seems they might have found another way to monetize their investment here).

One of the things people were most excited to point out about the new policy for Audacity was they added a 'only use if over age 13' type line, because under GDPR 'The age threshold for obtaining parental consent is established by each EU Member State and can be between 13 and 16 years.'

Many people just said they wouldn't use it anymore and deleted it from their machines. Other options offered by the community were to fork or use a previous version, or to limit port access.

#Privacy #Internet #Audacity #OpenSource #Software

The US justice dept said the publishers, including a channel used by Yemen's Houthi rebels and 3 websites using by a Hezbollah group in Iraq, were using the sites to spread misinformation.The domains for the sites are registered in the US.

Iran recently elected a new president who reportedly has already ruled out meeting with Biden, while negotiators from Iran, the US, Russia, China and other countries are working on revising the 2015 nuclear deal. Negotiators reportedly are close to a deal that would bring Iran again into compliance.

Some wonder if the action has the possibility to derail the negotiations.

Some critics point out that there is a concern in turning the domain name system (DNS) into a tool of geopolitical info warfare because that threatens the integrity of the internet and the global network.

"What the US did to Iranian websites was a breach of all principles of freedom of speech, which the United States is proud of." - Some guy not identified by RT

Who gets to decide what is info and what is misinformation? The censor of the internet?

#Press #Speech #Information #Internet #Censorship

Basically all crypto dropped significantly, after months of increased speculative buying.

Other factors in the drop: further talk of regulation, ESG (energy use) concerns regarding mining, and China cracking down on crypto.

In somewhat related crypto news, Bitmix reportedly ceased operations, not long after the tentative conclusion of the DarkSide pipeline hack. Bitmix was a crypto money laundering service used by ransomware hackers.

Musk tweeted a "diamond hands" image, signifying he wasn't selling.

About a month later, Musk tweeted a more positive comment on energy concerns with crypto mining, causing Bitcoin to rise from around $35k to around 40k.

#Crypto #Hacking #Internet