Good Monday Morning

It’s July 10. Amazon Prime Days are tomorrow and Wednesday. The FTC has sued Amazon for what it calls deceptive behavior in coaxing people to sign up for Prime and when they try to cancel. Check out Protip below to learn how you can spot dark patterns.

Today’s Spotlight is 1,034 words–about 4 minutes to read.

3 Stories to Know

1. The Canadian government is battling Meta and Google. The Online News Act of Canada takes effect at the end of this year and mandates that digital platforms pay news organizations for the content they use. Meta and Google both oppose the law and have threatened to block Canadians from accessing news content. A similar bill was passed in Australia in 2021. After originally blocking news content, the companies eventually paid millions of dollars in order to comply.

2. New FTC rules aim to crack down on businesses selling and manipulating online reviews. As many as 40% of online reviews are fake, according to advocacy groups. New rules create tens of thousands of dollars in penalties each time a consumer seesa fake review. In the absence of adequate fraud prevention, critics say platform providers, such as Amazon and Yelp, should be held accountable by the FTC. Others worry that the new rules will stifle free speech. 

3. You’re almost certainly eligible to receive money from Google and Facebook from class-action lawsuit payouts. Sometimes they’re nothing to sneeze at. Our family received $120 from Yahoo! earlier this year, although the Google and Facebook payouts are expected to be much lower.  

To file for Google if you used the search engine between 2006 and 2013, start here to get a “Class Member ID” and then file here by July 31.

To file for Facebook/Meta if you used that network between 2007 and 2022, file here by August 25.

Spotlight on Threads

Threads, the new social media network, launched last week and became the most successful app launch in history. By Sunday, Threads boasted nearly 100 million accounts and had left Twitter owner Elon Musk ranting on his network that, “Zuck is a cuck.” Musk had previously threatened to sue Meta over similarities between Twitter and Threads.

Threads offers little that is inherently new. For now, it’s tied to Instagram and Threads users can follow their Instagram followers on the new app by clicking a button. The software functions as if Twitter and Instagram were merged. Messages are limited to 500 characters and can include links, images, or emoji. The Instagram integration makes it easy to share content between the two apps.

Some features are unavailable or different from Twitter. There’s no edit button or trending topics. You also can’t change your feed to only show the accounts you follow. You can’t send private messages either. And surprisingly, there is no advertising yet. There’s also one caveat.

Executives say that because Threads was built on top of Instagram instead of as a stand-alone service, canceling your Threads account will also cancel your Instagram account. 

Using Twitter as a public square, journalists and politicians gather and sometimes create news on the popular social network that shot to viral fame in 2006. Twitter lost some relevance in recent years, a slide that Musk’s purchase accelerated. Musk has implemented new account limits and restrictions while continuing to post bragging, capricious content.

Meanwhile, government agencies, large consumer brands, and everyone in between is trying to understand how to effectively use and report on Threads. Consider it an online gold rush where you can hang out with tens of millions of like-minded people.

Practical AI

Quotable: “Don’t ask an LLM to review your source code and find a particular bug” – an internal Adobe email covered by Business Insider that tells employees they  can’t use personal email accounts or corporate credit cards when signing up for AI tools.

Noteworthy: Video game platform Steam is “quietly removing” titles that include content produced by generative AI over copyright liability concerns.

Tool of the Week:Microsoft is offering a free certificate program on LinkedIn Learning about Generative AI. There are undoubtedly plenty of such programs, but this one is offered by the company that invested $10 billion in ChatGPT creator Open AI.

 Waiting in the Wings

• How algorithms are automatically denying medical claims
• Amazon’s data about you expands beyond shopping

Put your email address in the form at this link and you’ll get a free copy of Spotlight each Monday morning to start your week in the know.

If you’re already a free subscriber, would you please forward this to a friend who could use a little Spotlight in their Monday mornings? It would really help us out.

Trends, Spends & TikTok

Did That Really Happen? — Oregon Has More Voters Than Residents

The latest election lies have social media users falsely claiming that there are more registered voters in Oregon than residents. The Associated Press debunks that here.

Following Up —  Lawyers Encouraged to Seek Forgiveness

Remember the lawyers who used ChatGPT for research and included the program’s made-up case citations in a brief? A Manhattan judge has fined them and ordered the pair to send his opinion to all the judges erroneously named. 

Protip — How Dark Patterns Change Your Behavior Online

Let this be the article if you only ever read one thing we’ve linked to or covered. The Pudding is home to some of the best data visualization projects online, and this particular piece shows point-by-point how dark patterns work. With serendipitous timing, one of the 16 examples in the project is Amazon, the company sued recently by the FTC for deceiving consumers using dark patterns. 

Screening Room —  Bud Light

The embattled beer maker takes on summer party mishaps in this fun 60 second spot.

Science Fiction World —  Replacing Undersea Cables 

Those massive undersea data cables that allow global connectivity may one day be replaced by lasers. A team of scientists in Zurich has successfully tested similar data speeds using lasers between their facility and a target more than 30 miles away. 

Coffee Break — Real or Not Quiz

Try your hand at distinguishing whether these marketing images are photographs or AI-generated images.

Sign of the Times

Good Monday Morning

It’s May 22. We’re off next week for Memorial Day. See you on June 5.

Today’s Spotlight is 1,173 words–about 4 1/2 minutes to read.

Spotlight On … Federal Surveillance Programs

A steady drumbeat of anti-privacy federal surveillance headlines emerged last week about programs at FBI, HUD, and the Post Office. The programs are similar to one we learned about in January regarding surprising federal surveillance initiatives.

For Everyday Money Transfers

In January, we learned that more than 600 law enforcement agencies can access a database that details money transfers between Americans and people in more than 20 countries. Those transfers include the full name and address of the sender and recipient for money orders and other electronic transfers well below the $10,000 threshold, often triggered by as little as $500.

Important quote: “Courts have held that customers using money transmitter businesses do not have the same expectation of privacy as traditional banking customers,” an Arizona Attorney General statement to the WSJ.

In Public Housing Communities

Public housing funds earmarked to combat crime are being used to monitor resident behavior and recommend evictions for minor violations. Transgressions such as taking a cart from a laundry room or violating overnight guest rules are monitored by cameras that include facial recognition and advanced software.

Important quote: “People choose to get evicted by their actions.” Melody McClurg, executive director of the Jefferson Metropolitan Housing Authority in Steubenville to the Washington Post

At the Post Office

A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators last week accused the U.S. Postal Service of “unchecked government monitoring” of Americans’ mail. Post offices collect information upon written request by a law enforcement officer–no court order is necessary. All the information on the envelope’s outside is included. In their letter, the senators claim tens of thousands of Americans and businesses are monitored.

Important quote: “A mail cover is an investigative tool used to record data appearing on the outside of a mailpiece. Law enforcement agencies use this information to protect national security; locate fugitives; obtain evidence; or help identify property, proceeds, or assets forfeitable under criminal law. A mail cover is justified when it will further an investigation or provide evidence of a crime.” — USPS description

In Secret Databases

A recently unsealed court document shows that the FBI used a federal surveillance database to monitor individuals who protested for racial equality, illegally entered the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection, or donated to a congressional candidate. The database is under the control of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which threatened last year to restrict FBI access to the data.

Important finding: Court documents show “an FBI analyst conducted a batch query for over 19,000 donors to a congressional campaign” because the analyst said the campaign was a target of foreign influence, reports the Washington Post.

3 More Stories to Know

1) A First Amendment battle is shaping up in Montana where Gov. Greg Gianforte signed a bill to ban TikTok in the state. The bill takes effect in January and prohibits app stores from making the software available and the company from operating in the state.

2) 30-Second unskippable ads can now be purchased on YouTube. Calling the format “a staple of the TV industry,” YouTube said that the ads would be used only when content is shown on a television and not on phones or computers.

3) Angi company HomeAdvisor has agreed to pay $7.2 million to home services companies it defrauded by misrepresenting the consumer leads it sold them.

Did That Really Happen? — Biden Graduation Video Manipulated

A video of President Biden attending his granddaughter’s graduation has been digitally manipulated to include a crowd chanting “Fuck Joe Biden” in time to a marching band. The hoax video has been viewed more than one million times.

Following Up —  TSA Rolling Out New Program

Travelers at 16 airports will have the opportunity to take a selfie at a kiosk and then have their id scanned without having to rely on an officer to match their id and face. An agent is available, and travelers can opt out.

Protip —  Revisit WhatsApp Privacy

Wired updated their privacy walk-through of WhatsApp so if that’s one of your communications channels, have a look through this explainer.

Screening Room —  Augmental MouthPad

This unobtrusive mouthguard-like device is a game-changer for adapting tech devices for people who have disabilities.

Science Fiction World —  Your DNA, Pulled From Thin Air

Environmental researchers have long filtered human DNA from their work. Wildlife researchers and botanists use environmental DNA after scrubbing out human contamination. Now a bioethical issue is being raised: what should be the rules for how residual human DNA is used when it’s available to anyone with the right equipment?

Coffee Break — Same Place Names As Viewed Throughout The U.S.

This interactive database allows you to enter a place name and learn which town is being referred to throughout the U.S. 

For example: most of the country is referring to the Fairfax in Virginia, but people in Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana likely mean Fairfax, Ohio, and people in SC and eastern Georgia probably mean Fairfax, SC.

It’s great fun to play with.

Sign of The Times

Good Monday Morning

It’s May 1, May Day, celebrating workers’ rights. The Fed Open Market Committee meets on Wednesday. Experts are divided about whether rates will be increased for the tenth time since the beginning of 2022 or if there’s been enough friction applied.

Today’s Spotlight is 1,098 words–about 4 minutes to read

Two features debut this month

• Practical AI, our new look at how you can leverage AI, will appear after 3 More Stories to Know starting this month.
  
  We’ve been to this hypergrowth rodeo before, and the rush to control the internet’s next phase has revved up development in every possible industry. We’re dedicating a special area to generative AI so that its constant news doesn’t crowd out other digital news.
  
• Spends & Trends adds TikTok data next week:  Hashtags, Songs, and Creator data organized by engagement.

Spotlight On … Hide Your Location Data

Location data is purchased and collated with personal information more often than most Americans realize. Data brokers claim to have 75,000 data points on the average American consumer. Many of those data sets are repackaged at the request of marketers with data combined in new, unique ways.

According to news reports last month, a conservative Catholic group spent millions of dollars tracking priests who used gay dating apps. A lay group spent $4 million legally purchasing the data, then shared the findings with bishops. That kind of punitive tracking led to the outing of an administrator for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other measures that destroyed the illusion of privacy.

Relying on the industry to police itself harms individuals, but can also create significant national security issues. In 2018, we wrote about Strava, a data company that aggregates data from fitness trackers. Strava reporting revealed the existence of military and other sensitive sites even in countries where the U.S. military was fighting.

Now we’ve learned that a similar situation arose last week with hiking data from AllTrails. The app revealed the confidential whereabouts of a former senior Biden administration official. It included travel information to a residence and the White House. A security researcher also tracked the official’s activity including actual hiking trail locations and date and time information.

Some states are acting now to restrict location data without waiting for federal lawmakers. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill last week that shields abortion data of all types, including location data. A first in the U.S., the bill also allows consumers to control their own data even after it’s been captured by tech companies. 

Keep reading & we’ll show you how to turn off some of the location data tracking on your phone before it’s sent back to Google or Apple.

 3 More Stories to Know

1) Windows 10 users got word last week that the software will only receive security updates until Oct. 14, 2025. No new features are planned for Windows 10, and the company advises consumers to switch to Windows 11 before then.

2) You may want to reconsider if you already embraced Google’s 2FA new cloud backup feature. This story shares a researcher’s work claiming that the account details are unencrypted when transmitted to Google. That means all of your account information would be available to anyone searching for them with a subpoena.

Separately, cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs reported that Salesforce’s Community sites can leak personal information. He was able to demonstrate to Vermont officials that he could access names, Social Security numbers, bank account numbers, and other highly confidential information.

3) The European Union is considering legislation that would require AI companies such as the makers of ChatGPT to disclose all copyrighted materials used in training their models.

 Waiting in the Wings

• What you can really do with those chatbots
• How algorithms are automatically denying medical claims
• The May debut of “Practical AI”

Put your email address in the form at this link and you’ll get a free copy of Spotlight each Monday morning to start your week in the know.

If you’re already a free subscriber, would you please forward this to a friend who could use a little Spotlight in their Monday mornings? It would really help us out.

Trends & Spends

Did That Really Happen? — Adam Schiff Not Being Impeached … Because He Can’t Be

A video traveling around on Facebook characterizes Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan as “brave” and says that he has “shut down” Rep. Adam Schiff, who will be impeached. The hoax includes clips of a hearing four years ago that shows a Republican representative demanding that Schiff resign. There are two clips of Rep. Jordan, but neither has anything to do with Schiff. House rules don’t allow for representatives to be impeached, and no such action is happening.

Following Up —  Revisiting Amazon

We featured Amazon two weeks ago and wrote that their cost cutting measures were largely performative because Wall Street was concerned about Amazon’s growth rate. Events last Thursday played out as we projected. Revenue growth at the AWS cloud unit was 11%, down from 16% the previous quarter, and the lowest for that unit in its eight year history.

Amazon beat overall expectations and saw profit increase 50% over what analysts expected. Ecommerce sales and the advertising division both beat estimates, but Amazon stock got hit as soon as the AWS numbers came out.

This Statista chart does a great job showing the importance of AWS to Amazon’s future.

Protip —  Hide Your Location Data

You can stop your phone from being a blabbermouth by following these step-by-step instructions to change your Apple Maps and Android settings.  

Screening Room —  Calm Mindfulness App

Science Fiction World — ChatGPT & Google Play Their Own Sims

Using ChatGPT’s models and Google engineers, researchers created an online Sims-like environment where generative AI controlled 25 player characters. Those characters could interact with each other as well as human players. Those AI characters did things like independently planning parties while inviting others to join and other “believable plans, reactions, and thoughts…”

Coffee Break — A New (Short) Daily Game

Where in the USA Is This is from The Pudding, some of the best data visualization people online. They’ve created a game that gives you up to 5 guesses to choose the site of images harvested from Google Maps’ Street View. The maps are usually stripped of street signs and building names, but you can use other visual clues to guess the location. After each guess you’re told how close you are, but not the direction. It’s a lot of fun.

Sign of the Times