Do Apple and Zoom secretly record you? Buggy Big Tech turns on mic while bulk CIA spying is revealed (Issue 19, 2022)

Privacy up for debate with US state lawmakers pushing against facial recognition, Brazilian airports deploying biometrics and the US Congress threatening encryption with EARN IT.

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Issue 19, 2022

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In this edition:

• CIA secret domestic spying program

• US Senate advances anti-encryption bill

• Google to face fine in Russia for YouTube censorship

• Zoom may be recording Mac users after meetings

• iPhone recorded Siri conversations, sent them to Apple

• US lawmakers urge government to end contracts with Clearview AI

• Brazilian airports to implement biometric boarding process

CIA secret domestic spying program

Two US Senators recently revealed the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has a secret data collection program which gathers data on Americans. The senators claim the CIA hid the program from the public as well as the US Congress for several years. Democratic Senators Ron Wyden (OR) and Martin Heinrich(NM) learned of the program through their position on the Senate Intelligence Committee and had urged for information on the program to be declassified in a letter sent to the Director of the CIA, William Burns and the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines in April of 2021.

The Senate Intelligence Committee became aware of the program last year through a classified report provided by the intelligence oversight watchdog group, Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB). According to Sen. Wyden, the report titled “Deep Dive II” referenced the “bulk collection” program.

The secret program recently made headlines when the CIA declassified portions of the letter—still heavily redacted—sent by Wyden and Heinrich. The letter requested for details of the program to be made public. The nature and the scope of the data collection is unknown.

The CIA is generally prohibited from spying on Americans.

US Senate advances anti-encryption bill

In a majority vote, the US Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the EARN IT Act, a controversial bill that on the surface seems to protect children online but has serious implications for free speech and privacy. If the bill becomes law, tech companies would lose several protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Additionally, digital privacy advocates and organizations, such as the Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF), warn that the bill could have negative impacts on encrypted communications by encouraging tech companies to prevent encryption on their platforms and to scan material sent among users.

According to the EFF, the bill falsely states that the EARN IT Act is needed to protect children, but under existing law, a company that is aware of distribution of illegal material and fails to report it, can already be prosecuted.

Additionally, the EARN IT Act includes a provision which reduces the legal standard required to prosecute a child sexual abuse material (CSAM) case. Furthermore, the bill will allow the use of encryption itself to be admitted into evidence. Critics of the bill argue it places pressure on internet companies to scan user messages, files and photos.

“The EARN IT Act doesn’t target Big Tech. It targets every individual internet user. Child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is already highly illegal under federal law, and platforms are already subject to prosecution if they know about CSAM material and don’t take action. The true impact of EARN IT passing would be to pressure companies to engage in widespread scanning of each users’ private communications and images,” said Nathan Sheard, Deputy Managing Director of EFF. “The robust protection of end-to-end encryption that users should be able to expect is simply not compatible with the wide-scale surveillance of their customers that companies will be forced to adopt.”

Despite some pushback from members of Congress, the bill has received bipartisan support.

Google to face fine in Russia for YouTube censorship

Mega corporation Google faces a fine in Russia after an antitrust watchdog group determined the Big Tech giant was in violation of Russia’s regulations related to suspending accounts on its video streaming service YouTube. Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) said the company would undergo an administrative investigation which would determine the amount ordered to be paid in fines. Additionally, FAS claimed that Google’s activity has been a disservice to user interests and prevented competition on the platform.

However, this is just Google’s latest violation of Russian internet regulations. In fact, Google received several small fines last year for failing to delete content that is illegal in the nation. As recently as December, the US-based tech giant faced a 7.2 billion rouble fine for failing to remove banned content.

According to the report, FAS says Google's moderation practices on the popular video streaming platform are “non-transparent, biased and unpredictable.”

Zoom may be recording Mac users after meetings

Apple users have reported that after using the video conferencing platform Zoom, the company’s software left the user’s microphone activated. Several users noticed their mic was still on due to Apple’s new visual cue which shows the user if an app or browser is accessing their microphone or camera.

According to The Register, the issue affects Zoom’s native app running on MacOS Monterrey, which was released late last year. The company claims that updating to Zoom version 5.9.1 (3506) will fix the issue. However, according to a report in Tech Radar, one user claimed the orange light, indicating the mic is being accessed, was still activated even after updating the software.

To ensure users are not being recorded without their knowledge, Zoom users are encouraged to exit the video conferencing platform following calls.

iPhone recorded Siri conversations, sent them to Apple

An iPhone bug secretly recorded the Siri conversations of unsuspecting users of its iPhone iOS 15. The bug ‘automatically enabled a setting that gave Apple the ability to record, store, and review conversations users had with its digital voice assistant.’ The bug specifically affected users on the iOS 15.2, but according to Apple, the bug has been resolved on the latest updated version of iOS 15.4 as users are now prompted to either accept or reject Apple’s data collection.

However, this is not the first time Siri listened to and recorded Apple users' conversations. In 2019, whistleblower Thomas le Bonniec revealed the company allowed contractors to listen to users’ conversations without their consent. Le Bonniec was hired by an Apple subcontactor and was instructed to listen to hundreds of users’ recordings from iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches. The revelation led to the firing of 300 employees.

Regarding this latest privacy matter with the iOS 15.2, it remains unknown how many people were affected and when the secret recordings began.

US lawmakers urge government to end contracts with Clearview AI

Four democratic lawmakers, Senators Ed Markey (MA), Jeff Merkley (OR) and Representatives Pramila Jayapal (WA) and Ayanna Pressley (MA) sent letters to government agencies encouraging them to end their use of Clearview AI facial recognition technology.

The letter was sent to federal agencies including the Department of Justice, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and the Department of the Interior, which were identified in an August 2021 report from the General Accounting Office as having contracts with the controversial facial recognition company Clearview AI for ‘domestic law purposes.’

The letter raises the human rights violations that arise from the use of facial recognition technology. It reads, “Use of increasingly powerful technologies like Clearview AI’s have the concerning potential to violate Americans’ privacy rights and exacerbate existing injustices.”

In addition to the letter, the same four members of Congress have also introduced a bill, The Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2020, that would prevent the federal government and law enforcement using facial recognition technology completely.

Clearview AI has been the subject of global scrutiny for privacy violations in France, Australia, the UK and Canada.

Brazilian airports to implement biometric boarding process

Brazil’s São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro airports will adopt a digital boarding process based on biometrics following an agreement signed by airport operator Infraero and technology company Serpro. Biometric boarding in Brazil has been in the trial phase for the past two years and was tested on6,000 passengers traveling between the Congonhas and Santos Dumont airports.

The process uses ‘the passenger’s personal data, social security number, and a photo taken on the spot.’ Then the information is compared to the information in the government’s database for identity verification.

According to the report, this new system, based on Serpro’s facial biometric technology, is part of a broader initiative called the ‘Safer Boarding’ program, which is supported by the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Special Secretariat for Management and Digital Government of the Ministry of Economy. The Civil Aviation Agency, the airlines, airport operators and other stakeholders including tech companies such as Amadeus, Biomtech, Collins, Digicon, Idemia, Rockwell Collins, and several others were involved in the creation of the system.

The new biometric boarding system is expected to be fully implemented this year.

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That concludes Your Worldwide INTERNET REPORT for this week! 

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This issue of Your Worldwide INTERNET REPORT was written by Taylor Hudak; Edited by Suzie Dawson and Sean O’Brien; Graphics by Kimber Maddox; with production support by David Sutton.

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