Forbes contributor Kalev Leetaru argues that “the encryption debate is already over — Facebook ended it earlier this year.”

The ability of encryption to shield a user’s communications rests upon the assumption that the sender and recipient’s devices are themselves secure, with the encrypted channel the only weak point… [But] Facebook announced earlier this year preliminary results from its efforts to move a global mass surveillance infrastructure directly onto users’ devices where it can bypass the protections of end-to-end encryption. In Facebook’s vision, the actual end-to-end encryption client itself such as WhatsApp will include embedded content moderation and blacklist filtering algorithms. These algorithms will be continually updated from a central cloud service, but will run locally on the user’s device, scanning each cleartext message before it is sent and each encrypted message after it is decrypted. The company even noted that when it detects violations it will need to quietly stream a copy of the formerly encrypted content back to its central servers to analyze further, even if the user objects, acting as true wiretapping service…

If Facebook’s model succeeds, it will only be a matter of time before device manufacturers and mobile operating system developers embed similar tools directly into devices themselves, making them impossible to escape… Governments would soon use lawful court orders to require companies to build in custom filters of content they are concerned about and automatically notify them of violations, including sending a copy of the offending content. Rather than grappling with how to defeat encryption, governments will simply be able to harness social media companies to perform their mass surveillance for them, sending them real-time alerts and copies of the decrypted content.
Putting this all together, the sad reality of the encryption debate is that after 30 years it is finally over: dead at the hands of Facebook. If the company’s new on-device content moderation succeeds it will usher in the end of consumer end-to-end encryption and create a framework for governments to outsource their mass surveillance directly to social media companies, completely bypassing encryption.
In the end, encryption’s days are numbered and the world has Facebook to thank.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot – Did Facebook End The Encryption Debate?

A “city killer” asteroid whizzed past earth Thursday that “would have hit with over 30 times the energy of the atomic blast at Hiroshima,” according to one astronomer professor.

Long-time Slashdot reader SonicSpike shared a Washington Post story that begins with a reaction from Alan Duffy, lead scientist at the Royal Institution of Australia:
“I was stunned,” he said. “This was a true shock.”

This asteroid wasn’t one that scientists had been tracking, and it had seemingly appeared from “out of nowhere,” Michael Brown, a Melbourne-based observational astronomer, told The Washington Post. According to data from NASA, the craggy rock was large, an estimated 57 to 130 metres wide (187 to 427 feet), and moving fast along a path that brought it within about 73,000 kilometres (45,000 miles) of Earth. That’s less than one-fifth of the distance to the moon and what Duffy considers “uncomfortably close….”

The asteroid’s presence was discovered only earlier this week by separate astronomy teams in Brazil and the United States. Information about its size and path was announced just hours before it shot past Earth, Brown said. “It shook me out my morning complacency,” he said. “It’s probably the largest asteroid to pass this close to Earth in quite a number of years.”

So how did the event almost go unnoticed?

Scientists have spotted 90% of asteroids that more than half a mile wide — but this asteroid was smaller, faster, and had an unusual orbit.

“It should worry us all, quite frankly,” one scientist told the Post. “It’s not a Hollywood movie. It is a clear and present danger.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot – Scientists Stunned By ‘City-Killer’ Asteroid That Just Missed Earth On July 25

CNBC reports that to solve America’s recycling crisis, “companies and municipalities are turning to AI-assisted robots.”

The problem began last year when China, the world’s largest recyclable processor, stopped accepting most American scrap plastic and cardboard due to contamination problems, and a glut of plastics overwhelming its own processing facilities. Historically, China recycled the bulk of U.S. waste… The situation is dire for many local economies as recycling costs skyrocket. It’s forced many cities and some small communities to stop recycling all together. Now more waste is ending up in landfills and incinerators.

To tackle this environmental catastrophe, U.S. companies and researchers are developing AI-assisted robotic technology that can work with humans in processing plants and improve quality control. The goal is to have robots do a better job at sorting garbage and reduce the contamination and health hazards human workers face in recycling plants every day. Sorting trash is a dirty and dangerous job. Recycling workers are more than twice as likely as other workers to be injured on the job, according to a report at the University of Illinois School of Public Health. The profession also has high fatality rates.

The way the robots work is simple. Guided by cameras and computer systems trained to recognize specific objects, the robots’ arms glide over moving conveyor belts until they reach their target. Oversized tongs or fingers with sensors that are attached to the arms snag cans, glass, plastic containers, and other recyclable items out of the rubbish and place them into nearby bins. The robots — most of which have come online only within the past year — are assisting human workers and can work up to twice as fast.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot – Can Robots Solve America’s Recycling Crisis?

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Doom, there’s now mobile versions in the Google Play Store, reports Android Police, “and since this is a 25th-anniversary release, it includes the fourth expansion Thy Flesh Consumed. It’s the complete package folks, and it’s finally available on Android as an official release.”

And in addition, three Doom re-releases are now available for the Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, reports the Verge — though there was one little glitch:

Bethesda says it’ll get rid of the strange requirement that players must log into an online account before they play the newly re-released versions of Doom, Doom II, and Doom 3, which went live yesterday. Players quickly criticized Bethesda for the seemingly ridiculous limitation — the first of these games was released more than 25 years ago, at a time when there was obviously no internet requirement. The online login will be made optional in a coming update, Bethesda said today.

The re-releases were part of QuakeCon 2019, reports IGN, noting that Bethesda also showcased Doom Eternal’s multiplayer, “revealing new details about the unique 1v2 Battle Mode.”

Forbes hails the re-releases as “id Software’s fast-paced, ultra-violent…classic shooters,” adding that “It appears the re-releases are actually Unity remakes, though whether much has changed beyond resolution support remains to be seen.” But they may also have some other minor differences, Engadget reports:

There have been a few other complaints as well, such as the addition of copy protection, graphical changes (such as filtering that softens those 1993-era graphics) and apparent music tempo slowdowns on the Switch. That’s not including the removal of downloads for the old PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. It’s not a fiasco, but these clearly weren’t the straightforward ports some were expecting.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Source: Slashdot – ‘Doom’ Celebrates 25th Anniversary By Re-Releasing Three Classic Games