Notices by Joseph Cox (josephcox@infosec.exchange)

New: I haven't owned a cellphone since ~2017. Telecom breaches, SIM swaps, SS7 attacks, location data selling, all reasons I don't have one. A startup selling a privacy-focused phone network to the US military is now offering it to the public. I tried it https://www.404media.co/i-dont-own-a-cellphone-can-this-privacy-focused-network-change-that/

New from 404 Media: Buzzfeed is using an AI-powered ad platform that recommends products based on images in its articles. That includes... ads that suggest you buy a hat of a man who died by suicide https://www.404media.co/ai-powered-buzzfeed-ads-suggest-you-buy-hat-of-man-who-died-by-suicide/

Good news: an AI chatbot added to a mushroom foraging Facebook group immediately gave readers advice to “sauté in butter” a potentially dangerous mushroom

https://www.404media.co/ai-chatbot-added-to-mushroom-foraging-facebook-group-immediately-gives-tips-for-cooking-dangerous-mushroom/

New from 404 Media: got hundreds of internal Secret Service emails where it said tracking peoples' location without a warrant was okay because citizens have clicked 'accept' on app terms of service. This is the data that powers tools like Locate X https://www.404media.co/fyi-a-warrant-isnt-needed-secret-service-says-you-agreed-to-be-tracked-with-location-data/

New: massive e-learning platform Udemy gave teachers a window to 'opt-out' of their material being used to train AI. That window is already over. We spoke to instructors who had no idea they had automatically been opted-in. See here, it's greyed out https://www.404media.co/massive-e-learning-platform-udemy-gave-teachers-a-gen-ai-opt-out-window-its-already-over/

New from 404 Media: Google is serving AI images of mushrooms when users search for some species. Very risky, potentially fatal error for foragers who are trying to find what mushrooms are safe to eat. Could have "devastating consequences" one expert said https://www.404media.co/google-serves-ai-generated-images-of-mushrooms-putting-foragers-at-risk/

New from 404 Media: LinkedIn is training AI on users before updating its terms of service. People noticed a new setting on generative AI. I asked LinkedIn, they said they're updating their terms "shortly." They went ahead and trained AI w/o updating https://www.404media.co/linkedin-is-training-ai-on-user-data-before-updating-its-terms-of-service/

New: the Taliban took control of the domain "queer.af" (af being the TLD of Afghanistan). With the Taliban now controlling the country, it is taking back domains. This had the effect of killing the queer.af Mastodon instance https://www.404media.co/taliban-shuts-down-queer-af-domain-breaking-mastodon-instance/

New from 404 Media: inside the underground site where "neural networks" churn out fake IDs
- I tested the service, called OnlyFake, made two IDs in minutes
- I then used one to successfully bypass the identity verification check on a cryptocurrency exchange
- Massive implications for crime, cybersecurity. What does it mean for us when fake IDs are a mouse click away?

https://www.404media.co/inside-the-underground-site-where-ai-neural-networks-churns-out-fake-ids-onlyfake/

New: 404 Media's @samleecole and @emanuelmaiberg traced those viral (and abusive) AI porn images of Taylor Swift to a specific Telegram community. That community uses Microsoft's AI tools. This is the source of nonconsensual Swift porn now spreading online
https://www.404media.co/ai-generated-taylor-swift-porn-twitter/

New: update on the Russian economist who managed to fly from Copenhagen to LA with no boarding pass, without the airline, government, or the man himself knowing how. He tried to get on other flights, slept in the terminal, more:
https://www.404media.co/russian-economist-had-passports-confiscated-at-airport-was-allowed-to-sneak-onto-flight-to-lax-without-a-ticket-anyway/

New: Google News is boosting AI-generated garbage articles that rip-off other peoples' work. One company even admitted practice to me. Even wilder: Google says it doesn't focus on whether an article was made by AI or a human for News, opening way for more https://www.404media.co/google-news-is-boosting-garbage-ai-generated-articles/

New from 404 Media: a Google contractor is paying parents $50 to film their children in sunglasses, hats, etc with the collected data including "eyelid shape" and "skin tone." Google confirmed the data collection in a statement; said to verify age https://www.404media.co/google-telus-pays-50-to-scan-childrens-eyelid-shape-and-skin-tone/

Download the newly unsealed Jeffrey Epstein documents here: https://404media.co/download-the-jeffrey-epstein-documents/

For sake of public access, we've downloaded the docs and put them onto 404 Media as a .zip for you to download for free, no need to pay the US court system

Looking for a last minute holiday gift? You can gift a 404 Media sub!
- support investigative tech journalism
- bonus podcast content every week and bonus eps
- behind the blog articles
- ad free articles
- FOIA explainers
- merch discounts
https://www.404media.co/404-media-gift-guide-a-gift-subscription-to-404-media/

New: Facebook is awash with stolen, AI-generated images that massive groups of people think are real

The once-prophesized future where cheap, AI trash content floods out the hard work of real humans is already here, and is already taking over Facebook https://www.404media.co/facebook-is-being-overrun-with-stolen-ai-generated-images-that-people-think-are-real/?ref=daily-stories-newsletter

New: a marketing company claims it actually *is* listening to people through smartphone/smart TV microphones to hear what people are saying and target ads. From Cox Media, called Active Listening. According to material online and person pitched on product https://404media.co/cmg-cox-media-actually-listening-to-phones-smartspeakers-for-ads-marketing/

New from 404 Media: you may have seen that a group of Polish hackers repaired trains the manufacturers had bricked (hackers were successful and helped). Now the train company is threatening to sue them. We spoke to the hackers.

https://www.404media.co/polish-hackers-repaired-trains-the-manufacturer-artificially-bricked-now-the-train-company-is-threatening-them/

The 404 Media podcast is up!
- The mystery of how someone flew into LAX with no ticket or passport
- The latest Patreon ban hammer
- [Subscribers-only] a massive fuck up by Verizon and, in part, why I don't use a phone (see this clip)

Apple/Spotify/etc: https://www.404media.co/404-media-podcast-17-russian-lax-plane-no-passport/

New from 404 Media: massive failure by Verizon. Stalker poses as cop with obviously bogus search warrant + ProtonMail email. Verizon provides stalker with victim's phone records. Stalker then drives to a target address armed with knife. Safety at risk https://www.404media.co/verizon-gave-phone-data-to-stalker-edrs-search-warrant-pose-as-cop/