Massive Data Breach Raises Questions About Data Brokers' Security Practices and Responsibility

A dataset of 170 million sensitive data which included names, addresses, phone numbers, emails, skills, education history and employment history of individuals roaming freely on the internet. After tracing who leaked the data, it was found that it was leaked by a San Francisco based data broker, People Data Labs (PBL). The website of PBL has data of 1.5 billion individuals which is used for recruiting, sales, marketing and data enrichment purposes.

The data was leaked because of an Elasticsearch server which was left unprotected, and was not directly linked to the company. It is being said that a third-part is probably responsible for this data leak. Even though the third-party hasn’t been identified yet, it is very important to have a password on Elasticsearch server or else your data can easily be obtained by threat actors. These threat actors can easily expose your data in seconds which can end up in identity theft and fraud.

Cybernews research team says that data brokers are always in controversy because they do not check and control the data completely and it often ends up in the hands of wrong parties. The threat actors can use your data for many large attacks. PDL was also responsible for leaking data in 2019, and it was also done by an unprotected Elasticsearch server and PDL refused to take responsibility.

The current data leak was marked as Version 26.2, suggesting that it can be related to the previous data leak. Even if PDL is not responsible for the leak, these kinds of leaks taint the reputation of data brokers and clients cannot trust them anymore. As PDL experienced a data leak in 2019 previously, it shows how ignorant they are being with people’s data and are not thinking about personal data security.

If you think that you have been potentially affected by a data leak, make sure to stay cautious of phishing attacks and scams. Use some data removal services to protect against future data leak, use strong passwords and enable two factor authentication. Always monitor your accounts to check any suspicious activities.

Image: DIW-Aigen

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• How Many Hours Do People Work Around the World?
by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

How Many Hours Do People Work Around the World?

The chart below ranked countries according to their average working hours by sourcing data from OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development).

An interesting fact about this ranking is that there is a gap of 864 hours (36 days) between the country with the most working hours and the country with the least working hours.

The country with the most working hours, as of 2023, is Mexico with 2207 hours worked annually per person. The second and third countries with the most working hours are also from the Americas: Costa Rica and Chile with 2171 and 1953 hours worked annually respectively. The reasons why these countries have the most working hours could be due to several factors like economic structure of the country, social policies and lower wages. If the workers are getting low wages, they need to work more to create a comfortable living for them.

Some other countries with the most working hours include Greece, Korea, Canada, Poland and the USA. The countries with the least working hours are from the European Union and have strong economies. All the employees from these countries also get 4 weeks paid holiday every year. These countries include Sweden, Luxembourg, Lithuania, and the Netherlands. Denmark and Germany are at the end of the list, meaning they have the least working hours. Denmark has 1380 annual working hours, whereas, Germany has 1343 annual working hours which makes 168 8 hour workdays in a year.

Country	No. of 8-hour workdays	Annual Hours Worked per Person
Mexico	276	2207
Costa Rica	271	2171
Chile	244	1953
Greece	237	1897
Israel	235	1880
Korea	234	1872
Canada	233	1865
Poland	225	1803
U.S.	225	1799
Czechia	221	1766
New Zealand	219	1751
Estonia	218	1742
Italy	217	1734
Hungary	210	1679
Australia	206	1651
Lithuania	205	1641
Ireland	204	1633
Spain	204	1632
Portugal	204	1631
Slovak Rep.	204	1631
Slovenia	202	1616
Japan	201	1611
Latvia	194	1548
UK	191	1524
France	188	1500
Finland	187	1499
Luxembourg	183	1462
Iceland	181	1448
Sweden	180	1437
Austria	179	1435
Norway	177	1418
Netherlands	177	1413
Denmark	173	1380
Germany	168	1343

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by Arooj Ahmed via Digital Information World

Meta’s Carbon Footprint In The Spotlight: Discrepancies Over The Company’s Emissions Arise

It’s not easy to unravel the claims made by tech giants today regarding their carbon footprints. The same appears to be the case for tech giant Meta.

While the company’s sustainability report is out to answer any questions on people’s minds about greenhouse gas emissions, it’s not easy to decipher. Many are confused about whether or not the organization's claims about a drop in emissions are true or not.

The discrepancies are arising because you need to take a simple fact into consideration. Is Meta talking about total emissions or is it making the claims after net emissions? If it’s being done locally, you have to determine the key points where the company operates as well.

As seen in the chart above, the light gray-toned bars display gas emissions and since 2019, the figures have kept going upwards. This means the levels of carbon dioxide polluting the environment are at an all-time high.

The dark bars then show market-based results where the emissions have kept falling since last year. Hence, when you look at this footprint, they are half as small. Now the question is what to believe and why.

While Meta might be highlighting the smaller figure or drop in emissions at the report’s top, we need to take both of them into consideration when making a final decision. This is especially true, considering how effective market-based efforts can be in getting rid of pollution and therefore impacting climate change.

The emissions on paper are close to half but it’s not easy to claim how much it’s reduced as a whole. This is compounded with claims from Meta that it balances its high energy use with its renewable purchases for energy.

The company has highlighted the importance of several steps it’s taking to offer better support to both wind and solar initiatives near data centers. One study showed how its support for several renewable energy sources will give rise to 9800MW to local grids next year. It similarly hopes to curate geothermal energy for data centers so it’s really pushing through on this front.

Whatever the case may be, we feel a lot of progress needs to be made. Meta sourced close to 8.5% of the purchases for renewable energy as per the firm’s latest tech assessment.

As a whole, if we were to conclude, the company’s carbon footprint is much bigger than what it was four years back. Keeping in mind its goal for net zero emissions by 2030, lots of work must be done.

Remember, there are a lot of different operations involved on this front. From supply chain to usage of consumer products, the list is long. As we can see now, it’s drifting further and further from its end goal so it’s about time to reconsider. What do you think?

Read next: Many Large Websites Begin Blocking Apple’s AI Web Crawler After Increased Warnings
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Many Large Websites Begin Blocking Apple’s AI Web Crawler After Increased Warnings

Many large-scale websites are getting tired of Apple and its AI web crawler.

Despite several warnings issued in the past, the iPhone maker’s web crawler continues to land on different websites and extracts data for Apple’s AI training endeavors. The list of names who have confirmed this act of Apple are plenty and they are some very big names in the tech world.

While Apple continues to deny the act and says it respects the wishes of these companies, it’s doing otherwise.

As per recently published research, Apple is crawling on sites belonging to Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, Craigslist, the NYT, The Financial Times, The Atlantic, and Vox Media. Now, many of these organizations are left with no choice but to block the company as Apple continues giving the cold shoulder.

The practice of using robotic crawlers is not something new. It’s been in the works for a long time but these bots are now taking others’ data for training AI models. And that’s not something many feel is right as it robs them of their hard work.

The news is alarming as Apple Intelligence is all set to launch soon and we can see why Apple might be engaging in these tactics. As per reports from the NYT, many companies are blocking web crawlers at a record-breaking rate and most of these are AI firms.

The study that came to that conclusion shared how 14k web domains were included for training AI data sets. It’s a necessary step that publishers feel they need to take to stop data from getting harvested.

As per estimates from research experts, around 5% of all data present and 25% of data coming from the best sources was restricted. Most of those were set up via a Robots Exclusion Protocol which is an ancient method for owners of different webpages to stop bots from this move. It’s usually done via files dubbed robots.txt.

It’s very interesting to see Apple disregard the voices of many companies and enable tradeoffs of AI crawlers for scraping AI websites and deciding that it’s not worth it.

But we should not be surprised if more AI giants go about blocking companies now after learning about Apple’s shocking actions. Interestingly, most of the firms complaining are big tech giants. Smaller-scale enterprises don’t seem to mind or care as it makes little to no difference to them.

Image: DIW-Aigen

Read next: OpenAI and Anthropic Agree To Share AI Models With US AI Safety Institute
by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

OpenAI and Anthropic Agree To Share AI Models With US AI Safety Institute

The US AI Safety Institute was first established last year for better regulation of AI models. Now, both OpenAI and Anthropic have signed an agreement with the institute to ensure the complete safety of various projects. This will help give the tech giants more feedback before model design and after the launch.

We saw OpenAI CEO Sam Altman drop hints this past month about the deal and now Google’s spokesperson is also confirming that discussions are in the works.

For now, no other company tackling the AI space was said to be included but we do hope to share more information when it’s available. It’s interesting how the news came when Google updated its chatbots and Gemini image generators.

The director of the US AI Safety Institute shared a statement on this matter. She says safety is the main factor that fuels tech innovation. This is why such agreements are necessary and the institute looks forward to greater collaborations in the future as this is the start.

She also spoke about the deal as a serious milestone to better drive the future of AI

The institute is designed to curate and publish the latest guidelines on this front while setting up tests and practices that determine the potential dangers linked to this system. As we all are well aware, AI can do a lot of good but the opposite is also true.

This is certainly the first deal of its kind. The agency hopes to get more access so it can reach more models out there before they get launched for the public. Such agreements and collaborations minimize risk and better evaluate the capabilities of AI models to enhance security. We’re also hearing more about how the institute has major plans to link with the same agency in the UK.

The news comes as regulators around the globe are trying to introduce more AI guardrails but fail to tackle the concerns on the rise. We did see California introduce a new bill regarding AI safety recently but that does come with a hefty $100M cost.

This bill is also a little controversial as it forces many AI firms to roll out kill switches which shut down models in cases where they go out of control.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World

Encrypted Messaging: The Best Available Apps To Use in 2024

When it comes to communicating online, privacy becomes a consistent demand of users of the digital world, so the tech giants, like Meta, made end-to-end encryption a built-in function or feature of their apps used for chatting and calling. This encryption makes the conversation between two people remain private and secure, hindering all kinds of outside interference.

But there are numerous encrypted messaging apps available today, which leads people into the agony of choice. You must go for the best available encrypted messaging apps that are secure to the extent that even governments and the building companies cannot intrude into their messaging and breach their encryption.

The following are the best encrypted messaging apps that you can use for secure conversations in 2024:

Signal

Image: Mika Baumeister / Unsplash

Available on both android and IOS, Signal is the best available app for encrypted communications. It offers messaging as well as voice calls and group chats, all of which could be set on self-destruct mode to erase any trail of communication. Its encryption protocol is so reliable that even Whatsapp and Facebook employ it.

You can also use Signal on desktop, just like Whstapp, with the assistance of Chrome browser plugin. The company also enables users to move their Signal account from one device to another and to retain the account even after switching phone numbers.

Being open-source and user friendly, it is the best choice for people wary of their security and data breaching.

Telegram

Image: DIW-Aigen

Telegram is another popular app used to deliver encrypted messages to others. Telegram is a cloud-based app using its own MTProto encryption. The difference between Signal and Telegram is that it is not in encryption mode by default. Users have to enable secret chat mode to send encrypted messages. Just like the previous app, you can send messages as well as make voice calls and do group chats. Moreover, it also allows messages to self-destruct at the scheduled time.

Telegram has become a huge platform for group discussions, for it allows a large number of users to be in the same group at the same time. But do remember, these group chats are not encrypted. Having only two members in a conversation is a prerequisite to that.

WhatsApp

Image: DIW

The most widely-used app for communication globally, WhatsApp offers end-to-end encryption, based on Signal’s encryption protocol, to its users. It keeps receiving updates regarding security and privacy every now and then, making the app more reliable and sync with the time.

The app can be used on desktop via its QR code. It offers disappearing messages at the scheduled time, the feature of self-destruct mode on messages and images once viewed and backup of chat and contacts if users change devices. Whatsapp also allows its users to see who has read or not-yet-read their messages in a group. iPhones users can even transfer their chat history to an android.

Additionally, if someone is in doubt about Whatsapp encryption, they can conveniently check and verify the claim by opening a chat in the app, tapping on the name, opening the menu and then clicking on verify security code. Now you can verify its encryption either by scanning the given QR code on his/her phone, or by comparing a 60-digit number.

Offering encrypted communication, sending of all types of media and convenience in using it makes WhatsApp one of the best messaging apps in the world.

Threema

Threema is different from the above-mentioned three: it costs $3.99 and does not require a phone number to function. The app also employs end-to-end encryption based on NaCl cryptography.

The app does not require users’ phone numbers or credentials for a personal account. Rather, it assigns a unique ID key to all users, which makes them anonymous and allows them to communicate without revealing their identity. Similarly, the app also generates a QR code to be shared with other users to whom someone might not want to reveal their identity. But users can choose to make an account with their phone numbers or email if they want such secrecy.

Threema, like the other apps, can send encrypted messages, images and videos, and make encrypted calls. Moreover, it allows polling about members and group chat too.

Threema costs a few dollars, but that might be its plus point, for tighter security does require some spending.

Wire

Wire’s encryption protocol is based on Signal’s protocol and its code is open-source. Wire is free and does require a phone number, like Whatsapp.

The app offers end-to-end encryption on messaging, voice calls and video calls, and the sharing of files and GIF as well. Moreover, the app supports multi-platform cross-device syncing and multiple accounts serving different purposes. The app also has a business version, serving the specific purpose

The company has inclined itself more towards business usage, but common people can still benefit from the app available both on IOS and android.

Viber

Once a popular messaging app before the introduction of Whatsapp, Viber has lost its popularity in the last decade due to the availability of better apps. But still it is one of the best apps available for free for encrypted communication.

The app offers end-to-end encryption on messaging, voice calls and video calls. It provides the features of self-destructing secret chats and hidden chats, to remain elusive on a shared device. Viber also has an additional safety feature of coloured icons depicting the state of encryption when communication with someone–gray, green and red icon colors for encrypted communication, encrypted communication with a reliable contact and an anomaly respectively.

But it is free and provides end-to-end encryption in communication, which is enough for some people to download and use it. Do remember, calls to non-Viber users are not free!

Facebook Messenger

Image: Mariia Shalabaieva/Unsplash

Another highly popular app for communication globally is Facebook Messenger. Because Facebook has the most number of users, so does the Messenger. It is free and convenient to use and the best option to many. As mentioned above, it is based on the encryption system of Signal.

The messenger app offers end-to-end encrypted communication to its users, including voice calls, video chats, groups chats and images, with the features of self-destruct mode and disappearing messages.

The truth is that it is not the best option for encrypted messaging, especially when compared to the ones mentioned above. But it is still good enough to fall at number seven.

Dust

Dust employs AES-128 and RSA-2048 encryption in its system to provide security. The app keeps messages saved in RAM, not in phone storage as a safety measure.

Dust offers encrypted communication as well as self-destruct mode on its messages. It also keeps you anonymous by not mentioning your name and alerts users if a screenshot is taken. The app also has additional security features of privacy watch-dog and stealth search tool to sustain privacy on the web.

The app is not as well known as some of the apps listed above, but it is still an option to consider.

Why Should One Go For Encrypted Messaging Apps?

Encrypted messaging has become a necessity due to the stark rise in data breaching and hacking online. With the increasing presence of people online, privacy has to be sustained while communicating with others regarding matters that users want to keep to themselves or among a selective group of people. The conventional way of texting or communicating does not serve the purpose–for anyone could have a sneak peek at your personal messages–so encrypted messaging apps are the solution.

The foregoing list of apps reveals to readers which is best for them, after considering the security features they offer, to retain their privacy online.

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by Ehtasham Ahmad via Digital Information World

Google Gears Up For Launch Of Gems And Imagen 3 To Advanced Subscribers After Much Deliberation

Google is giving users the chance to create AI images of others through its Gemini AI tool. It’s a major rollout, considering how the company pulled out Imagen 3 a couple of months back.

Gemini’s senior product director confirmed the news through a new blog post where he shared that early access to the latest Imagen 3 generator will soon be up to grabs for advanced users. The same would be the case for those with Business and Enterprise, beginning in the next few days.

The company has included some serious tech advancements to this product and also enhanced evaluation sets while clearing product misconceptions. So you can see this as a red teaming effort.

The Android maker was left with no choice but to halt the feature where AI images of others could be generated. Some users reported serious inaccuracies and made calls for immediate changes.

When one user requested a picture of a German soldier from 1943, what he got was far from what he expected. The results featured racially diverse images that were far from the actual ones.

Google confirmed that the latest image generator does not show support for real people, minors, or those about controversial themes. Furthermore, the company admits that nothing is perfect and therefore that must be taken into consideration when using Gemini too.

Moving on to Gems, the company promised a customized version of Gemini this year in May at the I/O conference. The rollout was marketed as a way for the tool to remember specifics or detailed instructions.

The main advantage is saying hello to subject-specific results that save users a lot of time on difficult tasks. All you need to do is add some instructions and see the tool rewrite that into something more structured. It will feature goals, rules, and behaviors such as the tone and any other customization.

Gemini also hopes to give users some premade offerings like a learning coach, brainstormer, writing editor, coding expert, and career guide. Gems is also launching in the next few days to all advanced users so stay tuned.

Both offerings are sure to take Gemini far above what many had anticipated about the AI tool’s capabilities. Google is clearly sticking to its promises if things go as planned.

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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World