The ad-free video platform Vimeo is collecting and storing thousands of people’s facial biometrics without their permission or knowledge, according to a complaint filed on September 20 on behalf of potentially thousands of plaintiffs under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Naked Security reports: The suit takes aim at Vimeo’s Magisto application: a short-form video creation platform purchased by Vimeo…
Tag: Engines
Google Wins Fight To Restrict Right-To-Be-Forgotten Ruling To EU Search Engines
Google has won a long-standing battle with the European Union (EU), after the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled the company can limit the scope of the “right-to-be-forgotten” (RTBF) regulation to searches made within the EU. From a report: Today’s announcement was largely expected, given that an adviser to the EU’s top court backed Google’s case in January. (ECJ judges typically…
Drivers May Choose Electric Car Alert Sounds, US Proposal Says
The NHTSA is now proposing drivers be able to select an electric-car alert sound at speeds under 18.6 mph. “NHTSA wants the public’s opinion ‘on whether there should be a limit to the number of compliant sounds that a manufacturer can install in a vehicle and what that limit should be,'” adds CNET. From the report: As of this month, automakers…
It Was Sensitive Data From a US Anti-Terror Program — and Terrorists Could Have Gotten To It For Years, Records Show
The Department of Homeland Security stored sensitive data from the nation’s bioterrorism defense program on an insecure website where it was vulnerable to attacks by hackers for over a decade, according to government documents reviewed by The Times. From a report: The data included the locations of at least some BioWatch air samplers, which are installed at subway stations and other…
Alexa, Siri, and Google Home Can Be Tricked Into Sending Callers To Scam Phone Numbers
“Don’t ask your smart device to look up a phone number, because it may accidentally point you to a scam,” warn the consumer watchdogs at the Better Business Bureau: You need the phone number for a company, so you ask your home’s smart device — such as Google Home, Siri, or Alexa — to find and dial it for you. But…
Chandrayaan-2 is on its way to the moon
Following a series of successful maneuvers, India’s Chandrayaan-2 spacecraft has shifted trajectories and is now on its way to the moon. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/chandrayaan-2-successful-lunar-transfer-trajectory…
Battery-Powered Ships Next Up In Battle To Tackle Emissions
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Four Japanese companies have teamed up to build the world’s first zero-emission tanker by mid-2021 that will be powered by large-capacity batteries and will operate in Tokyo Bay, according to a statement on Tuesday. The new company e5 Lab is a venture between Asahi Tanker, Exeno Yamamizu, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and Mitsubishi. The…
SpaceX Makes Plans For Up To 24 Starship Launches A Year From Florida
schwit1 quotes Space News: SpaceX plans to build facilities at the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A for launches and, eventually, landings of its next-generation launch vehicle, according to a newly released report. An environment assessment prepared by SpaceX, and released by NASA Aug. 1, discusses plans to develop additional facilities at LC-39A, which currently hosts Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy…
Waymo and DeepMind Mimic Evolution To Develop New, Better Way To Train Self-Driving AI
Alphabet’s autonomous driving and robotaxi company Waymo teamed up with fellow Alphabet company and AI specialist DeepMind to develop new training methods that would help makes its training better and more efficient. TechCrunch reports: The two worked together to bring a training method called Population Based Training (PBT for short) to bear on Waymo’s challenge of building better virtual drivers, and…
Largest Hybrid Electric Plane Set To Take Flight
Ampair, a Los Angeles clean tech company in my neck of the woods, is set to begin accepting orders for a hybrid electric aircraft at the EAA AirVenture airshow in Wisconsin next week. Dubbed the EEL, the aircraft is in fact a retrofit of a Cessna 337, an aircraft that has a forward-mounted prop engine that pulls and a rear-mounted prop…