ReHacked vol. 331: The EU could be scanning your chats by October 2025, Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year and more
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The EU could be scanning your chats by October 2025 – here's everything we know | TechRadar #privacy
Denmark kicked off its EU Presidency on July 1, 2025, and, among its first actions, lawmakers swiftly reintroduced the controversial child sexual abuse (CSAM) scanning bill to the top of the agenda.
Having been deemed by critics as Chat Control, the bill aims to introduce new obligations for all messaging services operating in Europe to scan users' chats, even if they're encrypted.
The proposal, however, has been failing to attract the needed majority since May 2022, with Poland's Presidency being the last to give up on such a plan.
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Microsoft is taking steps to open-sourcing Windows 11 user interface framework - Neowin #software
Microsoft has plenty of open-source projects, and these days, the company is much more open to community contributions. Still, plenty of code remains closed-source, and the company constantly receives more requests to open it. One of them is WinUI, Windows 11's user interface framework. While Microsoft is not opening it fully yet, the company shared details about plans for the next six months, which include "product work and foundational changes to support a more open and collaborative future."
ThinkPad designer David Hill dishes on unreleased models • The Register #hardware #computer #history
INTERVIEW Launched in 1992, the boxy black ThinkPad with its little red nub remains the quintessential business productivity notebook. Unlike commercial offerings from competitors such as Dell and HP, Lenovo's laptop has a following of people who collect old models and celebrate each new innovation.
If you bought a ThinkPad between 1995 and 2017, it was probably designed under the oversight of David W. Hill, who served as lead designer under both IBM and Lenovo for those 22 years. We caught up with Hill, who today runs his own firm, ThinkNext Design, to talk about the history of ThinkPad, what drove him to make key design decisions, and the products he wanted to come out with but just couldn't.
Meta violated privacy law, jury says in menstrual data fight | Courthouse News Service #privacy
A jury found Friday that Meta violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act when it intentionally recorded the sensitive health information of millions of women through the period tracking app Flo.
"This is a landmark moment in the effort to safeguard digital privacy rights," said Michael P. Canty of the New York-based firm Labaton Keller Sucharow, who represented the plaintiffs. "Our clients entrusted their most sensitive information to a health app, only to have it exploited by one of the world’s most powerful tech companies.”
Helsinki records zero traffic deaths for full year - Helsinki Times #transportation #safety #urbanism
Helsinki has completed an entire year without a single traffic-related fatality, according to city and police officials. The last recorded death occurred in early July 2024 in the Kontula district.
Authorities described the milestone as exceptional and credited long-term planning, targeted infrastructure changes, and lower speed limits.
“A lot of factors contributed to this, but speed limits are one of the most important,” said Roni Utriainen, traffic engineer with the city’s Urban Environment Division.
Belgium Targets Internet Archive's 'Open Library' in Sweeping Site Blocking Order (Update) * TorrentFreak #copyrights
The Business Court in Brussels, Belgium, has issued a broad site-blocking order that aims to restrict access to shadow libraries including Anna's Archive, Libgen, OceanofPDF, Z-Library, and the Internet Archive's Open Library. In addition to ISP blocks, the order also directs search engines, DNS resolvers, advertisers, domain name services, CDNs and hosting companies to take action. For now, Open Library doesn't appear to be actively blocked.
AI is a Floor Raiser, not a Ceiling Raiser - Elroy #ai
AI has raised the floor for knowledge work, but that change doesn't matter to everyone. This goes a long way towards explaining the very wide range of reactions to AI. For engineering managers like myself, AI has made an enormous impact on my relationship with technology. Others fear and resent being replaced. Still others hear smart people express enthusiasm for AI, struggle to find utility, and think I must just not get it.
Patrick Breyer. Leak: Many countries that said NO to #ChatControl in 2024 are now undecided — even though the 2025 plan is even more extreme! #privacy
RIP Shunsaku Tamiya, the man who made plastic model kits a global obsession | Japanese Nostalgic Car #promemoria
Shunsaku Tamiya, former president and chairman of Tamiya, Inc., passed away on July 18. His death was announced on July 21, with funeral services attended by close family and friends. Mr Tamiya led the transformation of Tamiya into a world-renowned manufacturer of high-precision plastic model kits, radio control vehicles, and motorized Mini 4WD racers.
On March 28, a devastating magnitude 7.7 earthquake shook Myanmar. By chance, one camera caught a rare video, capturing the moment when the ground cracked and shifted in opposite directions.
CCTV footage along Myanmar’s Sagaing Fault—about 74.5 miles south of the earthquake’s hypocenter—shows the fault as it cracks and slides. This marks the first recording scientists have been able to observe that captures a fault in motion.
More Women Than Expected Are Genetically Men - Novo Nordisk Fonden #health #nature
“Girls born with XY chromosomes are genetically boys but for a variety of reasons – mutations in genes that determine sexual development – the male characteristics are never expressed. They live their lives as girls and then women, and a few can even give birth. Our research, which is the first nationwide survey in the world, shows that this group is up to 50% larger than previously assumed. How these girls discover the facts and talk openly about their situation also varies greatly,” explains Claus Højbjerg Gravholt, who led the study and is Clinical Professor in the Department of Clinical Medicine of Aarhus University.
Together with colleagues, he is investigating why sex chromosome abnormalities occur and therefore how people with XY chromosomes can become women. Two types of genetic mutations mostly make the difference; these were previously referred to as Morris syndrome and Swyer syndrome but are now collectively referred to as disorders of sex development (DSD).
Breaking - Samsung Removes Bootloader Unlocking with One UI 8 - SammyGuru #software #android #copyrights
Bootloader unlocking is a popular way to breathe new life into older devices, by loading unofficial software onto a device, like custom ROMs, gaining root access, custom kernels, etc. This option will be taken away from users with One UI 8.
Visa and Mastercard are getting overwhelmed by censorship gamer fury | Polygon #internet #freedom
In the wake of storefronts like Steam and itch.io curbing the sale of adult games, irate fans have started an organized campaign against the payment processors that they believe are responsible for the crackdown. While the movement is still in its early stages, people are mobilizing with an eye toward overwhelming communication lines at companies like Visa and Mastercard in a way that will make the concern impossible to ignore.
On social media sites like Reddit and Bluesky, people are urging one another to get into contact with Visa and Mastercard through emails and phone calls. Visa and Mastercard have become the targets of interest because the affected storefronts both say that their decisions around adult games were motivated by the danger of losing the ability to use major payment processors while selling games. These payment processors have their own rules regarding usage, but they are vaguely defined. But losing infrastructure like this could impact audiences well beyond those who care about sex games, spokespeople for Valve and itch.io said.
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