How China turned a prize-winning iPhone hack against the Uyghurs

Why upholding Trump's Facebook ban won't break the cycle

Sponsored by Oracle The Download Your daily dose of what's up in emerging technology Tools of oppression  05.06.21 Good morning! Today: how China used an iPhone flaw to hack Uyghurs' iPhones, Facebook's Oversight Board has kicked the can down the road on the Trump ban, how to stop your selfies from being used to train facial recognition systems, and slum dwellers in India are getting unique digital addresses. Get your friends to sign up here to get The Download every day. How China turned a prize-winning iPhone hack against the Uyghurs   What happened: In 2017, China stopped sending its hackers overseas to compete in security competitions, which aim to find hidden weak spots inside the world’s most popular technologies. Instead, it set up its own: The Tianfu Cup, which launched in November 2018 and was won by researcher Qixun Zhao, who showed off a remarkable chain of exploits that allowed him to easily and reliably take control of even the newest and most up-to-date iPhones.  The outcome: Two months later, Apple issued an update that fixed the flaw. But in August 2019, Google researchers published an extraordinary analysis into a hacking campaign it said was “exploiting iPhones en masse.” What their deep dive omitted, however, were the identities of the victims and the attackers: Uyghur Muslims and the Chinese government. What’s happening: China’s hacking of Uyghurs is so aggressive that it is effectively global, extending far beyond the country’s own borders. It targets journalists, dissidents, and anyone who raises Beijing’s suspicions of insufficient loyalty. Today, the Tianfu Cup is heading into its third year, and American officials and security experts are increasingly concerned about the links between those involved in the competition and the Chinese military, and the power of getting early access to bugs. Read the full story. —Patrick Howell O'Neill Why upholding Trump’s Facebook ban won’t break the cycle What’s happened: Facebook’s Oversight Board has upheld the company’s decision to ban former president Donald Trump from its platform. But while upholding it, the board essentially said Facebook needed to decide for itself what to do with Trump’s account in the long term, instead of punting it to somebody else. It set a deadline of six months from now, at which point we will no doubt have another news cycle about Trump’s presence on social media.  The issue: Even if Trump stays off the major social media platforms forever, the cycle has been established. Trump will continue to issue statements, and they will be shared by his supporters, and covered by the media whether or not he is on social media. Focusing so much on the platforms’ decisions is misguided. The oversight board’s decision was actually a non-decision that will change little. Read the full story. —Abby Ohlheiser How to stop AI from recognizing your face in selfies Privacy concerns: Uploading personal photos to the internet can feel like letting go. Who else will have access to them, what will they do with them—and which facial recognition algorithms will they help train? The response: A number of AI researchers are pushing back and developing ways to make sure AIs can’t learn from personal data. One of the first tools to do this, called Fawkes, makes tiny changes to an image. These are hard to spot for us but throw off an AI, causing it to misidentify who or what it sees in a photo. In a small experiment on several widely-used commercial facial recognition systems, Fawkes was 100% effective against all of them. Another tool, called LowKey, turns images into what’s called “unlearnable examples.” This effectively makes an AI ignore your selfies entirely. Read the full story. —Will Douglas Heaven Slum dwellers in India get unique digital addresses India has 108,000 slums that are home to 65 million residents, and its slums are growing faster than its cities. But with no addresses of their own, residents often have a hard time opening bank and postal accounts or accessing electric and water bills.  That’s changing. Last September, a nonprofit organization called Shelter Associates began a pilot project with Google and UNICEF to provide unique digital addresses to houses in one slum called Laxmi Nagar. Now, people living there each have a special code they can type into delivery apps and share with friends to direct them to their front door, transforming their access to basic services. Read the full story. —Shoma Abhyankar This story was part of our latest print magazine issue, all about cities. Read it and subscribe. We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet 'em at me.)   + The most beautiful places on Earth.    + This optical illusion has broken my brain.    + Check out quite possibly the world's smallest inhabited island (cheers Vincent.)   + A fun math puzzle (thanks Beng!)   + A Belgian farmer accidentally expanded the entire country by moving a stone.   + Thank you to Ann-Marie for sharing this video of Japan's garbage-picking samurai. Truly a marvel to behold.     + Merry and Pippin are making a podcast, and they're very conveniently releasing it on my birthday.    + Lego made a white noise album. Sponsor Message New business models, big opportunity: Tech/manufacturing Most tech-centric organizations are gearing up for a revitalized year, with ambitious new projects planned or underway. Learn more here. The must-reads I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 The US has backed waiving patents on covid-19 vaccines 💉 This could help pave the way for a vast expansion in access to vaccines around the world. (NPR)   + The WHO's director-general described it as a "monumental moment" in the fight against the virus. (Al Jazeera)   + Big Pharma is up in arms about it. (FT $)   + Canada has approved the Pfizer vaccine for 12-15 year olds. (The Guardian)   + The Pfizer vaccine is highly effective against variants, a study found. (NYT $)   + Cases are still rocketing in India, to almost half a million new daily infections today. (Axios)  2 Limit global warming or unleash a "rapid, unstoppable" sea level rise, study warns On current trends, the tipping point for the Antarctic ice sheet will arrive around 2060. (The Guardian)   + Got climate anxiety? So you should. (New Yorker $)  3 IBM has found a way to wring more power out of computer chips Predictions of Moore's Law's demise yet again prove premature. (Wired $)   4 It's scarily easy to stalk someone using Apple's new AirTags If tech can be abused, it will be. (WP $)   5 SpaceX managed to land a Starship prototype for the first time 🚀 That's a significant step in its quest to build a reusable Mars rocket. (The Verge)   + Blue Origin says it'll fly customers to the edge of space on July 20. (Axios)   6 Twitter is going to ask: are you sure you want to send that horrible tweet? The prompts helped to reduce harassment in testing. (BBC)   7 YouTube star Mr Beast wants to become real-world famous Mr Beast sounds utterly exhausting, but he's a sign of things to come. (NYT $)   8 One day, we'll probably be able to program the body to regrow limbs Seriously! (New Yorker $)   9 How esports got so segregated 🎮 Black players were pioneers within this sector, yet barely any compete at the top levels today. (The Atlantic $)   10 Marine heatwaves are devastating ecosystems Sudden hot spots in the world’s oceans are getting worse—and more frequent. (Nature) Back to work, but not back to normal.  Brought to you in partnership with Harvard Business Review, EmTech Next features live presentations, interactive Q&A, and expert-led master classes to prepare you for uncertainty and equip your business to move forward. Learn more. Quote of the Day "It’s potentially not good." —Jonathan McDowell, astrophysicist at Harvard University, tells The Guardian he's concerned about the high likelihood of an out-of-control Chinese rocket crashing to Earth this weekend. Top image credit: MS TECH | GETTY Please send trash samurai to hi@technologyreview.com. Follow me on Twitter at @charlottejee. Thanks for reading! —Charlotte Was this newsletter forwarded to you, and you'd like to see more? Sign up today Join the MIT Technology Review Global Panel Examine today's tech trends, see survey results, and contribute to our custom research Apply today   Follow us: MIT Technology Review One Main Street Cambridge, MA 02142

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