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Telegram Changes Policy, Says It Will Provide User Data to Authorities
In an update to its privacy policy, Telegram says it will now share IP addresses and phone numbers to authorities in response to valid orders. The change is a dramatic switch for the social network app, which has become a hotbed for criminals.
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The Lost Isle of Moo-Deng-Sized Hippos
Also in The Abstract this week: world-vaporizing cosmic jets and “assisted sexual recruits” are fortifying coral reefs against heat waves.
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‘Cold-Blooded Business’: Nintendo Is Patent Trolling Palworld Because It Got Too Big
Japan games industry analyst explains why Nintendo is going after Palworld, and why it’s probably going to win.
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Criminals Keep Hacking Themselves, Letting Researchers Unmask Them
Infostealer malware is often hidden in pirated or cracked software, and hackers then post the harvested credentials and other data online. Criminals have been infected too.
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Homemade Porn Site Promises Not to Train AI on Performers
Lustery, a site for consent-based homemade porn, has added a new clause to its contract promising not to replace human performers with AI without consent.
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LinkedIn Is Training AI on User Data Before Updating Its Terms of Service
Multiple LinkedIn users on Wednesday noticed a setting that showed LinkedIn was using user data to improve its generative AI. LinkedIn told 404 Media it will update its terms of service “shortly.”
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Police Hack Into ‘Ghost’, An Encrypted Platform for Criminals
Operation Kraken is a sign that organized criminals are moving away from larger encrypted phone companies to a decentralized collection of smaller players and consumer access apps that the rest of us use.
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Snapchat Reserves the Right to Use AI-Generated Images of Your Face in Ads
Snapchat’s “My Selfie” by default reserves the right to use your likeness in ads.
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Google Serves AI Slop as Top Result for One of the Most Famous Paintings in History
A Google Search for “Hieronymus Bosch” returned an AI-generated version of The Garden of Earthly Delights pulled from an AI slop blog.
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Neanderthals Would Rather Die than Talk to You
Welcome to The Abstract, a new weekly column from 404 Media about new, mind blowing scientific studies.
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Historic Newspaper Uses Janky AI Newscasters Instead of Human Journalists
Hawaii’s The Garden Island newspaper is producing video news segments with AI. The union at its parent company calls it “digital colonialism.”
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In Wake of Durov Arrest, Some Cybercriminals Ditch Telegram
Hackers, fraudsters, and drug dealers are all leaving the platform in one way or another. Some are worried that Telegram may start providing user data to the authorities.