### Issue 1787 - Thursday 16th February, 2023

## In Today's Issue

- Privacy Act review has finally landed with many long asked for concepts and ideas
- Google launches beta of Privacy Sandbox, doesn't have much to do with privacy really
- SA drops road usage fee for EVs, NSW Libs promise planning & strata law changes to encourage EV chargers, EU passes law to ban ICE cars by 2035
- People are fucking around with the new AI-powered Bing and getting weird results
- Cheap Samsung S23 Ultra plan, Alienware QD-OLED gaming monitor, Intel Arc A770, Satechi 165W USB charger, Battle.net game sale, HP mini PC, Samsung portable SSD, Yuasa SLA battery, Far Cry 6 for PS5, Dell 43" 4K monitor, Belkin USB-C charger

## The News

### Privacy Act review has finally landed, big changes coming

A long awaited review of the Privacy Act was released by the Attorney-General this morning. Some of the concepts floated in the review that could be turned into legislation include: a right to opt-out of targeted ads, the right to erasure (i.e: tell Google/Meta to remove stuff about you), transparency requirements around automated decisions companies make based on the data they have on you, removing the exemption small businesses have to comply with the Privacy Act, mandating the amount of types of data an entity can store on individuals and much more. Expect further analysis of the review once smarter people than me have had time to read it. Now is a good time to give some cash to Electronic Frontiers Australia and Digital Rights Watch. They've only got 43 days to read all 311-pages, formulate their opinions, then write them in a way that Canberra bureaucrats will understand. God speed.

### Google launches beta of Privacy Sandbox, doesn't have much to do with privacy really

Google's launched a beta of Privacy Sandbox - a replacement for the existing Android Advertising ID that is used to track you across your device. The Privacy Sandbox "provides new APIs that are designed with privacy at the core, and don't use identifiers that can track your activity across apps and websites", but somehow provide personalised ads according to Google. These APIs will also be shoved into Chrome. It sounds to me like there's still user tracking going on, just it uses a new API to do it? And that API is opt-in for developers and websites? And you're still unable to opt-out of it as a user? As Arstechnica concludes, "Privacy Sandbox on Android is toothless, and Google has no plans to reduce tracking on Android".

### SA drops road usage fee for EVs, NSW Libs promise planning & strata law changes to encourage EV chargers, EU passes law to ban ICE cars by 2035

It's been a big week for electric vehicles:

- South Australa's plan to implement a road user charge for EVs (like what Victoria has, and is currently being challenged in the High Court) in 2027 has been ditched entirely. The SA Minister for Transport said "South Australians want to see their State Government incentivising the take-up of electric vehicles, not slugging users with extra costs".
- If the Libs win the NSW state election, they're promising to to tweak strata laws so it's easier for people living in apartments to install EV charging and will "streamline" planning laws to encourage councils to install public charging on power poles and parking meters. They'll also install EV chargers at "NSW transport hubs including commuter carparks and train, bus and ferry stations".
- The EU has approved a law that will "require that by 2035 carmakers must achieve a 100% cut in CO2 emissions from new cars sold, which would make it impossible to sell new fossil fuel-powered vehicles". ICE cars won't be banned entirely (though many cities are starting to ban them from city centers already), but new ones will be banned from sale.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### People are fucking around with the new AI-powered Bing and getting weird results

All over social media I've seen examples of people messing around with Microsoft's new AI-powered Bing. Simon Willison has collected a bunch of the most stark examples on his blog. The examples range from straight up wrong answers presented as facts (saying a cordless vacuum cleaner has a 16ft long cord, giving the wrong earnings per share for a company and more!), to gaslighting someone about December 2022 being a date in the future, to people asking such piercing questions that it gives the computer an existential crisis. On top of that there's "prompt injection attacks" to get info out of Bing that it shouldn't be handing over and straight up threatening users.

## Bargains

- Samsung S23 Ultra 256GB on a $99/m 24m Telstra contract - $399 from JB Hi-Fi
- Alienware AW3423DW 34" QD-OLED gaming monitor - $1679 from JB Hi-Fi
- ASRock Intel Arc A770 8GB graphics card - $449 + delivery from Mwave
- Satechi 165W 4-port USB-C charger - $149.36 from KG Electronic's eBay store
- Shitloads of PC games (CoD, Diablo, Starcraft, etc) cheap on Battle.net
- HP Prodesk 400 G5 mini PC (i3-9100T, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) - $235 from UN Tech
- Samsung T7 Shield Portable SSD 4TB - $450.93 from Amazon USA
- Yuasa NP7.2-12FR sealed lead acid battery - $41.80 from Amazon
- Far Cry 6 for PS5 - $28 from Amazon
- Dell UltraSharp U4323QE 43" 4K USB-C monitor - $1153.20 from Dell
- 2x Belkin 20W USB-C chargers (downward facing port) - $33 from Personal Digital

## Image Of The Day

In the 1960s, communications satellites emerged as a new, effective means to transmit telephone and television signals over great geographical distances. This capability became one of the signature accomplishments of the space age, highlighting the practical, everyday benefits of spaceflight. Through the 1970s and 1980s use of these satellites rapidly increased, serving the needs of individual nations and international communications. As prominent symbols of technical advance, communications satellites often were celebrated in poster art. The works frequently used a similar formula, combining cultural symbols, images of the satellite, and an overhead view of the Earth to reinforce pictorially the importance of space technologies in national or international life. This poster is of AUSSAT, the first communications satellite undertaken by Australia, launched in 1985. The satellite was built by Hughes Space and Communications Company, which commissioned the poster. Donated by Liz Scoggins to the Museum in 2012. (National Air and Space Museum)

## The End

📻 Black Curtains In The Bag - Billy Nomates

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The Sizzle is created on Wathaurong land and acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, recognising their continuing connection to land, water and community. I pay my respect to them and their cultures and to elders both past and present.