### Issue 1355 - Friday 30th April, 2021

## In Today's Issue

- Ombudsman found that almost every ACT police request for telco location data was unlawful
- EU passes law making internet companies remove terrorist content within 1hr of notification
- Adelaide man arrested for replacing official check-in QR codes with fake ones
- Tom from MySpace got rich and then left us alone, thank you Tom
- Cheap Apple Watch, Anker Qi charger, Harvey Norman gift cards, A Cloud Guru subscription, Anko digital peephole viewer, Google Nest Hub

## The News

### Ombudsman found that almost every ACT police request for telco location data was unlawful

The Commonwealth Ombudsman has found less than 1% of the 1713 ACT police requests for location based telecommunications data were lawful between 2015 and 2019. The vast, vast majority of requests for telcos to give police location info on a suspect phone were done without approval, with approval asked for after the fact. Even the requests that followed the application rules were approved within minutes, which the ombudsman reckons is a sign that nobody gave it any proper consideration as to whether the request was valid or not. I don't think I need to explain why this is A Bad Thing.

### EU passes law making internet companies remove terrorist content within 1hr of notification

The EU has passed a law forcing internet companies to "remove or disable access to flagged terrorist content" within 1 hour of being notified by authorities or be penalised. Unlike previous suggestions for this kinda thing, educational, journalistic, artistic or research related content isn't impacted and the internet companies (i.e: Facebook & Twitter) "will not have a general obligation to monitor or filter content". Will be interesting to see how this works in practice - like the linked Verge article highlights, would "authoritarian regimes, like those in Poland and Hungary" use this law "to silence their critics abroad by issuing removal orders beyond their borders"?

### Adelaide man arrested for replacing official check-in QR codes with fake ones

An Adelaide man got busted placing fake QR codes over official state government check-in QR codes. Police reckon he slapped at least two fake QR codes - one at a bakery and another at a greengrocer. They aren't saying what the fake QR codes did when people who scanned them, but he was charged with "two counts of obstructing operations related to COVID-19 under the state's Emergency Management Act". A judge let him out on bail on the condition he doesn't visit those two businesses or "carry any loose QR labels". My bet, considering it's a 51-year old man who got arrested, is the QR codes went to some sort of anti-vax/COVID is a hoax conspiracy theory nonsense he saw on YouTube or Facebook.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Tom from MySpace got rich and then left us alone, thank you Tom

Tom Anderson fleeced Rupert Murdoch of US$580m back in 2005, selling MySpace at its peak to News Corp who ended up selling it to someone else for a paltry US$35m. After cashing out, Tom fucked off and was never heard from again. Old mate is simply enjoying life being filthy rich. He hasn't got into cryptocurrency or NFTs, isn't a venture capitalist or a business consultant or whatever charlatan activities the Silicon Valley set are into. By selling MySpace when he did, Tom also dodged the bullet of right-wing nutbags infiltrating social media and all the bullshit Zuck and Dorsey have had to deal with since.

## Bargains

- Apple Watch Series 6 with cellular (Product RED) 40mm - $699 from Telstra
- Anker Wireless PowerWave Qi charger up to 10W - $17.99 from Amazon
- 7% cashback on Harvey Norman gift cards at Shopback
- A Cloud Guru Personal Plus 1 year subscription - US$299
- Anko digital peephole viewer - $20 at Kmart
- Google Nest Hub 2nd-gen - $119 from The Good Guys eBay store

## The End

📻 Street Spirit (Fade Out) - Radiohead

😎 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "@decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon.

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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.​