### Issue 1638 - Wednesday 29th June, 2022

## In Today's Issue

- Meta's AI-based moderation nuking legit discussion about abortion pills
- The Good Guys "pause" in-store facial recognition trial after Choice story
- Mastercard approved by Australian government to be an identity exchange
- KISA phone is perfect for someone that has trouble using modern mobiles
- Cheap Intel NUC laptop, Optus data plans, Lenovo AIO PC, Apple Watch SE, refurb ThinkPad T480s, Crucial MX500 SSD

## The News

### Meta's AI-based moderation nuking legit discussion about abortion pills

Facebook and Instagram are banning posts mentioning abortion pills. They say that content attempting to "buy, sell, trade, gift, request or donate pharmaceuticals is not allowed", which is more than fair - can't go around promoting the distribution of prescription drugs - but it looks like the mere phrase "did you know abortion pills can be mailed?" or something to that effect is enough to get the post deleted. Even discussing the fact they can be posted (legally, via mail-order), with no intention to distribute the pills is pretty shit from Meta and another example of AI-based moderation's collateral damage.

### The Good Guys "pause" in-store facial recognition trial after Choice story

Thanks to the efforts of Choice in exposing the practice of retailers using facial recognition in stores without express permission from customers, The Good Guys has decided to "pause the trial of the upgraded security system with the optional facial recognition technology being conducted in two of its Melbourne stores", until "clarification from the OAIC regarding the use of this technology". Bunnings and Kmart are still using facial recognition on their in-store CCTV systems without getting the clear consent of people entering the store and the OAIC is still investigating the practice.

### Mastercard approved by Australian government to be an identity exchange

Mastercard is now approved as an identity exchange under Australia's Trusted Digital Identity Framework. According to the framework, "identity exchanges convey, manage and coordinate the flow of identity attributes and assertions between members (identity providers, credential providers, attribute providers and relying parties) of an identity federation". Mastercard has also applied to be an identity provider, and credential provider, as well as working with the Digital Transformation Agency to use ID for age verification. It all sounds very complicated and boring.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### KISA phone is perfect for someone that has trouble using modern mobiles

The KISA phone looks like an excellent device for anyone that finds modern mobile phones too hard to use. It has large, high resolution buttons with clear and easy to read labels that do what they say that are custom made when ordering. The KISA is not a smartphone with a touch screen, the buttons are physical and tactile. There's also GPS tracking (to find the owner should they wander), a built-in SOS/emergency button, a very loud speaker and long battery life. It's not "cheap" at $254, but it is available via the NDIS if price is an issue.

## Bargains

- Various spec Intel NUC M15 laptops - pricing starts at $999 from Mwave
- 50% off watch, tablet and data plan fees for 12 months from Optus (i.e: 200GB/m 5G data for $30/m)
- Lenovo 27" IdeaCentre All-in-One PC (Ryzen 5 5500U, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 1080p) - $897 from Officeworks
- Apple Watch Nike SE 40mm GPS - $379 from David Jones
- Refurb Lenovo ThinkPad T480s (i5-8350U, 12GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1080p) - $525.59 from Bufferstock
- Crucial MX500 1TB SATA SSD - $119 from Amazon

## The End

📻 Hypnotised (ABGT450WD) - Tinlicker & Dosem

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