Hello from Sizzle’s Bengaluru bureau (an empty hotel business centre)! All systems are go here. Enjoy the edition - CW

The News

Company bugs employees’ home using work laptop but says it’s legal

Police are investigating a Victorian training company for secretly using company laptops to record audio of employees working from home (AFR, $). Safetrac used corporate surveillance software Teramind to record the screens and audio “within a few feet” of the laptop microphones of chosen employees for nearly two months. In response to legal claims from employees, Safetrac argues that its spying — which apparently captured everything from Microsoft Teams meetings and conversations with families — was legal because their contracts allow surveillance that “may capture images and sound.”

The Sizzle: There are some bosses and managers who feel that working from home has disconnected them from their employees (and maybe even made them feel less powerful). Surveillance tech gives them the ability to reassert that power, but just because they can doesn’t mean they should do so. Realistically, no one is going to turn down a job because its contract has a line saying “ʷᵉ ᵐᶦᵍʰᵗ ᵗᵃᵏᵉ ᵃ ᵗᵉᵉⁿˢᶦᵉ⁻ᵉᵉⁿˢᶦᵉ ˡᵒᵒᵏ ᵃᵗ ʸᵒᵘʳ ˢᶜʳᵉᵉⁿ”, so this is a problem that needs to be solved by collective bargaining and workplace law reform.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Bluesky blocking an American state over age verification law

Bluesky is blocking Mississippi IP addresses because it says the “small team” doesn’t have the resources to comply with the onerous state age verification law (The Verge). The Bluesky team explained that Mississippi law’s requirement for social media companies to verify every user, adult or teen, is too onerous for them so they have no choice to block the state’s users (Bluesky blog).

The Sizzle: When we talk about the global push for online age verification as one big movement, there’s actually quite a lot of difference between policies. For example, Bluesky is complying with the UK’s law — which requires age checks for harmful content — by restricting some features like DMs and explicit content for local users. While some companies like 4Chan will fight anything (The Verge), we’re starting to see social media companies picking their battles.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Dispatch from India: look at these phones

When we drove on the motorway from Bengaluru Airport to our hotel on Sunday, the first three massive billboards along the motorway I saw were all for phones: Chinese manufacturer Oppo’s Reno 14, the iPhone and OnePlus 9 Pro 5G. Despite the geopolitical tensions, Chinese-made phones are massive here. While the lower prices compared to Samsung are a big factor, Oppo, OnePlus, and another brand vivo, have built big markets by catering to local audiences with features like camera apps “optimised for Indian skin tones”, courting the government with Indian-made campaigns and integrating local government apps (Fortune).

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Leftovers

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Oh, Also

Granny’s been drafted for Australia’s cyber militia

My dear colleague David Swan wrote up some research by a Bond University professor into what an Australian “cyber reserve” might look like (SMH, $). Last year, the Defence Department reviewed its reserves program and found that it needs a cyber arm. One way to make this work, according to Professor Dan Svantesson? Recruit the elderly to be in a “cyber militia” to carry out activities like “making edits on Wikipedia or reporting misinformation on social media platforms.” Just a delightful mental image made even better by the inclusion of this incredible photo accompanying the article.

Discuss in the Sizzle Slack or forum.

Bargains

Electrical & electronics

Computing

Mobile

The End

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