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'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".
It's been a big week for electric vehicles:
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.
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)
📻 Black Curtains In The Bag - Billy Nomates
😎 The Sizzle is curated by Anthony "decryption" Agius and emailed every weekday afternoon.
💬 Checked out the paid subscriber only forum? It's a tidy little place to discuss tech with like minded Aussies.
👋 Forums not your thing? The Sizzle has a Slack group you can procrastinate in and chat with other nerds bored at work.
💳 Paid subscriber looking to manage your billing info, change email address or cancel your subscription? Visit the customer portal.
🎁 Make someone's day and buy them a 12 month gift subscription to The Sizzle.
📚 Browse The Sizzle Archive. A few issues are missing and it's not searchable, but it's better than nothing.
🫂 Friends of The Sizzle is a small group of businesses or organisations operated by Sizzle subscribers. Support your fellow Sizzler!
💔 Tired of my bullshit? Unsubscribe and I'll never speak to you again.
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.