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Cake day: April 10th, 2023

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  • Criminals have already been using alternative ways to exchange data for a lo.g time, especially those who are exchanging images and videos (such as CSAM) as everyday messengers are completely inapt for transmitting such large volumes of data. And these algorithms will yield a lot of false positives too.

    And it is the wrong signal to authoritarian countries as it makes people and companies extremely vulnerable. As Markus Hartmann, Chief Public Prosecutor in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, said not long ago on chat control:

    “From the point of view of information security there is to assume an increased risk [of hacking]. There is no special expertise [demonstrated by politicians] in this area with regard to the signal effect for authoritarian states.”

    [Original link in German, translation my own.]


  • Chinese orgs love signing MOUs

    The CCP - or, better, the China Scholarship Council (CSC) under the rule of the CCP - forces Chinese students and researchers to sign ‘loyalty pleadges’ before giong abroad saying they “shall consciously safeguard the honor of the motherland, (and) obey the guidance and management of embassies (consulates) abroad.” The restrictive scholarship contract requires them to report back to the Chinese embassy on a regular basis, and anyone who violates these conditions is subject to disciplinary action.

    In one investigation,

    Mareike Ohlberg, a senior fellow working on China at the German Marshall Fund, sees the CSC contract as a demonstration of the Chinese Communist Party’s “mania for control.”

    “People are actively encouraged to intervene if anything happens that might not be in the country’s interest,” Ohlberg said.

    Harming China’s interests is in fact considered the worst possible breach of the contract.

    “It’s even listed ahead of possible involvement in crimes, so effectively even ahead of murder,” she noted. “China is making its priorities very clear here.”

    […] Kai Gehring, the chair of German parliament’s Committee for Education and Research, says the CSC contracts are “not compatible” with Germany’s Basic Law, which guarantees academic freedom.

    In Sweden, for example, universities have already cancelled the collaboration with the CSC over this practice.

    There is ample evidence that China uses scientific collaboration with private companies as well as universities and research organizations for spying. You’ll find many independent reports on that as well as of the CCP’s intimidation practices of Chinese students who don’t comply with the party line, e.g., in Australia and elsewhere. It’s easy to find reliable sources on the (Western) web.