Apple Ordered To Provide UK Gov't Access To All User Data On The Cloud

'The access sought by the UK “has no known precedent in major democracies.”…'

The Washington Post reported Friday that the United Kingdom’s deep state has demanded that Apple create a back door for them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud—what would be an unprecedented erosion of online privacy and civil liberties.

Citing anonymous sources, the Post reported that the British government’s undisclosed order was issued last month. It reportedly requires Apple to give officials blanket capability to view fully encrypted material.

Typically, Apple has assisted authorities on a case-by-case basis—such as helping the FBI access a terrorist’s phone, for example. The Post noted that the access sought by the UK “has no known precedent in major democracies.”

According to the Post, the UK’s order was made pursuant to the sweeping U.K. Investigatory Powers Act of 2016, which authorizes law enforcement to compel assistance from companies to access user data.

“The law, known by critics as the Snoopers’ Charter, makes it a criminal offense to reveal that the government has even made such a demand,” the Post reported.

“Apple can appeal the U.K. capability notice to a secret technical panel, which would consider arguments about the expense of the requirement, and to a judge who would weigh whether the request was in proportion to the government’s needs. But the law does not permit Apple to delay complying during an appeal.”

An Apple spokesman reportedly declined to comment. The Post reported that Apple is likely to stop offering encrypted storage in the UK.

“Yet that concession would not fulfill the U.K. demand for backdoor access to the service in other countries, including the United States,” the newspaper added.

Western countries, including the U.S., have been pushing for total access to online user data for years.

In March 2021, for example, former FBI Director Chris Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee that encryption was stifling his agents from investigating domestic extremism.

According to Wray and other law enforcers, tech companies should be able to build “backdoors” into their encryption that preserves privacy, while allowing for access when necessary. That, they say, strikes the proper balance between data security and national security.

However, numerous tech experts, civil libertarians, and others say that it’s impossible to build a backdoor that can’t be exploited by hackers. They also say that by banning encryption, the United States would be following in the footsteps of authoritarian countries such as China, which blocked the encrypted messaging app Signal.

“It is important to understand that any kind of back door (or front door) access for the ‘good guys’ can also be exploited by the ’bad guys,’” the pro-industry Information Technology & Innovation Foundation stated in a July 2020 report.

“For example, key escrow systems would introduce new attack vectors that could allow attackers to gain access to encrypted information, such as by compromising the system that maintains copies of the keys.”

https://headlineusa.com/report-apple-ordered-to-provide-govt-access-to-all-user-data-on-the-cloud/

These Are Google's 'Thirstiest' Data Centers

This map, via Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao, locates Google’s data centers that consume the most water in America.

Why do data centers need water? It’s because computer servers generate significant heat that must be dissipated to maintain performance.

As a result, water is used in chiller plants, evaporative cooling systems, and humidification to manage temperature levels.

https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/these-are-googles-thirstiest-data-centers

Who trained these 'hamas' soldiers?

USAID Funded Massive 'News' Platform, Extending 'Censorship Industrial Complex' To Billions Worldwide

In addition to propping up far-left corporate media outlets like Politico and the BBC with taxpayer funds, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has funneled half a billion dollars to a secretive non-governmental organization operating a global news propaganda matrix.

WikiLeaks published the bombshell report in the overnight hours that shows the massive taxpayer-funded state propaganda network - operating as a shady NGO - called "Internews Network":

USAID has pushed nearly half a billion dollars ($472.6m) through a secretive US government financed NGO, "Internews Network" (IN), which has "worked with" 4,291 media outlets, producing in one year 4,799 hours of broadcasts reaching up to 778 million people and "training" over 9000 journalists (2023 figures). IN has also supported social media censorship initiatives.

The operation claims "offices" in over 30 countries, including main offices in US, London, Paris and regional HQs in Kiev, Bangkok and Nairobi. It is headed up by Jeanne Bourgault, who pays herself $451k a year. Bourgault worked out of the US embassy in Moscow during the early 1990s, where she was in charge of a $250m budget, and in other revolts or conflicts at critical times, before formally rotating out of six years at USAID to IN.

Bourgault's IN bio and those of its other key people and board members have been recently scrubbed from its website but remain accessible at http://archive.org. Records show the board being co-chaired by Democrat securocrat Richard J. Kessler and Simone Otus Coxe, wife of NVIDIA billionaire Trench Coxe, both major Democratic donors. In 2023, supported by Hillary Clinton, Bourgault launched a $10m IN fund at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). The IN page showing a picture of Bourgault at the CGI has also been deleted.

IN has at least six captive subsidiaries under unrelated names including one based out of the Cayman Islands. Since 2008, when electronic records begin, more than 95% of IN's budget has been supplied by the US government (thread follows).

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/usaid-funded-massive-global-state-propaganda-news-matrix-nearly-billion-people-reach

Congrats Palantir now at 87x sales, while diluting shareholders 7.3% a year.

They need to ~10x sales to ever grow into their valuation. But at the current dilution that’s not enough, as share count doubles every 10ys at current pace. Palantir needs to 20x sales over 10ys for an IRR of 0. also think I’m very kind with 8.7x sales as a steady state valuation. Without growth, they’d need some 40% net margins to justify that, but actually net margins are just 10%-20%. Deserving a price-sales of just 4x at scale at best. Perhaps just 2x sales at 10% margins.

https://citizenwatchreport.com/congrats-palantir-now-at-87x-sales-while-diluting-shareholders-7-3-a-year/

Former ‘Teacher Of The Year’ Pleads Guilty To Sexually Abusing Two Students

A California teacher, who had previously been labeled “Teacher of the Year” in San Diego County, sobbed in court as she admitted to sexually abusing two students, ages 11 and 12.

Jacqueline Ma, who formerly taught at Lincoln Acres Elementary School in National City, was arrested in spring 2023 after the mother of a 12-year-old boy alerted authorities about Ma’s explicit texts to her son.

She had initially faced up to 180 years in prison for her crimes but entered a plea agreement for lesser charges, a likely 30-year-to-life sentence.

Per the New York Post, Deputy District Attorney Drew Heart said, “This was very significant to us, not just because she won an award, but because of who she was in the community.”

Ma pleaded guilty to possessing illicit material of a minor, which authorities said resulted from her sending X-rated images to the students and urging them to reciprocate. Prosecutors noted that Ma repeatedly pressured the minors to send explicit photos of themselves, prompting the 12-year-old to state, “Sometimes I think you don’t understand that I am a kid still.”

https://www.domigood.com/2025/02/former-teacher-of-year-pleads-guilty-to.html