Tag: websites,
TikTok Trackers Embedded in U.S. State-Government Websites, Review Finds
The presence of that code means that U.S. state governments around the country are inadvertently participating in a data-collection effort for a foreign-owned company, one that senior Biden administration officials and lawmakers of both parties have said could be harmful to U.S. national security and the privacy of Americans.
Administrators who manage government websites use such pixels to help measure the effectiveness of advertising they have purchased on TikTok…. The presence of the TikTok tracking code on government websites underlines the challenge for those who deem the China-owned app a potential data-security threat. Lawmakers in both parties are considering a nationwide ban, but simply uprooting the app from U.S. smartphones wouldn’t stop all data-tracking activities….
Feroot found that the average website it studied had more than 13 embedded pixels. Google’s were far and away the most common, with 92% of websites examined having some sort of Google tracking pixel embedded. About 50% of the websites the firm examined had Microsoft Corp. or Facebook pixels. TikTok had a presence in less than 10% of sites examined.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Trivia: How many websites are on the Internet?
Proposed Texas bill seeks to ban abortion websites in the state
The almost non-existent abortion rights of Texans may be further diminished as a new proposed bill by Republican legislators in the state seeks to ban access to websites that are “intended to assist or facilitate efforts to obtain an elective abortion or an abortion-inducing drug.” Since the ban on abortion in the state in 2022 following the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, Texas Republicans are now targeting internet service providers in the proposed bill’s attempt to control how the internet is accessed.
HB2690, introduced by Republican State House Representative Steve Toth last week, calls upon ISPs to “make every reasonable and technologically feasible effort to block Internet access” to sites that provide information on how to obtain or access an abortion or abortion-inducing drugs, specifically, mifepristone and misoprostol. Rep. Toth’s bill also explicitly called out six websites: aidaccess.org, heyjane.co, plancpills.org, mychoix.co, justthepill.com, and carafem.org. This also prohibits individuals from creating a website “that assists or facilitates a person’s effort in obtaining an abortion-inducing drug,” according to the bill.
As The New Republic notes, medication abortions, i.e., abortions that can be performed outside of a doctor’s office using pills, represent more than half of all abortions in the United States.
While this bill doesn’t singularly target pregnant women, it does encourage citizens to seek civil action by allowing them to sue ISPs or individuals they believe to be violating the proposed law. This is in line with Texas’s “bounty hunter” approach to its abortion ban, calling upon citizens to enforce the law.
Broadly, the bill also attempts to expand its scope outside of Texas through purposefully ambiguous language establishing “civil liability for distribution of abortion-inducing drugs.” According to the ordinance, “the law of this state applies to the use of an abortion-inducing drug by a resident of this state, regardless of where the use of the drug occurs.”
ISPs are also financially incentivized to block as many websites and apps as possible by liability shields the bill would create. ISPs would have “absolute and nonwaivable immunity from liability or suit” for any “action taken to comply with the requirements of this subchapter, or to restrict access to or availability of the information or material described,” the bill says. It also provides immunity to ISPs that take proactive measures in blocking broadband access to individuals “who provide or aid or abet elective abortions or who manufacture, mail, distribute, transport, or provide abortion-inducing drugs.”
The proposed bill is a nightmare for free speech activists and supporters of internet statutes such as Section 230 and its kin. And despite a clause claiming it doesn’t apply to First Amendment-protected speech, critics of Rep. Toth’s bill have pointed out on social media that this legislation is trying to abridge free speech. Mashable attempted to speak to Toth’s office for comment but could not reach him or a spokesperson at the time of this writing.
As The Verge points out, proposed legislation such as HB2690 that allows for ISP blocking provisions would run afoul of net neutrality rules. However, under President Biden’s current FCC administration, the agency is currently deadlocked trying to confirm his nominee for commissioner, and thus, can’t reinstate rules that were rolled back during the Trump presidency. Extreme laws like these usually don’t pass, the Verge notes, but they can’t be ignored.
Despite Texas’ draconian laws on abortion, there are already attempts to skirt these potential new rulings on accessible abortion information. Mobile billboards sponsored by the nonprofit Mayday.Health are visiting college campuses in 14 states with abortion bans carrying a reminder that abortion pills are still accessible all across the country. The traveling billboards are fitted with QR codes that direct people to resources specific to the state where they are hoping to have pills delivered. Campuses in Austin and Dallas should expect to see the billboard soon in the coming days as March celebrates Women’s History Month.
As the current legal backdrop continues to attack the right to abortion across the country, here is information you can use to help abortion funds and reproductive networks around the nation.
Abortion websites would be blocked in Texas under new bill
A new bill in Texas would require internet service providers inside the state to block sites that provide abortion information, as well making it illegal to host or even provide domain registration for sites that help people in Texas obtain or pay for abortions.
The bill, filed February 23rd by representative Steve Toth, attempts to crush access to services that ship the pregnancy-terminating drugs mifepristone and misoprostol, as well as aid funds that raise money to cover the cost of abortion-related expenses. Under the new bill’s rules, it would be unlawful to “create, edit, upload, publish, host, maintain, or register a domain name for an internet website, platform, or other interactive computer service that assists or facilitates a…
Thousands of websites infected to redirect users in Google Ads view-pumping scam
If Websites Were Liable for What Users Post, Would the Internet Even Work?
Last week, Joe Biden wrote an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal calling for Congress to pass legislation that would regulate large tech companies. In the essay, titled, “Republicans and Democrats, Unite Against Big Tech Abuses,” he specifically rejoins Congress to reform Section 230 of the Communications…
Why Do Websites Always Want Me to Use Their Apps?
If you browse the web on your phone, you’ve almost certainly seen prompts asking you to install an app. It seems odd to create a nice mobile-friendly website just to beg people to use an app instead. Why is that?
Read This Article on How-To Geek ›
US Is Seizing 48 Websites In Sting of Cyberattack-For-Hire Services
DDoS-for-hire services often refer to themselves as “stresser” or “booter” tools that purport to offer a way for individuals to test the resilience of websites and services they operate, according to cybersecurity experts. In reality, the services are often used for harassment, extortion and criminal mischief, they say. The sites seized by the FBI include royalstresser, securityteam and dragonstresser, among others.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Google Chrome Gains Support for Passkeys, Making it Easier to Log Into Websites and More
With passkeys, users can authenticate and log into websites using their iPhone or Android devices, replacing the need for a password. On newer versions of iOS and Android, users visiting websites that support passkeys can use biometric authentication on a trusted device to confirm their identity. Writing in a blog post, Google said it was adding passkey support to Chrome, which will let users scan a QR code on their Android or iPhone device to log in. Passkey support is also coming to Chrome on Android.
On a desktop device you can also choose to use a passkey from your nearby mobile device and, since passkeys are built on industry standards, you can use either an Android or iOS device. A passkey doesn’t leave your mobile device when signing in like this. Only a securely generated code is exchanged with the site so, unlike a password, there’s nothing that could be leaked.
A number of other companies and apps have introduced or announced upcoming support for passkeys, including 1Password, PayPal, Microsoft, eBay, and more. Passkey support in Google Chrome is available now with the latest update. To learn more about passkeys, check out our explainer.
This article, “Google Chrome Gains Support for Passkeys, Making it Easier to Log Into Websites and More” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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