📡 Tracking Phones at Clinics, Myanmar’s Starlink Lifeline & Green Bets
Good morning. It’s Wednesday, October 23. Today we are covering:
Inside the U.S. Government-Bought Tool That Can Track Phones at Abortion Clinics
Myanmar residents struggle to overcome severe internet blackouts with Starlink
The Climate Short: Hedge Funds Pile Up Huge Bets Against Green Future
Apple CEO Tim Cook meets China's IT minister during Beijing visit, ministry says
Google Messages adding 'enhanced' spam protection, 'Sensitive Content Warnings' for nudity
Let’s dive in
Inside the U.S. Government-Bought Tool That Can Track Phones at Abortion Clinics
By Joseph Cox via 404 Media
Locate X, a tool developed by Babel Street, allows the U.S. government and law enforcement agencies to track individuals visiting abortion clinics and other sensitive locations using smartphone location data, raising concerns about privacy and reproductive freedom.
The tool’s capabilities were demonstrated by privacy advocates who accessed and leaked its videos, showing how law enforcement can use it to track and unmask clinic visitors without a warrant, posing risks for vulnerable populations like Black, brown, and low-income women.
Atlas Privacy, a data removal company, and investigative journalists revealed that Locate X can track devices across borders and into various locations, including places of worship, schools, and juror parking lots, exposing the scope of its potential misuse for surveillance.
𝕏: New: inside the US government-bought tool that can track phones at abortion clinics. Called Locate X, it tracks phones around the world without a warrant. Leakers showed it in action, we watched a phone go from Alabama, to an abortion clinic, back again - Joseph Cox (@josephfcox)
Myanmar residents struggle to overcome severe internet blackouts with Starlink
By Nu Nu Lusan via Rest of World
Myanmar residents are grappling with severe internet blackouts and bans on VPNs, which are critical for secure communications, especially in conflict-ridden regions like Kachin and Shan states.
To bypass the restrictions, many have turned to Starlink satellite internet, with an estimated 3,000 dishes in use across the country, becoming the only reliable solution for connecting to the internet in areas hit hardest by junta-imposed blackouts.
Despite the growing reliance on Starlink, concerns remain about the unlicensed use of the system and potential crackdowns by authorities, particularly in border regions.
𝕏: Internet blackouts, a VPN ban and the Myanmar military junta’s control over service providers has meant “mass censorship and surveillance.” Now people are increasingly relying on Starlink to get online - rinachandran (@rinachandran)
The best way to reach new readers is through word of mouth. If you click THIS LINK in your inbox, it’ll create an easy-to-send pre-written email you can just fire off to some friends.
The Climate Short: Hedge Funds Pile Up Huge Bets Against Green Future
By Sheryl Tian Tong Lee via Bloomberg
Despite global green stimulus packages, many hedge funds are betting against green sectors like batteries, solar, and electric vehicles, citing lagging stock performance and geopolitical risks, especially concerning China’s dominance in the supply chain.
Hedge funds are increasingly bullish on fossil fuels, with net longs outnumbering shorts in thermal coal, oil, and gas, driven by rising global energy demand and higher prices due to supply constraints.
Some renewable energy sectors like wind power and grid infrastructure remain appealing to hedge funds, seen as potential recovery stories due to rising government orders and increasing global electricity demand.
𝕏: Woah, "Hedge funds are on average net short batteries, solar, electric vehicles and hydrogen .. and net long fossil fuels" - Dave Jones (@CleanPowerDave)
Apple CEO Tim Cook meets China's IT minister during Beijing visit, ministry says
By Casey Hall via Reuters
Apple CEO Tim Cook met with China's IT Minister Jin Zhuanglong in Beijing, where Jin expressed hopes for Apple to deepen its presence in China and collaborate more with local companies.
The visit marks Cook's second trip to China in 2024, amid a highly competitive smartphone market where Apple faces growing competition from domestic rivals like Huawei.
Despite a 20% rise in new iPhone sales during the first three weeks of launch in China, overall iPhone sales dropped by 2% year-on-year, driven by weaker sales of older models and stiff competition from Huawei's Mate and Pura series.
𝕏: Tim Cook and Apple’s COO Jeff Williams are in #Beijing. Cook met with China’s IT minister and state-owned enterprise #China Mobile, among others. “Decoupling” is not an option! - S.L. Kanthan (@Kanthan2030)
Google Messages adding 'enhanced' spam protection, 'Sensitive Content Warnings' for nudity
By Abner Li via 9to5Google
Google Messages is introducing "Sensitive Content Warnings" to identify and blur images containing nudity, offering users the option to manage this feature through Android Settings.
An enhanced spam protection feature is being rolled out, using on-device machine learning to detect scam messages related to package deliveries and job-seeking texts, moving them to the spam folder automatically.
Google is also working on a public key verification system for messaging apps, set to launch in 2025, allowing users to verify contacts via QR code scanning or number comparison to prevent impersonation attempts.
Trending in AI
Arm to Scrap Qualcomm Chip Design License in Feud Escalation
Apple Intelligence Isn’t Very Smart Yet—and Apple’s OK With That
OpenAI Hires Former White House Official as Its Chief Economist
Thanks for reading to the bottom and soaking in our Newslit Daily fueled with highlights for your morning.
I hope you found it interesting and, needless to say, if you have any questions or feedback let me know by hitting reply.
Take care and see you tomorrow!
P.S. Want to advertise with us? We’d love to hear from you.
How was today’s email?