https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/05/battery-vampire/#drained Skip to content Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow No trackers, no ads. Black type, white background. Privacy policy: we don't collect or retain any data at all ever period. Menu * Books * About * Forums * Podcast * Newsletter * RSS * Twitter * Mastodon * Medium * Tumblr Pluralistic: When Facebook came for your battery, feudal security failed (05 Feb 2023) [05Feb2023][05Feb2023] Today's links * When Facebook came for your battery, feudal security failed: A tale of whistleblowers, security through obscurity, and binding arbitration. * Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. * This day in history: 2003, 2013, 2018, 2022 * Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading --------------------------------------------------------------------- A painting depicting the Roman sacking of Jerusalem. The Roman leader's head has been replaced with Mark Zuckerberg's head. The wall has Apple's 'Think Different' wordmark and an Ios 'low battery' icon. A painting depicting the Roman sacking of Jerusalem. The Roman leader's head has been replaced with Mark Zuckerberg's head. The wall has Apple's 'Think Different' wordmark and an Ios 'low battery' icon. When Facebook came for your battery, feudal security failed ( permalink) When George Hayward was working as a Facebook data-scientist, his bosses ordered him to run a "negative test," updating Facebook Messenger to deliberately drain users' batteries, in order to determine how power-hungry various parts of the apps were. Hayward refused, and Facebook fired him, and he sued: https://nypost.com/2023/01/28/ facebook-fires-worker-who-refused-to-do-negative-testing-awsuit/ Hayward balked because he knew that among the 1.3 billion people who use Messenger, some would be placed in harm's way if Facebook deliberately drained their batteries - physically stranded, unable to communicate with loved ones experiencing emergencies, or locked out of their identification, payment method, and all the other functions filled by mobile phones. As Hayward told Kathianne Boniello at the New York Post, "Any data scientist worth his or her salt will know, 'Don't hurt people...' I refused to do this test. It turns out if you tell your boss, 'No, that's illegal,' it doesn't go over very well." Negative testing is standard practice at Facebook, and Hayward was given a document called "How to run thoughtful negative tests" regarding which he said, "I have never seen a more horrible document in my career." We don't know much else, because Hayward's employment contract included a non-negotiable binding arbitration waiver, which means that he surrendered his right to seek legal redress from his former employer. Instead, his claim will be heard by an arbitrator - that is, a fake corporate judge who is paid by Facebook to decide if Facebook was wrong. Even if he finds in Hayward's favor - something that arbitrators do far less frequently than real judges do - the judgment, and all the information that led up to it, will be confidential, meaning we won't get to find out more: https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/12/hot-coffee/#mcgeico One significant element of this story is that the malicious code was inserted into Facebook's app. Apps, we're told, are more secure than real software. Under the "curated computing" model, you forfeit your right to decide what programs run on your devices, and the manufacturer keeps you safe. But in practice, apps are just software, only worse: https://pluralistic.net/2022/06/23/peek-a-boo/# attack-helicopter-parenting Apps are part what Bruce Schneier calls "feudal security." In this model, we defend ourselves against the bandits who roam the internet by moving into a warlord's fortress. So long as we do what the warlord tells us to do, his hired mercenaries will keep us safe from the bandits: https://locusmag.com/2021/01/ cory-doctorow-neofeudalism-and-the-digital-manor/ But in practice, the mercenaries aren't all that good at their jobs. They let all kinds of badware into the fortress, like the "pig butchering" apps that snuck into the two major mobile app stores: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2023/02/ pig-butchering-scam-apps-sneak-into-apples-app-store-and-google-play/ It's not merely that the app stores' masters make mistakes - it's that when they screw up, we have no recourse. You can't switch to an app store that pays closer attention, or that lets you install low-level software that monitors and overrides the apps you download. Indeed, Apple's Developer Agreement bans apps that violate other services' terms of service, and they've blocked apps like OG App that block Facebook's surveillance and other enshittification measures, siding with Facebook against Apple device owners who assert the right to control how they interact with the company: https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/10/e2e/#the-censors-pen When a company insists that you must be rendered helpless as a condition of protecting you, it sets itself up for ghastly failures. Apple's decision to prevent every one of its Chinese users from overriding its decisions led inevitably and foreseeably to the Chinese government ordering Apple to spy on those users: https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/11/foreseeable-consequences/# airdropped Apple isn't shy about thwarting Facebook's business plans, but Apple uses that power selectively - they blocked Facebook from spying on Iphone users (yay!) and Apple covertly spied on its customers in exactly the same way as Facebook, for exactly the same purpose, and lied about it: https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar The ultimately, irresolvable problem of Feudal Security is that the warlord's mercenaries will protect you against anyone - except the warlord who pays them. When Apple or Google or Facebook decides to attack its users, the company's security experts will bend their efforts to preventing those users from defending themselves, turning the fortress into a prison: https://pluralistic.net/2022/10/20/benevolent-dictators/# felony-contempt-of-business-model Feudal security leaves us at the mercy of giant corporations - fallible and just as vulnerable to temptation as any of us. Both binding arbitration and feudal security assume that the benevolent dictator will always be benevolent, and never make a mistake. Time and again, these assumptions are proven to be nonsense. (Image Anthony Quintano, CC BY 2.0, modified) --------------------------------------------------------------------- Hey look at this (permalink) [heylookatt][heylookatt] * Amazon's Endgame https://prospect.org/power/ amazon-business-endgame-jassy/ * Mastodon Flock https://mastodon-flock.vercel.app/ (h/t Waxy) * Watch David Byrne sing David Bowie's "Heroes" with beautiful, massive backup choir https://boingboing.net/2023/02/04/ watch-david-byrne-sing-david-bowies-heroes-with-beautiful-massive-backup-choir-video.html --------------------------------------------------------------------- A Wayback Machine banner.A Wayback Machine banner. This day in history (permalink) #20yrsago PacBell and Scientology knock Kevin Burton offline https:// web.archive.org/web/20030219085335/http://www.peerfear.org/rss/ permalink/2003/02/04/ 1044497702-DMCA_Takedown_Notice_Scientology_and_PacBell.shtml #20yrsago Brewster Kahle's librarian rant https://web.archive.org/web /20030409204107/http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/lectures/kahle.html #10yrsago Bogosity generators: the secret heart of science fiction https://www.rudyrucker.com/blog/2013/02/05/ the-bogosity-generator-tool-in-science-fiction/ #10yrsago NYT, 1924: Hitler's tamed by prison, "no longer to be feared" https://web.archive.org/web/20130206224612/http:// www.retronaut.com/2013/02/hitler-tamed-by-prison/ #5yrsago Trump's Consumer Finance Protection Board chief gives up on punishing Equifax for doxing the entire United States of America https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-equifax-cfpb/ exclusive-u-s-consumer-protection-official-puts-equifax-probe-on-ice-sources-idUSKBN1FP0IZ #5yrsago The GOP candidate who would represent a suburban Chicago district is an open Holocaust denier, white supremacist and anti-Semite https://chicago.suntimes.com/politics/2019/12/2/20992050/ holocaust-denier-arthur-jones-candidate-republican-primary-3rd-congressional-district #5yrsago 139 pieces of (seemingly nonfunctional) malware that exploit Spectre and Meltdown are now circulating in the wild https:// www.securityweek.com/ malware-exploiting-spectre-meltdown-flaws-emerges/,/a> #1yrago How to design an anti-monopoly interop system https:// pluralistic.net/2022/02/05/time-for-some-game-theory/#massholes --------------------------------------------------------------------- [colophonim][colophonim] Colophon (permalink) Today's top sources: Slashdot (https://slashdot.org). Currently writing: * Picks and Shovels, a Martin Hench noir thriller about the heroic era of the PC. Friday's progress: 520 words (102259 words total) * The Bezzle, a Martin Hench noir thriller novel about the prison-tech industry. FIRST DRAFT COMPLETE, WAITING FOR EDITORIAL REVIEW * A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING * Vigilant, Little Brother short story about remote invigilation. ON SUBMISSION * Moral Hazard, a short story for MIT Tech Review's 12 Tomorrows. FIRST DRAFT COMPLETE, ACCEPTED FOR PUBLICATION * Spill, a Little Brother short story about pipeline protests. ON SUBMISSION Currently reading: Analogia by George Dyson. Latest podcast: Social Quitting https://craphound.com/news/2023/01/22 /social-quitting/ Upcoming appearances: * Avid Reader (Brisbane), Feb 8 https://avidreader.com.au/pages/ 6834-ChokepointCapitalism-RebeccaGiblinandCoryDoctorow * Chokepoint Capitalism: A Kiwi Perspective, Feb 13 https://chokepoint-capitalism-a-kiwi-perspective.lilregie.com/ booking/attendees/new * Future of Arts, Culture & Technology, ACMI, (Melbourne), Feb 14 https://www.acmi.net.au/whats-on/ in-conversation-cory-doctorow-rebecca-giblin-esther-anatolitis/ * State Library of NSW (Sydney), Feb 15 https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/events/ chokepoint-capitalism-rebecca-giblin-and-cory-doctorow * ANU/Canberra Times Meet The Author (Canberra), Feb 16 https://www.anu.edu.au/events/ in-conversation-with-rebecca-giblin-and-cory-doctorow * Australian Digital Alliance Copyright Forum (Canberra), Feb 17 https://digital.org.au/2022/11/08/ doctorow-giblin-first-speaker-announcement-ada-forum-2023/ * Antitrust, Regulation and the Political Economy (Brussels), Mar 2 https://www.brusselsconference.com/registration Recent appearances: * Chokepoint Capitalism: Can It Be Defeated? (UCL Institute of Brand and Innovation Law): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xs0c7qE-Yyk * A theory of how internet platforms die (Marketplace Tech) https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-tech/ a-theory-of-how-internet-platforms-die/ * Graeber's Pirate Enlightment (Everyday Anarchism) https://www.everydayanarchism.com/ graebers-pirate-enlightment-cory-doctorow/ Latest books: * "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https:// chokepointcapitalism.com * "Attack Surface": The third Little Brother novel, a standalone technothriller for adults. The Washington Post called it "a political cyberthriller, vigorous, bold and savvy about the limits of revolution and resistance." Order signed, personalized copies from Dark Delicacies https://www.darkdel.com/store/p1840/ Available_Now%3A_Attack_Surface.html * "How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism": an anti-monopoly pamphlet analyzing the true harms of surveillance capitalism and proposing a solution. https://onezero.medium.com/ how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism-8135e6744d59 (print edition: https://bookshop.org/books/ how-to-destroy-surveillance-capitalism/9781736205907) (signed copies: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2024/ Available_Now%3A__How_to_Destroy_Surveillance_Capitalism.html) * "Little Brother/Homeland": A reissue omnibus edition with a new introduction by Edward Snowden: https://us.macmillan.com/books/ 9781250774583; personalized/signed copies here: https:// www.darkdel.com/store/p1750/ July%3A__Little_Brother_%26_Homeland.html * "Poesy the Monster Slayer" a picture book about monsters, bedtime, gender, and kicking ass. Order here: https:// us.macmillan.com/books/9781626723627. Get a personalized, signed copy here: https://www.darkdel.com/store/p2682/ Corey_Doctorow%3A_Poesy_the_Monster_Slayer_HB.html#/. Upcoming books: * Red Team Blues: "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books, April 2023 * The Internet Con: A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech, Verso, September 2023 * The Lost Cause: a post-Green New Deal eco-topian novel about truth and reconciliation with white nationalist militias, Tor Books, November 2023 --------------------------------------------------------------------- [by][by] This work licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. 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[bdd2b][bdd2b]Author Cory DoctorowPosted on February 5, 2023February 5, 2023Tags apple, apps, arbitration waivers, binding arbitration, danegeld, feudal security, manorial security, mobile, security through obscurity, surveillance lag, transparency Post navigation Previous Previous post: Pluralistic: Higher interest rates increase both the monetary supply and inflation (04 Feb 2023) Archives * February 2023 * January 2023 * December 2022 * November 2022 * October 2022 * September 2022 * August 2022 * July 2022 * June 2022 * May 2022 * April 2022 * March 2022 * February 2022 * January 2022 * December 2021 * November 2021 * October 2021 * September 2021 * August 2021 * July 2021 * June 2021 * May 2021 * April 2021 * March 2021 * February 2021 * January 2021 * December 2020 * November 2020 * October 2020 * September 2020 * August 2020 * July 2020 * June 2020 * May 2020 * April 2020 * March 2020 * February 2020 Categories * Uncategorized Meta * Log in * Entries feed * Comments feed * WordPress.org Previous editions * Pluralistic: When Facebook came for your battery, feudal security failed (05 Feb 2023) * Pluralistic: Higher interest rates increase both the monetary supply and inflation (04 Feb 2023) * Pluralistic: Netflix wants to chop down your family tree (02 Feb 2023) * Pluralistic: Johnson and Johnson's bankruptcy gambit fails (01 Feb 2023) * Pluralistic: Canada's privatised shadow civil service (31 Jan 2023) 49501796801_4247c0309f_k Search for: [ ] Search READ CAREFULLY By reading this website, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. 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