September 24, 2019
When Apple trailed its latest iPhone update, iOS 13, it was billed as smarter than ever before – capable of differentiating between you and members of your family, sending spam callers automatically to voicemail, speaking 38 new languages, and even predicting when a woman’s period is due to start.
Will Apple iOS 13 Make It Easier For Cyber Flashers To Target Victims?
The update also includes changes to the AirDrop file-sharing function – changes that have left some sexual harassment experts and victims with concerns over women’s safety.
Currently, users can send images and files via AirDrop to any iPhone user who has the function turned on within a 30 feet radius – the sender simply selects an iPhone name from the list of available devices. 
While commonly used to share holiday or family snaps, AirDrop has also been used maliciously for cyber flashing – the sending of unsolicited sexual images. 
More than 70 Women have spoken to HuffPost UK about their experiences of being cyber flashed, the majority on public transport, where perpetrators are in close proximity to victims and can choose from phone names who to target.
Now, a new U1 chip technology in the iOS 13 update is set to give your iPhone greater spatial awareness – gauging which phones are closest and, crucially, who they belong to. “If you want to share a file with someone using AirDrop, just point your iPhone at theirs and they’ll be first on the list,” an Apple spokesperson explained to HuffPost UK.
Tara Jane O’Reilly, 24, who was cyber flashed at Baker Street station in London, worries this does not take the safety of women into account. 
“I changed my iPhone name so that it wouldn’t identify me to strangers, but now a stranger can point his phone at me and send me a dick pic? That is terrifying, and Apple should reconsider this move,” she says.
Sophie Meehan, 20, who was cyber flashed at St Pancras station after a trip to the theatre with her dad and subsequently followed by the perpetrator, sees the update as “potentially very dangerous”, exposing those already vulnerable to cyber flashing. “This could mean more people could be targeted and therefore affected by this invasive crime,” she says.Related... These Women Are Going to Great Lengths To Avoid Becoming Victims Of Cyberflashing Clare McGlynn, professor of law at Durham University and expert on sexual violence, agrees that the software update could make life easier for perpetrators. “The new Apple software feels distinctly creepy, making it even easier to invade a woman’s privacy and daily life. If you want to make life easier for the harasser, this is the way to do it. Well done, Apple!”
Given the growing awareness of image-based abuse such as cyber flashing, companies developing technologies need to take into account the safety of women as they do so, McGlynn says. “Every day we are doing work to make ourselves safe and comfortable, such as being careful where we sit on public transport. This new software just adds to the unease many of us will feel everyday.”
Apple was approached for comment on the potential of the AirDrop update for misuse, but declined to comment. McGlynn believes the update is an example “of when women’s safety concerns are not designed-into tech from the very beginning”, and that the way to address this is having more women at the forefront of tech design – in 2017 Apple’s global workforce was 32% women. 
The Law Commission is currently investigating proposed changes to create an image-based abuse law, as recommended by the Women and Equalities Committee in October 2018. The Law Commission will report back in 2021.
Laura Thompson, a lead research in sexual violence at City University, says that until the government updates legislation, tech needs to lead on serving women better. “It is increasingly apparent how slow-moving the government is in comparison to the technology sector. While smartphone technology continues to rapidly advance, progress on tightening legislative measures to criminalise cyber flashing in England and Wales has stalled,” she says.
Change needs to happen sooner, Thompson adds: “Ultimately, an overall culture change is needed to end this vile practice. But until we reach that point we need systems, laws and policies in place that are capable of both responding to and anticipating potential misuses of new technologies.”
The British Transport Police (BTP) told HuffPost it does not yet have insight into how iOS 13 might be used on the transport network, but that it is already thinking how CCTV might be used to track perpetrators. 
Detective Inspector David Udomhiaye, head of the Sexual Offences Unit for the BTP, said: “The network is rich in CCTV so if we can see someone in front of you is clearly gesturing their phone in your direction and you’re reporting cyber flashing, then we can explore that as an option.” 
The iOS 13 updates will be available from 30 September on the new iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.Related... Cyber Flashing: I Had To Educate Police About The Crime I Was Trying To Report Flashing Is Illegal Offline So Why Do We Tolerate It Online? Would Making Cyber Flashing Illegal Stop People Sending Dick Pics?
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How much would former President Donald Trump's proposed 10 percent tariff plan actually cost the average American household?The wave of tariffs Trump enacted when he was last president caused chaos, but there are many complexities that muddy this somewhat. However, MSNBC's Chris Hayes took an educated and simple guess at just how badly the country would be hit in the pocketbook under Trump's second-term plans."We don't know exactly how much everything would cost," said Hayes, but "just add 10 percent on the back of the napkin. Here's the cost of living under the Trump Tax."ALSO READ: ‘Don't have enough’: Wealthy Trump allies balk at helping Donald pay legal bills"Start with groceries," he said. "A dozen eggs cost about $3. Once you apply the Trump Tax, that is up to $3.30, with the U.S. importing over 4 million eggs a year, but cost consumers over $1.2 million. If you like oranges, they currently go for about $1.53 per pound. With the Trump Tax, that would be $1.68 per pound, which would cost American consumers almost $71 million for the nearly half a billion pounds of the import. Bananas. We don't really grow them in the U.S., do we? They average about $.63 per pound and going up to $.69 per pound with the Trump Tax, thanks to the U.S. importing more than 10 million pounds per year, that could cost Americans at $609 million and that's a $609 million tax on American consumers. Then there's tomatoes. They go for about $2.13 per pound. Apply the 10 percent Trump Tax. They would be $2.34 per pound, potentially costing Americans $3.5 million thanks to the 6.8 million pounds we import per year. If you are spending $1,200 on groceries, add another $120 to the bill. That's more than the peak of inflation in 2022, which topped off at 9 percent. This is 10 percent."Groceries are just the start, he continued."How about the refrigerator?" said Hayes. "You need to keep the groceries fresh. The average cost of a new fridge is about $1,300. With the Trump Tax, that could go up to $1,430, costing Americans $1.95 billion for the 15 million refrigerators that we import. Again, $1.95 billion of new taxes. What about the car that you need to drive to the grocery store? On average, a new car costs about $48,808 today. With Trump Tax, it costs $53,684, with Americans potentially taking a $66.3 billion hit across the board on the 13 million cars we import. That's not including the 50 percent tariff which would make it another $25,000. Even the smartphone in your pocket cost on average about $940 right now. With Trump Tax, it can go up to $1,034, with Americans potentially paying an extra $13.2 billion for the nearly 141 million smartphones that we import per year.""Everyone hates when you have to pay more for things," he added. "Inflation is one of the biggest liabilities for a sitting president. Yet here is Donald Trump, in the Year of our Lord 2024, running against President Biden, promising to make things more expensive for every American."Watch the video below or click here. Chris Hayes breaks down "Trump Tax" www.youtube.com
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Trump-endorsed candidate says Beyoncé is teaching women 'how to be hyper-sexual'
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North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson had yet another group of extremist comments unveiled — this time about legendary singer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter.According to The Root, "During a series of rants spanning multiple years, Robinson —who is Black —insulted Beyoncé’s singing abilities, called her a 'skank,' and said she was teaching 'young women how to be hyper-sexual w----s.'"For example, in 2017, Robinson posted to Facebook, “Person; Beyoncé is a role model!” Me; “The only person that butt shakin’, devil worshipping, skank is a role model to is people who want a fast track to Hell.” This is on top of previous reporting that he referred to her music as sounding like "Satanic chants."ALSO READ: ‘Don't have enough’: Wealthy Trump allies balk at helping Donald pay legal billsThese revelations come at a moment when Beyoncé herself has found herself at the center of some national controversy, having written a country music inspired album known as Cowboy Carter, and some country radio stations refusing to play singles off of it because of her race.Robinson, who is challenging Democratic Attorney General Josh Stein for the governorship of North Carolina, has been put under the spotlight for a number of bizarre and offensive comments throughout the years.Among other things, he has referred to school shooting survivors as "prosti-tots," pushed QAnon and "lizard people" conspiracy theories, questioned the Holocaust, and suggested American politics was better in the era when women couldn't vote.
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'Some prosecutor should be looking into' Trump's latest legal defense scam: expert
Mar 28, 2024
Former President Donald Trump's sprawling network of ostensibly independent political groups raising money for him, much of it in service of paying legal expenses, seems to walk right up to the line of breaking the law, former prosecutor Kristy Greenberg told MSNBC's Alex Wagner — and may in fact cross it."Kristy, how is this legal?" asked Wagner. "How can he keep saying this one thing and doing another?""Well, I think the big question here will be looking behind all of this as to who is coordinating it," said Greenberg. "If Donald Trump is coordinating between his campaign and these PACs that are supposed to be third parties and independent — the Save America PAC is independent, even though he directs it, independent third-party — if there is sufficient coordination, you could prove that, then maybe you would have something to say these expenditures are not purely personal, these are really campaign contributions. And therefore they should be subject to the limits of $5,000 that campaign contributions are subject to."ALSO READ: ‘Don't have enough’: Wealthy Trump allies balk at helping Donald pay legal billsWhat it looks like, Greenberg went on, is that Trump and his allies are "just trying to do an end-run around these various regulations, and it seems so transparent.""[Special counsel] Jack Smith ... had served some subpoenas in connection with that nonexistent, as it turns out, election defense fund," Greenberg said. "He served some subpoenas and then he withdrew them and it was unclear why, because that seemed like such a clear-cut fraud. I questioned why that happened. Perhaps it was optics. Perhaps he thought like he had such strong cases, the January 6 case and the national security case, that he didn't want to seem as though he was trying to drain Trump of the ability to legally defend against those cases. Hard to say. But I questioned it at that time because that seemed like such a clear wire fraud case that it seemed like it should be looked into, but maybe they just had limited resources and didn't like the optics of it.""But I agree with you, this raises a lot of questions," she added. "Someone, somewhere, even if not the special counsel's office, because they are pretty busy — some prosecutors should be looking into this."Watch the video below or at the link. Kristy Greenberg on the legality of Trump's PACs www.youtube.com
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