Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

A24 TECHNOLOGY
Monday 2 SepteMber 2019
U.S. to use fake social media to check people entering country

By TAMI ABDOLLAH civil liberties advocacy
Associated Press group Electronic Frontier
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. Foundation, said such use
Citizenship and Immigra- of fake accounts “under-
tion Services officers can mines our trust in social
now create fictitious social media companies and our
media accounts to moni- ability to communicate
tor social media informa- and organize and stay in
tion on foreigners seeking touch with people.”
visas, green cards and citi- He added: “It can’t be this
zenship. double standard where
An updated Homeland Se- police can do it, but mem-
curity Department review bers of the general public
of potential privacy issues can’t.”
dated July 2019 that was Mike German, a retired FBI
posted online on Friday agent and a fellow in the
essentially reversed a prior Brennan Center for Jus-
ban on officers creating tice’s Liberty and National
fake profiles. Security program said it’s
A USCIS statement explain- important for strong guide-
ing the change says fake lines to be in place and for
accounts and identities will lawmakers to ask lots of
make it easier for investiga- questions to ensure there
tors to search for poten- In this Aug. 16, 2019, file photo a citizen candidate holds an American flag and the words to The are no abuses.
tial evidence of fraud or Star-Spangled Banner before the start of a naturalization ceremony at the U.S. Citizenship and “It’s easy to conjure up a
security concerns as they Immigration Services Miami field office in Miami. use where the use is ap-
decide whether to allow Associated Press propriate and entirely
someone entry into the U.S. lates their terms of use. consistent with our terms — they cannot “friend” or necessary, but also where
The change in policy was Twitter and Facebook re- of service,” according to “follow” an individual — it could be abused,” Ger-
preceded by other steps cently shut down numerous a Twitter statement. Face- and must undergo annual man said. “It should only be
taken by the State Depart- accounts believed to be book did not immediately training. used in cases where abso-
ment, which began re- operated by the Chinese provide comment. The officers are also not al- lutely necessary.”
quiring applicants for U.S. government using their Such a review of social me- lowed to interact with users In January 2017, former
visas to submit their social platforms under false iden- dia would be conducted on the social media sites Homeland Security Depart-
media usernames this past tities for information opera- by officers in the agency’s and can only passively re- ment Secretary Jeh John-
June, a vast expansion of tions. Fraud Detection and Na- view information, accord- son issued a privacy impact
the Trump administration’s “It is against our policies tional Security Directorate ing to the DHS document. update giving authority to
enhanced screening of to use fake personae and on cases flagged as requir- While lots of social media USCIS to “conduct law en-
potential immigrants and to use Twitter data for per- ing more investigation. The activity can be viewed forcement activities includ-
visitors. sistent surveillance of indi- privacy assessment notes without an account, many ing but not limited to ac-
It’s unclear exactly how the viduals. We look forward that officers can only re- platforms limit access with- cessing internet and pub-
creation of fake social me- to understanding USCIS’s view publicly available out one. licly available social media
dia accounts would work proposed practices to de- social media available to Dave Maass, senior inves- content using a fictitious
given policies of platforms termine whether they are all users on the platform tigative researcher for the account or identity.” q
like Facebook and Twit-
ter, which both specifically Cracked iPhone screen? You’ll have more places to fix it
state that impersonation —
pretending to be someone
other than yourself — vio- By MICHAEL LIEDTKE more than 5,000 service
AP Technology Writer providers that the compa-
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — ny already has authorized
Apple is loosening its grip worldwide. That includes
on how its products are all Best Buy stores in the
repaired to give custom- U.S. Those who have other
ers more options for fixing devices, such as the Apple
cracked screens and oth- Watch and Mac comput-
er defects on their older er, or an iPhone requiring
iPhones. more complicated repairs
Under the new policy an- will also have to go there.
nounced Thursday, Apple Although many unofficial
will begin selling its tools repair shops have been
and parts to more inde- offering basic fixes such This Aug. 26, 2015 photo shows an Apple iPhone with a
pendent phone-repair as screen replacements, cracked screen after a drop test from the DropBot, a robot
shops in the U.S. Apple they aren’t necessarily us- used to measure the sustainability of a phone to dropping, at
will expand that to other ing Apple parts or quali- the offices of SquareTrade in San Francisco.
countries later. Repairs at fied technicians. Now, Associated Press
these shops, though, will thousands more shops will Consumer groups and have become as conspic-
be limited to iPhones al- be able to buy parts di- some state lawmakers uous in daily life as cars
ready out of warranty. rectly from Apple, as long have been pressuring Ap- — a product that typi-
IPhones still under war- as they have a company- ple to give people more cally can be taken to an
ranty must still be taken to certified technician to viable choices to seek independent mechanic
an Apple store or one of make those repairs. repairs, as smartphones instead of a dealership. q