Josh Taylor

Josh Taylor

@joshtaylor.bsky.social

205

Posts

Reported at Guardian Australia. Tech, infosec, FOI, politics, media 🌈 (he/him)

Posts Replies Media

I feel like if we had an elected member of parliament who almost exclusively only posts about the politics of another country that wasn't the US it would get much more attention

I take it back, Aussie politics is awesome

I kinda feel the news cycle trump often has benefited from where things move on quickly to the next, coupled with the lack of a clear motive from the shooter (plus registered Republican) means this won't have the impact people immediately thought yesterday. But that is just the vibe atm

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‘Robotax’ documents reveal bugs in ATO’s systems affected hundreds of accounts

‘Robotax’ documents reveal bugs in ATO’s systems affected hundreds of accountswww.theguardian.com More than 600 accounts were affected by failings in Australian Taxation Office systems, which included ‘false debts’ wrongly extracted from taxpayer Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast The Australian Taxation Office’s troubled “robotax” campaign recorded multiple bugs in its systems affecting hundreds of accounts in the lead-up to its planned expansion of the program, according to new documents. Internal ATO reports and correspondence obtained under freedom of information laws by iTnews show that more than 600 accounts were affected by failings in the agency’s automated systems, which included instances of “false debts” wrongly extracted from taxpayers. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

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Uber is cutting fares before Australia’s minimum gig work standards take effect, drivers say

Uber is cutting fares before Australia’s minimum gig work standards take effect, drivers saywww.theguardian.com Ride-hail giant is lowering the starting point for negotiations under the closing loopholes regime, one driver claims Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Uber drivers say looming cuts to fares will squeeze them even more in a cost-of-living crisis, arguing the ride-hailing giant is reducing what they are paid before new standards under the government’s closing loopholes legislation are determined. Last week, Uber told drivers that rider fares would be cut from 7 August. The company has not told drivers the exact amount, but it is understood it would be an average of less than 5%. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

There are so few dedicated tech publications in Australia now... the number of paths to entry for new reporters seems to shrink every day.

this is so sad. Gizmodo, Lifehacker, Vice, Refinery29 and Kotaku were doing stuff no one else was doing in Australia, and they have such talented writers and creators.

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Adult. Human. Failure.

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It was missed in the drop the Australian got on this, but the eSafety commissioner has backed down on new standards following backlash from companies like Apple. www.theguardian.com/technology/a...

Australia’s eSafety commissioner waters down child abuse detection rules in online safety standardswww.theguardian.com Tech companies providing end-to-end encryption, including Apple, pushed for the changes, warning of mass government surveillance

It was missed in the drop the Australian got on this, but the eSafety commissioner has backed down on new standards following backlash from companies like Apple. www.theguardian.com/technology/a...

Australia’s eSafety commissioner waters down child abuse detection rules in online safety standardswww.theguardian.com Tech companies providing end-to-end encryption, including Apple, pushed for the changes, warning of mass government surveillance

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Here's the nightmare. Enjoy.

John Oliver did a deep dive on Project 2025 tonight that should be required viewing. Frightening shit. Hasn't been posted on their YT channel yet, but it's a must watch. Great reporting.

Trump’s Second Term: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)youtu.be John Oliver discusses Donald Trump’s plans for a second term, why it could be much worse than his first term, and what Trump has in common with a hamster. Connect with Last Week Tonight online... Subscribe to the Last Week Tonight YouTube channel for more almost news as it almost happens: www.youtube.com/lastweektonight Find Last Week Tonight on Facebook like your mom would: www.facebook.com/lastweektonight Follow us on Twitter for news about jokes and jokes about news: www.twitter.com/lastweektonight Visit our official site for all that other stuff at once: www.hbo.com/lastweektonight

Spoke to Signal president @meredithmeredith.bsky.social about governments using the backlash against Meta etc as a pretext to try to bring in mass surveillance www.theguardian.com/technology/a...

‘You cannot do mass surveillance privately, full stop’: Signal boss hits out at government encryption-busting moveswww.theguardian.com A ‘legitimate grievance’ with big tech firms is being used by police as a pretext to undermine privacy, Meredith Whittaker says

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Users of Elon Musk's twitter discovered that any upload of the Nova Music Festival photo is instantly met with a community note no matter what the text says

The court process is slowly drawing out how the Medibank hack happened, nearly two years on. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Medibank’s lack of multi-factor authentication allowed hackers to infiltrate systems, regulator allegeswww.theguardian.com Court documents allege insurer’s network was configured so that only a username and password was required to gain access

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“I tricked a selfie AI age-verification tool into letting a child ‘buy’ a knife” by @cameronwilson.bsky.social www.crikey.com.au/2024/06/14/s...

I tricked a selfie AI age-verification tool into letting a child 'buy' a knifewww.crikey.com.au Governments are looking at using AI to estimate people's age using a selfie. I fooled it using a stock image and an old aging filter.

Unsurprising but News Corp editorials today praise Dutton for his announcement even though there's absolutely no detail on how or whether it'll work and say the pm is dithering even though at least they're doing a trial (also without detail). www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Peter Dutton wants a social media ban for children. But would ‘real life’ rules work?www.theguardian.com The opposition leader’s announcement that age verification would be a Coalition government priority is a big promise that technology may not be able to fulfil

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lmao Google's AI is eating itself already -- telling you how much glue to put on pizza, citing a @katienotopoulos.bsky.social Business Insider article about Google's AI telling people to put glue on pizza

Gonna have to fight John Oliver for it tbh

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My favorite one yet.

What owning movies and TV shows means in the age of streaming services www.theguardian.com/media/articl...

‘My whole library is wiped out’: what it means to own movies and TV in the age of streaming serviceswww.theguardian.com Ownership rights are buried in the fine print and downloading or buying physical copies may be the only ways to keep your favourites

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Elon Musk has risked X being banned in Brazil in the name of "free speech." But as usual when he uses those words, there's a lot more to the story www.platformer.news/elon-musk-x-...

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Four foreign aid workers and Palestinian translator killed in convoy strike, Gaza health officials say

Four foreign aid workers and Palestinian translator killed in convoy strike, Gaza health officials saywww.theguardian.com Israeli military investigating after nationals from UK, Australia and Poland, working for World Central Kitchen, were reportedly in convoy struck in central Gaza Four foreign nationals have been killed in a strike in central Gaza, according to health officials in the occupied territory. The Hamas-run Gaza government media office reported the deaths late on Monday. Continue reading...

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Just the dumbest people on earth

I'm really enjoying Arnold Schwarzenegger's new audio book but every time he says genius, movie or Ivan Reitman (many times) I hear that @tonymartin.bsky.social Late Show sketch and start laughing. It's permanently etched into my brain.

Wrote about the Epic Games case against Apple and Google that kicks off for four months of hearings in Melbourne from tomorrow. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Epic Games takes on Apple and Google in Australia over alleged misuse of market powerwww.theguardian.com Maker of Fortnite says in lawsuit that by controlling in-app purchases, the tech companies are restricting competition and innovation

not the work account getting the porn filter

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Apple warns Australian proposal to force tech companies to scan cloud services could lead to mass surveillance

Apple warns Australian proposal to force tech companies to scan cloud services could lead to mass surveillancewww.theguardian.com Scanning for known child abuse material would compromise the privacy and safety of every user, tech giant says Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Apple has warned an Australian proposal to force tech companies to scan cloud and messaging services for child-abuse material risks “undermining fundamental privacy and security protections” and could lead to mass surveillance with global repercussions. Under two mandatory standards aimed at child safety released by the regulator last year, the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, proposed that providers should detect and remove child-abuse material and pro-terror material “where technically feasible” – as well as disrupt and deter new material of that nature. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

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Kumanjayi Walker inquest: former NT police officer Zachary Rolfe will refuse to answer some questions

Kumanjayi Walker inquest: former NT police officer Zachary Rolfe will refuse to answer some questionswww.theguardian.com Officer who shot the Indigenous man during a bungled arrest claims he could incriminate himself if asked about alleged use of drugs and force Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast Former Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe has said he will refuse to answer questions about his alleged drug use and use of force in other incidents during the inquest into the fatal shooting of an Indigenous teenager on the basis he could incriminate himself. The ex-constable shot Kumanjayi Walker, 19, three times during a bungled outback arrest in Yuendumu, north-west of Alice Springs, on 9 November 2019. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Very strange to hear the Human Rights Commission president describe my first story as a shock to staff considering the commission was aware that I was working on a story for weeks... www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Australian Human Rights Commission chief denies staff sanctioned for expressing pro-Palestinian viewswww.theguardian.com Rosalind Croucher tells Senate panel anonymous letter from employees was ‘disappointing’ and they had been reminded to stay ‘impartial’

I'd just been looking at the pre-stage 3 changes, and everything is "it's a risk" and then when it turns out it isn't.... welll.

Hello to all new people here! As a reward, here is Dennis Shanahan writing absolute balls out insane bollocks

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A photoshop scandal and the murky ethics of AI – podcast

A photoshop scandal and the murky ethics of AI – podcastwww.theguardian.com The altering of an image of Victorian MP Georgie Purcell by Nine News has raised questions about the use of AI technology in the media. Josh Taylor tells Patrick Keneally how this could happen and what’s at stake if AI is left unchecked. You can support the Guardian at theguardian.com/fullstorysupport You can subscribe for free to Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast Full Story on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts Read more: Continue reading...