GREENVILLE, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 18, 2023--

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas is attempting to rally support for a bill that would reveal to Americans if their household devices are spying on them. Mr Cruz took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to rally support for the Informing Consumers about the Smart Devices Act — warning that as more and more Americans bring smart devices into their homes, the result could be a loss of privacy. “In Texas, we’ve become very aware of that cost,” Mr Cruz said. “The past few years, smart thermostats have allowed electric companies to control the temperature in your own home from afar in the name of conserving energy. Furthermore, a lot of Americans don’t realize or expect that the growing number of smart household devices and appliances, have cameras on them, and microphones that can surreptitiously record families and transmit data.” Mr Cruz says his bill would require technology manufacturers to clearly disclose whether their appliances have listening devices, cameras, or any other spying technologies. The bill would not apply to cell phones, laptops, or other devices “that a consumer would reasonably expect to include a camera or microphone.” Mr Cruz first introduced the proposal back in January with Sen Maria Cantwell of Washington, a Democrat. Sen Raphael Warnock of Georgia also joined the bill as a co-sponsor in late March, shortly after it was marked up by the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation committee. According to Mr Cruz’s testimony, the bill passed the Commerce Committee by a voice vote but has not yet been taken up by the full Senate. At its core, Mr Cruz said, the bill is designed as a consumer protection measure to let Americans know what they’re bringing into their home — a right that he feels takes precedent over concerns about government overreach. “Now, I’m sympathetic to the argument that there are too many mandates from government and that many of the mandates are unnecessary, burdensome, and costly,” Mr Cruz said. “But requiring a manufacturer to tell you if they’re spying on you does not fall into that category. And I have to say in assessing the minimal burden, the disclosure burden, against the harm, I fall down on the side of individual liberty. I fall down on the side of privacy.” Privacy is, in many ways, one of the defining issues of the internet age — particularly at a time when the buying and selling of people’s personal data is a multi-billion dollar industry that is expected to grow exponentially in the coming years. “I don’t think the American people want their air fryer spying on them,” Mr Cruz said. “And at a minimum, they have a right to know if their air fryer is spying on them.” Read More Ted Cruz accuses new Barbie movie of ‘pushing Chinese propaganda’

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CITY OF INDUSTRY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2023--

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Tech execs tend to announce new apps, features and devices in slick promotional videos, and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri was no different when he shared a Reel announcing the launch of Meta’s Twitter rival, Threads, earlier this week – one which has since been parodied by one content creator. Just days after Elon Musk’s Twitter suffered a significant outage at the start of July - and had to implement controversial, but temporary reading limits on tweets - Mark Zuckerberg’s company started teasing its “civil”, text-based alternative ahead of it eventually being released in the UK at midnight on Thursday (7pm ET). After the launch, Mosseri released a video explainer on his own Instagram profile in which he said: “We’re hoping to bring some of what we’ve built for photos and videos on Instagram to Threads with text. “Now the idea is there’s an amazing community on Instagram, and wonderful creators, and we want to create a space where we can engage in public conversations that is friendly, and that is open.” And it’s certainly proved popular, with Zuckerberg reporting more than 10 million sign-ups to the app after seven hours of it being available to the public. But one Instagram content creator decided to create his own take on Mosseri’s Reel, with a greater focus on Threads’ similarities with Twitter. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Posing as the Instagram boss, Dan Toomey opens his parody by describing Threads as “some new s*** to waste your time on from Instagram”. “Threads is for public arguments, cyber-bullying and the occasional post from a fast-food chain that goes too far – in other words, Twitter. “Now the idea is there’s an amazing opportunity to end Twitter while it’s down, like we saw a wounded deer on the side of the road and we just jammed our thumb into the side of its neck very slowly, so we can feel the last drop of life exit its body,” he continued, before a voice can be heard off-camera saying “too far, Adam”. As Toomey’s version of Mosseri carries on talking about the supposed benefits of Threads, the necklace sported by his character starts undergoing some changes with every cut, at one point turning into a pair of scissors dangling from a chain. Toomey continued: “So we’re going to bring a lot of the good creators from Twitter over to Instagram with Threads – people like BTS stans, the kid who doxes billionaires’ planes [Jack Sweeney’s ElonJet] and millions and millions of furry porn accounts. “And we’re also looking to integrate Mastodon, which is a decentralised, social media bulls*** thing.” Toomey’s take on the latest social media platform to take up some storage space on your phone has been branded “genius” by commenters on Instagram. One wrote: “The constantly changing necklace pendants really tie this thing together.” “No one’s picked up on the El*n [sic] photo in the background yet,” noted another. A third commented: “The fact that you made like seven necklaces for this is just perfect. Never change, Adam.” And yes, Mosseri himself – the real Adam - has actually seen it, sharing it to his Instagram story and on his Threads profile, where he added: “The changing necklace pendants really got me you b******.” Wholesome. Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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