News briefs for December 5, 2018.
The UK Parliament released a 250-page previously sealed Facebook document that reveals how the company handled crucial decisions regarding user data. The Verge[1] reports that "In emails released as part of the cache, Facebook executives are shown dealing with other major tech companies on 'whitelisting' for its platform" and that according to British lawmaker Damian Collins "the agreements allowed the companies access to user data after new restrictions were put in place to end most companies' access. Companies offered access included Netflix and Airbnb, according to the emails." You can see the 250-page document here[2].
Australia plans to give law enforcement and intelligence agencies the ability to access encrypted messages on platforms like WhatsApp, putting public safety concerns ahead of personal privacy. Bloomberg reports[3] that "Amid protests from companies such as Facebook Inc. and Google, the government and main opposition struck a deal on Tuesday that should see the legislation passed by parliament this week. Under the proposed powers, technology companies could be forced to help decrypt communications on popular messaging apps, or even build new functionality to help police access data."
Microsoft yesterday open-sourced Windows Forms, the WinUI (Windows UI Library) and WPF (Windows Presentation Foundation). According to Phoronix[4], the full source code is available on GitHub and the UI/UX frameworks are now open source under the MIT license. For more information, see this Windows blog post[5].
Iridium Browser recently released build 2018.11.71 for Debian-based systems[6]. The new version is based on Chromium 71.0.3578.30, and it's available for Fedora and openSUSE as well. Iridium Browser is "Iridium Browser is based on the Chromium code base. All modifications enhance the privacy of the user and make sure that the latest and best secure technologies are used. Automatic transmission of