Tag Archive for: unit

Is government’s anti-disinformation unit protecting or persecuting citizens? – PublicTechnology

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Government claims the Counter Disinformation Unit – accused of effectively spying on its own citizens – has played a key role in tackling Kremlin narratives, and will be important in election preparations

“The CDU uses publicly available data, including material shared on social media platforms, to develop an understanding of disinformation narratives and trends. It does not, and has never, monitored individuals and all data is anonymised wherever possible.”

This is how the government summarises the work and methods of its Counter Disinformation Unit (CDU). The unit is based in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and, in its current form, was “stood up” in the early weeks of the coronavirus crisis in spring 2020, with a remit to tackle false information about the pandemic circulating online.

Others have a different, and darker take on how the CDU goes about its business. Some of the fiercest recent criticism of the unit has come from close to the heart of government itself.

“To the best of our knowledge, the CDU undertakes its work in the absence of effective transparency, oversight, accountability mechanisms or due process,” said a letter sent last month to DSIT secretary Michelle Donelan by David Davis – the MP who formerly served as Brexit secretary and Conservative party chair.

As reported by the Telegraph, the missive, co-signed by Labour MP Bell-Ribeiro Addy and the Green party’s Caroline Lucas, added: “We call on you to suspend the CDU immediately and commission an independent review of its work, in order to ensure that the rights to freedom of expression and privacy are sufficiently protected.”

According to a report published earlier this year by the Daily Mail and campaign group Big Brother Watch, the MPs are just three among many citizens whose online posts have been flagged by government and military disinformation units – despite the posts, in some cases, containing no factual inaccuracies, but merely being critical of government policy.

The MPs’ concerns about the CDU’s lack of transparency, at least, seem difficult to refute. Government has repeatedly failed to provide basic operational…

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Seeing Machines and OMNIVISION Launch Silicon Platform with Interior Sensing Technology Optimized with Occula® Neural Processing Unit

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Announced at CES 2023, automakers now have a powerful and cost-effective in-cabin monitoring solution for space-constrained areas that also meets the strict European regulations

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 4, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Seeing Machines Limited (LSE: SEE), the advanced computer vision technology company that designs AI-powered operator monitoring systems to improve transport safety, and OMNIVISION, a leading global developer of semiconductor solutions, including advanced digital imaging, analog, and touch & display technology, today announced the successful integration of Seeing Machines’ leading in-cabin monitoring system technology (ICMS) with the OMNIVISION OAX4600 system-on-chip (SoC) platform.

Optimized by Seeing Machines’ Occula® neural processing unit (NPU), the OMNIVISION OAX4600 will provide automakers with a new, powerful, and cost-effective solution to meet and exceed the regulatory requirements associated with the European Commission’s General Safety Regulation as well as Europe’s New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP) protocols.

Working closely together, OMNIVISION and Seeing Machines have integrated Seeing Machines’ embedded driver monitoring engine (e-DME) into the OAX4600 SoC silicon, which is specifically targeted toward the expanding automotive ICMS market. The Seeing Machines e-DME makes use of the Occula NPU integrated in the OAX4600 to reduce the load on the on-board Arm processors while accelerating the core tracking pipeline.

When paired with OMNIVISION’s broad range of high-resolution, wide-field-of-view automotive RGB-IR sensors or near-infrared (NIR) sensors, the OAX4600 device, integrated with Seeing Machines’ robust automotive ICMS solution, enables a powerful combination of performance, cost and power efficiency in a form factor that allows it to be packaged into space-constrained areas of the vehicle.

“We are very happy to be working with OMNIVISION to bring our Occula NPU to the market integrated with the OAX4600 SoC,” said Paul McGlone, CEO, Seeing Machines. “Seeing Machines’ software and hardware embedding capabilities, combined with OMNIVISION’s automotive camera sensor and design expertise, are clearly demonstrated with this silicon. We are…

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US military creates space unit in SKorea amid NKorea threats

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SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The U.S. military formally launched a space force unit in South Korea on Wednesday, a move that will likely enable Washington to better monitor its rivals North Korea, China and Russia.

The activation of the U.S. Space Forces Korea at Osan Air Base near Seoul came after North Korea test-fired a barrage of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles designed to strike the U.S. mainland and its allies South Korea and Japan in recent months.

“Just 48 miles north of us exists an existential threat; a threat that we must be prepared to deter, defend against, and – if required – defeat,” Lt. Col. Joshua McCullion, chief of the new space unit, said during the activation ceremony at Osan. He apparently refered to North Korea, whose heavily fortified border with South Korea is just an hour’s drive from Seoul, the South’s capital.

The unit belongs to the U.S. Space Force, which was launched in December 2019 under then-President Donald Trump as the first new U.S. military service in more than 70 years.

The Space Force was seen soberly as an affirmation of the need to more effectively organize for the defense of U.S. interests in space — especially satellites used for civilian and military navigation, intelligence and communication. A previous Pentagon report said China and Russia had embarked on major efforts to develop technologies that could allow them to disrupt or destroy American and allied satellites in a crisis or conflict.

The U.S. Space Forces Korea is a subordinate of a bigger U.S. Space Force unit established within the Indo-Pacific command in Hawaii last month.

Jung Chang Wook, head of the Korea Defense Study Forum think tank in Seoul, said the U.S. Space Force was created to bring together diverse surveillance assets including space-based satellites in one organization to manage and develop them in an effective, systemic manner. He said its unit in South Korea would work like a field unit while the other one in the Indo-Pacific Command would be its headquarters.

“The U.S. Space Forces Korea would maintain, operate and asses related equipment. Simply speaking, I…

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‘Our Conflict With Iran Is Unparalleled’, Say Israel’s Elite Cyber Unit Commanders – Israel News

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