90 Miles From Tyranny

Tuesday, April 24, 2018

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Five Things You Didn’t Know Silicon Valley Was Tracking

In recent weeks, Free Our Internet has been receiving a steady stream of comments from concerned supporters saying they should #DeleteFacebook. While this may seem like a quick fix to the rampant misuse of user data by Silicon Valley giants like Google and Facebook, getting completely off their radar is not as simple. In this case, you can run, but you can’t hide from Silicon Valley.

From the Google-owned driving app Waze to Facebook tools like Marketplace, data is being collected on a much larger scale than most users realize. Here are five ways you’re being tracked by Silicon Valley giants that will probably surprise you:

1. Google Knows What Your Kids Are Doing at School

Google provides many free services to K-12 schools. It’s a great way to get students hooked early on their products, and an even greater opportunity to mine student data. Google recently acknowledged using its Apps for Education service to collect data on students for commercial use; it even helps them up-sell products to educators.

2. Facebook Is Storing Info about Non-Users with Facial Recognition

Few people know that Facebook’s facial recognition software, DeepFace, is currentlyobtaining and saving people’s biometric info without their expressed permission. Not a Facebook user? Not a problem: Facebook can still collect the facial information of non-users with 97.25% accuracy if they’re featured in photos on the platform.

3. Waze, the GPS App, Provides Your Movement Data to Foreign Governments

Owned by Google, the driving app Waze admitted to giving driving data to officials in Rio de Janeiro through their “Connected Citizens Program.” While this information is intended for traffic planning, Waze has access to your entire driving record and can tell how fast you’re going at all times. Rio was just the start; more than 14 other government agencies around the world have followed suit.

4. Google May Have Access to Your DNA

Calico, a biotech firm whose parent company is Google’s Alphabet, reached a deal in 2013 for access to genetic information from Ancestry.com. In other words, if you or one of your family members has sent a tube off to Ancestry to find out more about your family tree, Google may have access to it. This information has the potential to be used to market pharmaceutical products to you and law enforcement can obtain it with a warrant.

5.

MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - As OPEC's efforts to balance the oil market bear fruit, U.S. producers are reaping the benefits - and flooding Europe with a record amount of crude.

Russia paired with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries last year in cutting oil output jointly by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), a deal they say has largely rebalanced the market and one that has helped elevate benchmark Brent prices close to four-year highs.

Now, the relatively high prices brought about by that pact, coupled with surging U.S. output, are making it harder to sell Russian, Nigerian and other oil grades in Europe, traders said.

"U.S. oil is on offer everywhere," said a trader with a Mediterranean refiner, who regularly buys Russian and Caspian Sea crude and has recently started purchasing U.S. oil. "It puts local grades under a lot of pressure."

U.S. oil output is expected to hit 10.7 million bpd this year, rivaling that of top producers Russia and Saudi Arabia.

In April, U.S. supplies to Europe are set to reach an all-time high of roughly 550,000 bpd (around 2.2 million tonnes), according to the Thomson Reuters Eikon trade flows monitor.

U.S. crude oil and condensate supply to Europe

In January-April, U.S. supplies jumped four-fold year-on-year to 6.8 million tonnes, or 68 large Aframax tankers, according to the same data.

Trade sources said U.S. flows to Europe would keep rising, with U.S. barrels increasingly finding homes in foreign refineries, often at the expense of oil from OPEC or Russia.

In 2017, Europe took roughly 7 percent of U.S. crude exports, Reuters data showed, but the proportion has already risen to roughly 12 percent this year.

Top destinations include Britain, Italy and the Netherlands, with traders pointing to large imports by BP, Exxon Mobil and Valero.

U.S. crude oil and condensate supplies to Europe in 2017-2018 by destination

Polish refiners PKN Orlen and Grupa Lotos and Norway's Statoil are sampling U.S. grades, while other new buyers are likely, David Wech of Vienna-based JBC Energy consultancy said.

"There are a number of customers who still may test U.S. crude oil," Wech said.

The gains for U.S. suppliers could come as a welcome development for U.S. President Donald Trump, who accused OPEC on Friday of "artificially" boosting oil prices.

"Looks like OPEC is at it again. With record amounts of Oil all over the place, including the fully loaded ships at sea. Oil prices are artificially Very High! No good and will not be accepted!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

'KEY SUPPLY SOURCE'

While the United States lifted its oil export ban in late 2015, the move took time to gain traction among Europe's traditional refineries, which were...