Foreign politicians, terrorists and high-profile criminals are on the list

China bars millions from travel for ‘social credit’ offenses
https://www.apnews.com/9d43f4b74260411797043ddd391c13d8

Skipped paying a fine in China? Then forget about buying an airline ticket.

Would-be air travelers were blocked from buying tickets 17.5 million times last year for “social credit” offenses including unpaid taxes and fines under a controversial system the ruling Communist Party says will improve public behavior.

Others were barred 5.5 million times from buying train tickets, according to the National Public Credit Information Center.

The ruling party says “social credit” penalties and rewards will improve order in a fast-changing society after three decades of economic reform have shaken up social structures.

Authorities have experimented with “social credit” since 2014 in areas across China. Points are deducted for breaking the law or, in some areas, offenses as minor as walking a dog without a leash.

The ruling party wants a nationwide system by 2020 but has yet to say how it will operate. Possible penalties include restrictions on travel, business and access to education. A slogan repeated in state media says, “Once you lose trust, you will face restrictions everywhere.”

Offenses penalized under “social credit” last year included false advertising or violating drug safety rules, the government information center said. Individuals were blocked 290,000 times from taking senior management jobs or acting as a company’s legal representative.

An extra whitespace in a server response allowed a security firm to track a hackers’ favorite tool for years.

LinkedIn forced to ‘pause’ mentioned in the news feature in Europe after complaints about ID mix-ups
https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/28/linkedin-forced-to-pause-mentioned-in-the-news-feature-in-europe-after-complaints-about-id-mix-ups/

LinkedIn has been forced to ‘pause’ a feature in Europe in which the platform emails members’ connections when they’ve been ‘mentioned in the news’.

This follows a number of data protection complaints after LinkedIn’s algorithms incorrectly matched members to news articles — triggering an internal review of the feature. LinkedIn told us it subsequently decided to suspend the feature in Europe.

Microsoft unveils new Azure Sentinel cloud security service to help manage threat detection and analysis
https://www.geekwire.com/2019/microsoft-unveils-new-azure-sentinel-cloud-security-service-help-manage-threat-detection-analysis/