The weekly newsletter for Fed2 by ibgames

EARTHDATE: May 8, 2011

Official News page 1


COMM UNITS REVEALED TO BE SECRET TRACKING DEVICES

by Hazed

Shockwaves rippled across the Galaxy this week as it was revealed that your comm units have been secretly recording your movements and uploading the data to Quince, the company that produces the ubiquitous gadgets.

Researchers have discovered a file hidden in the communicators' memory, which logs every planet you visit, and where you go when you are on the ground. The file is then beamed to Quince, who can use analysis tools to check exactly where you have been and display the results on a holomap.

The level of detail includes information about individual buildings you enter, allowing Quince access to data that says a lot about you and your lifestyle. There are also rumors that they have allowed the Galactic Administration to access their collected data.

A spokesdroid for Quince denied that they used the information to track their users' movements. "The fact that comm units collect this data is part of their function; they need to know where you are in order to let you transmit messages to other people or to use the comms channels," it said. It also claimed that the fact comm units store this data, and that they transmit them to the company, is due to a bug and not part of a sinister agenda. "We don't do anything with this data, and we certainly don't pass it onto any government agencies." It also said that the collection of the data was not secret, and that it had been mentioned in the very small print at the end of the lengthy terms and conditions users agreed to when purchasing a comm unit.

"That's ridiculous," responded Gargax Weecks, one of the security professionals who made the discovery. "Who ever reads that stuff? They could include a clause about taking ownership of your firstborn offspring and you'd never know what you were agreeing to."

An anonymous contact said he had proof that the security services and the Imperial Navy were using this data. "They definitely use it to see where you have been," he said, "but they don't need to get it from Quince - any time they take anyone in for questioning, they simply copy the file from their comm unit."

At first, supporters of Quince, who tend to be fanatical in their devotion to the stylish hardware company, dismissed the reports as being unimportant. "Who cares of Quince know where I have been; it simply means they can offer me services tailored to my particular needs," said Spildrun Fruitboy. "If you have done nothing wrong, you've nothing to fear."

I asked him if I could take a look at his comm unit to see his movements for myself, but at that point he left claiming a pressing appointment.

Another fan tried to play down the dangers of the tracking by saying that the info wasn't necessarily an accurate picture of your movements. Fantail Richflip explained, "When this story broke, I checked the details my comm unit had stored about me, and they said I had been to Brass on many occasions. Well, that's just not right - I've never even been to the asteroid belt, I spend all my time on the triangle route between Mars, Earth and Mercury."

But Gargax said this did not reassure him. "If the security forces are using this data to aid them in their investigations, the fact that it is inaccurate could lead them to believe you were at the scene of a crime when in fact you were on a completely different planet. You can't even rely on it for an alibi."

Quince has promised to "fix the bug" - that is, to modify the comm unit software so they only store your location info for a short period, and to stop them beaming the info back to the company, but critics claim this is not enough to redeem the company in the eyes (or equivalent) of the Galaxy.

Next week: an exclusive report on how your toaster is spying on you!


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