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Technology Tag

India and Israel are cementing bilateral cooperation in technology with the launch of a $40 million joint research fund. The 'Israel-India Industrial R&D and Technological Innovation Fund', or I4F as the project is formally known, was kicked off at a ceremony in India's capital New Delhi last week.

Axios obtained a memo written by the office of Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, that plans for the government to takeover the internet and regulate digital platforms. From Reason:
To save American trust in "our institutions, democracy, free press, and markets," it suggests, we need unprecedented and undemocratic government intervention into online press and markets, including "comprehensive (GDPR-like) data protection legislation" of the sort enacted in the E.U.

Remember when the FCC repealed net neutrality last December? Net neutrality supporters went into hyperbole-overload. Some even spewed racial slurs at FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and stalked his house. You would've thought the world, or at the least, the internet would end. The FCC's Restoring Internet Freedom Order went into effect today, June 11, and...the internet is still working. The world is still turning.

After having my car keyed during the Bush era for a pro-president bumper sticker, I have avoided those with political slogans. As I live in California, in a veritable sea of soccer mom mobiles, having a distinguishing feature on my Honda is critical. So I chose "Star Trek Valedictorian".

Amazingly, we all didn't die when the FCC voted to rollback the net neutrality rules implemented during President Barack Obama's administration. Those who desperately want those regulations in place have not stopped fighting. Now they have chosen to place pressure on the states to save net neutrality.

No, this isn't an Onion article.  Facebook has a new pilot program aimed at protecting users from having their nude bodies plastered all over Facebook . . . by requiring that you upload a photo of your nude body to Facebook. They will then "hash" your nakedness (turn it into a unique code); once this is done, your hashed image (now code, not a pic of you in all your glory) will then be flagged and refused upload permissions on Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram. Facebook's "intimate safety" pilot is currently only available in Australia. Facebook writes:
We don’t want Facebook to be a place where people fear their intimate images will be shared without their consent. We’re constantly working to prevent this kind of abuse and keep this content out of our community. We recently announced a test that’s a little different from things we’ve tried in the past. Even though this is a small pilot, we want to be clear about how it works.

Russian hackers for the Kremlin have allegedly stolen the U.S.'s cyber defense details after an NSA contractor took home classified documents and uploaded them on his home computer. These documents provide details on how our government agencies get into "foreign computer networks" and how we defend ourselves "against cyberattacks." Experts believe this breach is "one of the most significant security breaches in recent years."

Last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) admitted that hackers accessed its network in 2016, but assured everyone that no one anyone's personal information. It turns out the hackers did access at least two people's information: names, Social Security numbers, birthdays.

You gotta love government agencies. They lash out when private businesses hurt consumers and yet evidence always seems to surface that they do the exact same thing, sometimes even worse. Take the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency not many know about. Dodd-Frank birthed this agency as a way to protect consumers from another financial crisis. Its webpage claims that it "makes sure banks, lenders, and other financial companies treat you fairly."

An initiative sponsored by the Embassy of Israel in India seeks to connect Jerusalem's startup ecosystem with India's technology scene. Contrary to the popular perception, Jerusalem is fast catching up with Tel Aviv as a leading technology center in the world. In 2015, TIME magazine named Jerusalem as one of the world’s fastest growing hi-tech hubs. The annual startup competition "Start JLM", supported by Indian government and local private sector players, is being held in the country for the first time. This year's winner, Bangalore-based Mimyk startup will be taking part in an technology boost camp in Jerusalem. Four other finalists will be getting access to startup incubators.

In July, major national credit-reporting company Equifax was hit by a cyberattack that exposed personal information of about 143 million U.S. consumers. Three executives at the company sold shares that totaled $1.8 million only a few days after the company learned of the breach. However, Equifax didn't reveal details about the breach until September 7. Now the Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly opened an investigation to find out if those executives violated insider trading laws.

India wants to strengthen ties with Israeli start ups, a visiting delegation of Indian IT companies to the Jewish State stressed. The delegation was organised by Nasscom, Indian association representing software companies, and the global consulting firm Accenture. "The Nasscom Product Council and IT consulting major Accenture plan to collaborate with Israel Innovation Authority to help startups from both countries in joint product development, knowledge transfer and in the creation of hardware ecosystem," Indian business daily Economic Times reported.