EA Games Source Code Taken By Hackers 🎮
June 2021 Newsletter
Greetings human,
The last month has been buzzing with news on privacy and misinformation while your friends at humanID have been busy putting out a lot of new content. Let’s look at what’s fresh at humanID and with the rest of the industry.
Only have a minute? Here’s a TL;DR:
humanID publishes 1-minute Elevator Pitch to YouTube
Check out our new posts about Covid Trackers and SSOs on the humanID Blog and Medium!
Fake news on social media exacerbates conflicts like the one in Israel and Palestine
Hackers steal about 780 GB of source code from EA Games CCP blocks companies who collect user data while continuously invading citizens privacy
Our 1-minute Elevator Pitch For humanID
What is the humanID Pitch? The super fun colleagues aren’t the only amazing part of humanID. humanID is a nonprofit aimed at giving humans a single identity on the internet. As a non-profit organization, we depend on impact-focused donors to propel us to the forefront of the internet; out of that need comes elevator pitches like the one featured above.
This elevator pitch succinctly explains the vision and mission of everyone here at humanID. For all of our outstanding supporters that read our newsletter, this pitch can share with you our vision in a new way.
Click here to be led to our Elevator Pitch!
human of humanID
This month’s human of humanID is Elise Okayama!
Elise has been interning for the Human Resources team of humanID since April. Elise attends the University of California, Riverside, and is studying Business Administration. She has done so much and is a vital part of the HR team.
Here’s what she said about working at humanID:
“I wanted to work for a company that stands for a cause I not only support but want to be a part of, like preventing fake news and stronger cybersecurity. Also, working for a start-up allows me to gain more administrative hands-on experience and be more involved in the company’s progression.”
Join the humanID team for a community that will help you grow and challenge yourself by providing the opportunity to take on new responsibilities and collaborate with other students. Apply using the link here.
We Have A Few New Blog and Medium Posts Too!
What are COPPA App Guidelines and Why Do They Matter? By: Quan Nguyen
Learn all about why we must protect young internet users and how big companies are able to exploit them. The privacy of children matters just as much as an adult’s!
How Does Single Sign-On Work? By: Caroline Wang
Read about the privacy given to the user by using a Single Sign-On (SSO) and how humanID uses an SSO to give user’s an anonymous experience.
Tracking Apps Prevent COVID Cases. Why Are So Few States Using Them?
By: Will McConnell
The distrust between Americans and the government leads to spikes in COVID-19 cases because of citizens’ wariness of downloading tracking apps.
Have any ideas for blog or Medium posts? Comment below and tell us what you think should be covered next!
Fake News On Social Media. What’s New?
It’s been a growing realization that social media is not a reliable form of reading the news; nonetheless, millions of people read the trendy infographics reposted by their friends on Facebook over actual news sources that have done their research.
Multiple videos, tweets, and images have been “leaked” from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict which have been proven to not be true, but have been repeatedly shared on popular social media sites. Some include purportedly current videos from completely different areas at different times, such as Syria in 2018, which only intensifies a crisis in desperate need of de-escalation.
“Free communication is not free”: it’s become so inexpensive that armies of bots are constantly influencing trends by sharing and promoting certain posts and people. humanID’s certification of identity provides assurance that trends are influenced by real people.
What do you think of the exacerbation of fake news on social media? Let us know by commenting below!
Hackers Steal Game Source Code From EA Games
EA Games had a huge breach from hackers who claim to have stolen around 780 GB of source code from the popular video gaming publisher.
The data stolen includes the Frostbite code which fuels three of their most popular game series: FIFA, Madden, and Battlefield.
A spokesperson for EA claims that no user personal data has been accessed, but how can we be sure? How do we know what exactly could be at risk in this entire 780 private GB now available to hackers and whoever they sell it to?
Have anything to say on this issue? Comment below and let us know what you think about the EA breach!
The CCP Cracks Down On Big Tech’s Personal Data Harvesting, While Continuing Its Own Violations of User Privacy
The Chinese government has recently gone on a rampage accusing 105 apps, including LinkedIn, ByteDance which owns TikTok, and Microsoft’s Bing, of illegally collecting and accessing users’ personal information.
The EU has recently begun to target these same companies for misinformation (both countries have leveled multi-billion dollar fines at tech giants), but the EU does not have the same history as the CCP. What’s the point of taking a stand against big tech companies when they do precisely that to their own citizens behind their backs?
Let us know your thoughts on the Chinese government cracking down on big tech by commenting below!
Our Team
humanID is diverse and growing! People from 8 countries and 37 universities contribute to humanID’s mission; we’re actively recruiting for our Marketing and Sales teams this summer. Check out open internship positions and apply here.
Can you support us in our mission to fix the internet? Donate today.
This email was brought to you by Hinal Patel, Noe Rouizem, Sherry Liang, Vincent Liu, Bikram Khaira, Chris Lethert.
Published June 19, 2021
