Apple Watch supplier under fire over China student labour

Yahoo – AFP, Ryan MCMORROW, October 30, 2018

Apple has sold tens of millions of the smartwatch since it launched three years
ago (AFP Photo/Saeed KHAN)

Beijing (AFP) - Apple is investigating a factory in southwest China after a labour rights group said the tech giant's supplier forced student workers to work "like robots" to assemble its popular Apple Watch.

The report raises fresh questions about the practices of suppliers Apple uses to build its gadgets in the country following the deaths of a number of workers in 2010 apparently linked to tough working conditions.

Many of the students were compelled to work in order to get their vocational degrees and had to do night shifts, according to an investigation by Hong Kong-based NGO Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehaviour (SACOM).

SACOM interviewed 28 students at the plant in Chongqing municipality over the summer, and all of them said they had not voluntarily applied to work there, according to the report published last week.

They worked under the guise of "internships", SACOM said, a practice rights groups say is widespread in China as manufacturers pair up with vocational schools to supply workers and fill labour shortages when they ramp up production for new models or the Christmas rush.

"Our graduation certificate will be withheld by the school if we refuse to come," said one student majoring in e-commerce, according to SACOM.

The US titan has sold tens of millions of Apple Watches -- which can cost up to $1,499 -- since it was launched three years ago and chief executive Tim Cook said it was the most popular watch in the world.

Earlier labour abuse allegations focused on workers building iPhones and other gadgets for Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., better known as Foxconn.

As the world's largest contract electronics maker Foxconn assembles products in huge plants in China where it employs more than one million workers.

In 2010, at least 13 Foxconn employees in China died in apparent suicides, which activists blamed on tough working conditions, prompting calls for better treatment of staff.

Although Foxconn denied the accusations, it raised wages by nearly 70 percent at its China plants in 2010.

Urgent probe

Foxconn also admitted to intern violations in 2013, with overtime and night shift problems similar to those levelled at the Apple Watch supplier this year.

Manufacturing internships are permitted under Chinese labour law in some cases, but SACOM found the work has "literally nothing to do with learning" and violated some of the country's labour law provisions permitting intern work in factories.

"We are like robots on the production lines," one 18-year-old student told SACOM. "We repeat the same procedure for hundreds and thousands of times every day, like a robot."

Others said they were put on the night shift working from 8 pm to 8 am with minimal breaks, according to SACOM.

The Chongqing factory is operated by Quanta Computer, a Taiwanese electronics manufacturer, and also produces for other brands. Quanta did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.

But Apple spokeswoman Wei Gu said: "We are urgently investigating the report that student interns added in September are working overtime and night shifts."

Wei noted Quanta Chongqing was a new Apple supplier and had been audited three times between March and June without finding student interns.

Student workers told SACOM student labour was widespread at the factory.

Assembly lines that repieced together Apple Watches that had failed a quality check were almost entirely made up of student workers, one intern told SACOM.

"The factory would not be able to operate without student workers," a student told SACOM.

The NGO demanded Apple investigate and bring the labour practises in line with the firm's own policies and those of the local and central Chinese government.

End of the line: government plans to ban unsolicited sales calls

DutchNews, October 8, 2018

The service allows people to report malpractice anonymously. 

The government has set out plans to ban cold calling by companies in favour of an ‘opt-in’ system for telephone marketing. 

Junior economic affairs minister Mona Keijzer said the move would provide better protection than the current ‘bel-me-niet-register’, which allows people to choose to be excluded from sales calls. 

Call centre managers said the ban would lead to the loss of thousands of jobs, many of them part-time posts for students and parents who are looking after children at home. 

Keijzer said half of all consumers were irritated by unsolicited sales calls, making a ban desirable. In future companies will only be allowed to make marketing calls to people who explicitly agree to receive them. 

Consent could be sought by opting in through companies’ websites, in the same way that consumers have to be asked to be added to mailing lists. 

Companies that repeatedly fail to observe the ban will face fines, Keijzer said. ‘At first there’ll be a polite request, but if people still don’t listen, they’ll have to feel it.’ 

Nikos van der Laan, owner of telemarketing firm Convins, said the largest call centre companies with more than 100 booths would be hardest hit. ‘I have to wonder how far this plan has taken into account the consequences for jobs,’ he told NOS. 

Keijzer also said she wanted to introduce more stringent safety standards for domestic appliances that are connected to the internet, such as thermostats and smart TVs. Companies will be obliged to offer free security upgrades unless customers opt out.

Russian attempt to hack chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague thwarted

DutchNews, October 4, 2018, Gordon Darroch and Senay Boztas

The OPCW headquarters in The Hague. Photo: Wikimedia Commons 

Dutch intelligence agencies have thwarted an attempt by Russian agents to hack into the wi-fi network of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, based in The Hague. 

Four agents from the GRU military intelligence service were ejected from the Netherlands immediately after the attempted breach was intercepted on April 13 this year, major-general Onno Eichelsheim, director of the military intelligence service MIVD, told apress conference in The Hague. He added that the OPCW’s security was not breached. 

The OPCW is carrying out forensic tests in the investigation into the poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury on March 4. The Skripals were targeted with a nerve agent known as Novichok, developed in the former Soviet Union, but Moscow has denied any involvement. 

Eichelsheim said the four agents were operating out of a Citroen car parked outside the Marriott Hotel, which is next to the organisations headquarters on Johann de Wittlaan. They arrived in the country on April 10 on diplomatic passports with almost identical serial numbers. 

Close access

They were disrupted while an attempt was made at a ‘close access hack operation’ at around 4.30pm on Friday. Equipment found in the boot of the car included an antenna pointed at the OPCW building and digital devices used to intercept login details.

The car the Russians hired. Photo: Ministerie van defensie

Eichelsheim said the four Russians were ‘clearly not here on holiday’. They were carrying €20,000 and US $20,000 in cash, took their rubbish from their hotel room when they left and tried to destroy their mobile phones when they were intercepted. One of the phones had been activated close to the special services centre in Moscow. 

A further clue was the discovery of a taxi receipt from GRU headquarters to Moscow airport. 

The equipment the men surrendered also included a laptop computer which had apparently been used to infiltrate the Malaysian police and judicial authorities. Malaysia is involved in the investigation into the shooting down of flight MH17 over Ukraine in 2014, which the Netherlands holds Russia accountable for. 

Data found on the laptop also suggested it had been used in the Swiss city of Lausanne to hack into computers belonging to the World Anti-Doping Agency, which is investigating institutional drug use in Russian sport. 

International co-operation 

Defence minister Ank Bijleveld said the Dutch government was sending out a clear message to Moscow to stop undermining cybersecurity in other countries. The Russian ambassador to The Hague has been summoned to appear before foreign minister Stef Blok. 

‘The Dutch cabinet is very concerned that the OPCW was the target of an interception by the Russian military intelligence service,’ Bijleveld said. 

‘I am proud of the MIVD, they have done excellent work. I want to emphasise that co-operation has played a big part in this success. Co-operation in the Netherlands, but also with our international intelligence partners. Good international co-operation is crucial in tackling threats such as the GRU.’ 

The men with a Russian embassy official at Schiphol. 

In response, Moscow issued its customary blunt denial of all accusations of wrongdoing. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the allegations as ‘big fantasies’. 

Prime minister Mark Rutte issued a joint statement with his British counterpart Theresa May earlier in the day condemning Russia’s ‘disregard for global values.’ 

They said: ‘The GRU’s reckless operations stretch from destructive cyber activity to the use of illegal nerve agents, as we saw in Salisbury. That attack left four people fighting for their lives and one woman dead. 

‘Our action today reinforces the clear message from the international community. We will uphold the rules-based international system, and defend international institutions from those that seek to do them harm.’ 

US charges 

Major-general Eichelsheim said the government had taken the unusual step of releasing details of the operation after US officials published charges against a number of Russian intelligence agents on Thursday. The Dutch government hopes that making the information public will make it harder for Russia to carry out such covert operations in future. 

British foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt said the incident was ‘part of a pattern of cyber-attacks’ in other countries in which the Russian government was implicated. 

He said: ‘If anyone had any questions in their mind about Russian military involvement in the Salisbury attacks, this will put to rest those doubts because we have evidence of the Russian military launching a cyber-attack on the very international organisation in the Netherlands set up to investigate those novichok attacks. And why would you do that if you weren’t the guilty party?’

Facebook adds new tools to stem online bullying

Yahoo – AFP, October 2, 2018

Facebook says it will add new tools to help users avoid unwanted or hurtful comments,
amid growing concerns about cyberbullying on social networks (AFP Photo/JOEL SAGET)

San Francisco (AFP) - Facebook on Tuesday stepped up ways to battle bullying and harassment at the leading social network.

The initiative calls for new tools and programs to help users control "unwanted, offensive or hurtful experiences on Facebook," global head of safety Antigone Davis said in a blog post.

"Everyone deserves to feel safe on Facebook," Davis said.

Facebook users will be able to hide or delete groups of comments, including responses, instead of having to remove them one at a time, according to Davis.

The feature was rolling out on desktop computers and Android-powered mobile devices, and promised to reach versions of the application on Apple gadgets in coming months.

Facebook also began letting people report bullying or harassment on behalf of friends reluctant to complain to the social network themselves.

"Being the target of unwanted attention can be stressful and some people may not feel comfortable reporting a bully or harasser," Davis said.

"If you see a friend or family member being bullied or harassed, now you can report someone on their behalf."

A team at Facebook reviews complaints to determine whether reported posts violate policies at the social network.

An appeals process implemented earlier this year regarding photos, videos, or posts taken down due to hateful, violent, or sexually explicit content will extend to decisions regarding bullying, according to Facebook.

"You will soon be able to ask for a further review if you report a piece of content for bullying or harassment and you think we made a mistake in determining whether it violates our policies," Davis said.

Facebook is also testing ways to let users search for or block words considered offensive in comment sections of their posts.

A majority of US teenagers say they have been victims of online harassment or bullying, and that social media companies aren't doing enough to fight the problem, a recent survey showed.

The Pew Research Center survey found that 59 percent of US teens reported being bullied or harassed online, and 63 percent said it was a major problem for people their age.

"Name-calling and rumor-spreading have long been an unpleasant and challenging aspect of adolescent life," said Monica Anderson, the lead researcher for the Pew report.

"But, the proliferation of smartphones and the rise of social media has transformed where, when and how bullying takes place,"