Good morning. Here’s your Daily Situational Awareness for Thursday, 17 February 2022. You can receive this daily briefing by signing up at https://forwardobserver.com/daily-sa
TODAY’S BRIEFING:
- Bank run in Canada
- Lawmakers press YouTube to remove ‘ghost gun’ content
- Texas suing Meta over facial recognition
- Security risk detected in popular DC app
- Hazards Warning
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- In Focus: Deteriorating economic expectations
- Economic Warning INTSUM
SITUATIONAL AWARENESS
BANK RUN IN CANADA: Investment blog InvestmentWatch is reporting a possible bank run in Canada. According to multiple social media accounts, Canadians are concerned with Prime Minister Trudeau’s invoking the Emergencies Act and their subsequent ability to access their money held in Canada’s financial institutions. Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister said Tuesday that, under the Emergencies Act, the government can order banks to immediately freeze or suspend bank accounts without a court order and be protected from civil liability. Media reporting indicated that individuals associated with the Freedom Convoy protest began having their bank accounts frozen or suspended shortly after the Deputy Prime Minister’s announcement. Financial analysts reported yesterday Canadians began making large withdrawals from banks across the country, resulting in a previously unseen number of cash outages at Canada’s major banking institutions. (Analyst Comment: The current run on banks in Canada is a foreseeable outcome of threatening the integrity of the banking system with arbitrary seizure of citizens’ assets. The Canadian Parliament is set to vote on its approval of the Trudeau government’s use of the Emergencies Act today or tomorrow. If the Parliament fails to support Trudeau’s decision, look for a compromise or possible revocation of the Emergencies Act. – M.M.)
LAWMAKERS PRESS YOUTUBE TO REMOVE “GHOST GUN” CONTENT: Congressional members are pushing YouTube to remove firearm videos that “instruct viewers on how to manufacture and assembly unserialized, untraceable and undetectable ghost guns.” Lawmakers stated that “the steps that YouTube has taken thus far are insufficient”. The firearms that Congressional members are specifically concerned about are 3D printed and “do-it-yourself” gun making kits. (AC: The cited reasons of concern are tied to the sense that domestic terrorism threats are rising. YouTube hosts many of the online firearm education content with the most viewers. Putting pressure on social media companies has been a mainstay for limiting information content deemed harmful. Expected continued demonetization efforts and platform banning of firearm related content. – D.F.)
TEXAS SUING META OVER FACIAL RECOGNITION: Texas is suing Meta, formerly Facebook, for illegally collecting millions of images in a facial recognition program. Meta shuttered the program in November 2021, while Texas alleges individuals not on the platform and in photos were subject to the same facial recognition development. Texas also says that the company’s promise to stop scanning faces doesn’t apply to Instagram, WhatsApp, Metaverse, and other company products. (AC: The immediate risk to folks is a data breach from Facebook where personally identifiable information is stored, with or without users’ knowledge. Leaked facial recognition databases could lead to inauthentic engagement by malign actors and cybercrime victims. At a minimum, Meta will continue to exploit individuals’ information through wide reaching collection and AI-enabled analysis efforts to better target you with advertisements and attempt to influence your behavior. – D.M.)
SECURITY RISK DETECTED IN POPULAR DC APP: Cybersecurity experts are warning about security vulnerabilities in the transcription app Otter. The app is popular with Capitol Hill reporters and is used across Washington DC to share information and clips of politicians and officials with newsrooms. The company responded that they do not share recordings or information with any government unless a court order is issued. Notably, Otter’s founders are graduates of both Chinese and American universities and worked in Silicon Valley companies. (AC: The application likely exploits permissions on devices to surreptitiously record audio and at least remains vulnerable to apps like TikTok without users’ knowledge. The founders’ ties to prestigious Chinese and American universities increase the likelihood of intelligence services seeking their cooperation. China’s coercion of citizens abroad and tech companies is an effective tool at capturing both intelligence and trade secrets in unrestricted warfare. – D.M.)
HAZARDS/WX:
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