Adobe to Start Spying on all Your Images and Videos to Enforce New Content Censorship Rules
Photoshop maker Adobe recently changed its terms of service to give itself the power to look through your files and existing projects for so-called “content moderation” purposes.
The new policy notes that they “may access your content through both automated and manual methods, such as for content review.”
They are justifying this blatant invasion of privacy by claiming their intention is to detect and remove illegal content such as child sexual abuse material as well as behavior like spam and phishing. They also say that advancements in artificial intelligence technology mean it has become easier than ever to “create realistic images and human-sounding text and audio,” so these checks are necessary for safety reasons.
The new terms will affect more than 20 million global users of Adobe Creative Cloud Site.
Adobe has also made changes to its terms of service that empower it to delete content from accounts that are inactive; they did not specify what length of inactivity would qualify an account for content deletion.
However, one of the biggest concerns is that Adobe can now access work that is generated by people using their platforms, such as Acrobat and Photoshop, and they can do this not only by claiming they’re looking for illegal content but also to train AI platforms. They say that their automated systems could analyze users’ content with machine learning with a view to improving their software, services and user experience.
Many Photoshop users won’t accept Adobe’s invasion of privacy
Not surprisingly, this has prompted a slew of criticism and concern among users. The publication Law Enforcement Today and its affiliates have decided to cut all ties with Adobe, while the founder of Songhorn Studios, Sam Santala, called Adobe out in a posting on X, writing: “So am I reading this right? @Adobe @Photoshop I can’t use Photoshop unless I’m okay with you having full access to anything I create with it, INCLUDING NDA work?”
The designer Wetterschneider, who works with clients like Nike and DC Comics, cautioned: “Here it is. If you are a professional, if you are under NDA with your clients, if you are a creative, a lawyer, a doctor or anyone who works with proprietary files – it is time to cancel Adobe, delete all the apps and programs. Adobe can not be trusted.”
It’s easy to see how these new terms could cause a range of problems for people. The idea that the company could use private and sensitive data belonging to users and their clients that is protected by nondisclosure agreements for AI training purposes is tough to accept and could even compromise their livelihood.
While Adobe claims that it only uses Adobe stock images for training its Firefly system, numerous artists have reported that their names are used as search terms in the Adobe stock footage site and results often yield art generated by AI that mimics their style.
Right now, users are unable to use Photoshop until they have agreed to the new terms of service. Moreover, those who want to cancel their subscription because they don’t agree to the terms and conditions are finding that they must actually agree to them before they can even sign in and delete their account.
Adobe has tried to quell some of the backlash by writing a blog post assuring people that their content will still belong to them as creators. They maintain the new terms of use are aimed at product improvement and content moderation for legal purposes. However, the terms of use seem deliberately broad and vague, and many users say they will be seeking alternatives.
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NATO Chief says Alliance Discussing Putting Nuclear Warheads on Standby
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – NATO countries are discussing the possibility of deploying more nuclear warheads and putting them in combat readiness as a deterrent factor, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.
“I won’t go into operational details about how many nuclear warheads should be operational and which should be stored, but we need to consult on these issues. That’s exactly what we’re doing,” Stoltenberg told The Telegraph newspaper on Sunday.
Stoltenberg added that China is actively investing in its nuclear arsenal, which will grow to 1,000 warheads by the early 2030s.
“And that means that in a not-very-distant future NATO may face something that it has never faced before, and that is two nuclear-powered potential adversaries – China and Russia. Of course, this has consequences,” he said.
“And that means that in a not-very-distant future NATO may face something that it has never faced before, and that is two nuclear-powered potential adversaries – China and Russia. Of course, this has consequences,” he said.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready to use nuclear weapons if the existence of the Russian state is threatened. Russia’s nuclear triad is more advanced than that of any other country, Putin noted.
He added that Russia has a nuclear doctrine which states that the use of nuclear weapons is possible in exceptional cases. The scenarios in which Russia could theoretically use nuclear weapons are outlined in Russia’s military doctrine and in the Basic Principles of State Policy on Nuclear Deterrence.
US Government To Pay $500 Million For Studies On New Oral & Nasal Covid Vaccines
The US government has committed to providing up to $500 million towards the development and clinical trials of new oral and nasal vaccines for COVID-19. The Department of Health and Human Services (HSS) announced the […]
The post US Government To Pay $500 Million For Studies On New Oral & Nasal Covid Vaccines appeared first on The People’s Voice.
San Francisco Declares Itself ‘Sanctuary City’ for ‘Transgender’ and ‘Two-Spirit People’
(LifeSiteNews) — San Francisco is now a “sanctuary” for individuals with homosexual and transgender inclinations.
The resolution, titled “Declaring the City and County of San Francisco a Sanctuary City for Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, Non-Binary, and Two-Spirit People,” passed unanimously at Tuesday’s meeting.
It was also amended to condemn the Cass Review, a report from the United Kingdom’s National Health Service that warned against allowing minors to receive surgical and chemical mutilation to appear to look like the opposite sex.
Sex, however, is both binary and immutable. This is both a biological fact and a moral truth.
Additionally, there is a mountain of evidence from studies, personal testimonies, and medical organizations that warns against the dangers of transgender drugs and surgeries, sometimes misleadingly called “gender-affirming care.”
One supervisor appeared to hint that he hopes San Francisco will help out-of-state minors who are seeking transgender procedures but cannot get them due to limits in their own state.
“A majority of these laws specifically target transgender people, including youth,” Superior Rafael Mandelman said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “As other cities and states turn up the hate, places like San Francisco need to turn up the love.”
“With this resolution, we are reaffirming that our City has been and will continue to be a sanctuary and a beacon for our transgender and gender non-conforming siblings,” Mandelman said, avoiding using the phrase “brothers and sisters.”
A center-right commentator criticized the “sanctuary city” designation.
“I hate to remind these folks, but in lawless California, thugs and felons will rob, beat, rape, and murder you whether you’re a woman or a man pretending to be a woman,” Tomi Lahren wrote on X (formerly Twitter). “It’s equal opportunity.”
I hate to remind these folks, but in lawless California, thugs and felons will rob, beat, rape, and murder you whether you’re a woman or a man pretending to be a woman. It’s equal opportunity. https://t.co/ewsoRNSvt7
— Tomi Lahren (@TomiLahren) June 13, 2024
San Francisco shows its support for gender confusion in other ways. Mayor London Breed recently appointed a drag queen named “Honey Mahogany” to lead the “Office of Transgender Initiatives.”
The “drag queen” is actually a man.
“Mahogany is also a founding queen of Drag Story Hour and recently played a critical role in saving The Stud, an iconic gay bar in San Francisco, of which she (sic) is a co-owner, co-founder of the Stud Collective, and an active member of its board,” the city announced in its May news release.
“I look forward to leveraging all I have learned over the years in service of this office and the entire transgender, gender non-conforming, intersex, and two-spirit (TGNCI2S) community,” the gender-confused man said.
San Francisco also created a “Transgender Cultural District” in 2017, as LifeSiteNews previously reported.
EU Ready to Punish France in Case of Le Pen Victory
The European Union is ready to punish France if Marine Le Pen’s nationalist-sovereigntist National Rally (Rassemblement National) wins the upcoming French parliamentary elections, writes establishment media outlet Politico. According to the article, the European Commission may not let a right-wing government “off the hook” with regards to France’s overspending, unlike their leniency with the current and previous cabinets. This is clearly a sign that the EU institutions use their ‘power of the purse’ to penalise only those member states they politically disagree with.
The European Commission can launch a so-called excessive deficit procedure against an EU country if it breaches or is in risk of breaching the deficit threshold of 3% of GDP, or if it has a government debt level above 60% of GDP, which is not diminishing at a satisfactory pace. The procedure may result in a fine.
The Commission in the past came under criticism for failing to enforce the deficit rules, especially in the case of France, with previous Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker famously declaring in 2016 that they had given France leeway on fiscal rules “because it is France.”
The country’s budget deficit reached 5.5% of GDP last year, and its public debt is forecast to climb to 114% of GDP next year, and—admits Politico—Brussels will be less reluctant to punish a country that is governed by a nationalist government. “It’s one thing to let off a pro-EU, statesmanlike leader for the type of reckless spending that endangers the economic stability of the eurozone. It’s quite another if it’s carried out brazenly by a nationalist firebrand who doesn’t think the rules are worth the paper they’re written on in the first place.”
The Brussels elite is already asserting that Marine Le Pen would “disregard” EU rules with an “irresponsible spending plan.” As Hungarian conservative publication, PestiSrácok puts it:
In Brussels, they have practically admitted that punishments are handed out on political grounds. Whether France can expect to be punished for its loose interpretation of the budget deficit targets, has essentially been tied to election results by officials in Brussels.
The eurosceptic and anti-immigration National Rally has said it would slash taxes on fuel and energy and pledged to take back control of energy policy from the EU. It has also promised to lower the retirement age to 60 and increase wages for some public servants, writes Bloomberg. “Financial markets have only heard the caricature of our project. When they read about it, they find it rather reasonable,” Marine Le Pen told daily Le Figaro.
As we recently reported, French President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the French National Assembly and called snap elections which will take place on June 30th and July 7th. His actions came following a heavy European election defeat of his Renaissance party last week, with National Rally taking first place. Opinion polls say that the National Rally will receive 35% of the vote in the first round of voting, the left-wing New Popular Front will be second on 26% and centrist Renaissance will finish in third with 19%.
The New Popular Front would also reverse much of Macron’s agenda, including raising the minimum wage by 13%, lowering the legal pension age from 64 years to 60, capping energy prices and restoring the wealth tax, writes The Economist.
If the EU were indeed to punish France on ideological grounds, it would not be the first time its political bias is made evident. The Commission and the European Parliament have repeatedly harassed the conservative governments of Hungary and Poland for alleged ‘rule of law’ violations and withheld the disbursement of EU funds it owed to these countries. Poland was exonerated this year as soon as a left-liberal government came into power.