Episode
Meta Hid Face-Recognition Code on 50M Phones, The UK's Device-Scanning Ultimatum & A Burner Phone Ban
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- Jun 12, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2153
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Summary
Meta quietly embedded unreleased facial-recognition code, internally called "nametag" onto more than 50 million phones through its Meta AI app, then deleted it the day after Wired exposed it. This week I also get into Microsoft repos weaponized a second time to push credential-stealing malware to AI users, the UK's ultimatum to scan every device (and Signal's response), the FCC's push to kill burner phones...plus the usual breaches, threats, and a stacked week of FOSS+ updates. 🗺️ The open-source answer to Google Timeline is finally here! Replay every route and light up every city you've visited on a map nobody else owns; self-host Dawarich free or grab the hosted version at https://dawarich.app/techlore/ with code TECHLORE for 20% off your first year. In this episode: Highlight: Meta's secret face-recognition code on 50M+ phones Microsoft repos weaponized a second time in weeks to push credential-stealing malware to AI users The UK's ultimatum to scan all content on all devices and Signal's one-page rebuttal Two states, two directions: Massachusetts bans precise-location-data sales (146–0); Texas forces Apple/Google age verification (SB2420) The FCC's push to kill burner phones by making telecoms collect everyone's ID Defense Bulletin, Breaches: DentaQuest, UN World Food Programme (600K Gaza households), ServiceNow, SoFi, Dashlane (20 vaults, but Argon2-encrypted), Oxford, 20K Instagram accounts via Meta's AI, French govt messaging Threats: Chrome zero-day, WhatsApp/NSO, Microsoft "Nightmare Eclipse" 0-days, UniFi root bug, Gogs RCE, npm + PyPI supply-chain attacks, Hola browser cryptominer, OpenAI Lockdown Mode, Apple's auto-password-changer, license-plate readers adding AirPod/phone trackers FOSS+: Tails 7.8.1, Firefox Vulkan video + free VPN going unlimited, Nextcl…