John Scott-Railton Profile picture
Jun 20, 2023 14 tweets 11 min read Read on X
What's happening at the #Titanic site will likely be a tragedy.

@OceanGate's page on why they didn't seek certifications / classing for the Titan submersible & that design safety regulations are slow & constrain innovation... reads differently now.

oceangate.com/news-and-media… ImageImageImage
Imagine if a car manufacturer told you: this car isn't crash certified because it won't prevent people from driving the car badly. Image
"No other submersible currently utilizes real-time monitoring...we want to know why"

Hubris from @OceanGate even as they dismiss the existing standards derived from many tragedies that came before. Image
There's a nuanced, necessary risk balancing whenever you push at edges.

Innovation is hard if you over-constrain yourself to old rules... but scrap them all & you should expect to experience some irreversible lessons.

Nowhere more so than in the sea's unforgiving depths.
Exploration & adventure have unavoidable risks.

This is fine.

But I sincerely hope that the souls on that submersible truly understood them, and that @OceanGate objectively explained them *without* being colored by the kind of rhetoric found on their website.
"if you are lost so are we"

Comms failed & the #OceanGate submersible was lost for several hours on an earlier #Titanic dive.
The dark irony of what is unfolding is not lost on maritime historians
Those familiar w/marine environments will find the consumer grade electronics beyond puzzling.

Salt water, condensation, humidity, etc. are kryptonite to electronics.

And exactly the kinds of things you'd find in a submersible diving into cold places. ImageImageImageImage
Thinking on @mercoglianos' point that the #Titanic is what got us the first convention on Safety of Life at Sea aka #SOLAS.

It continues to save uncountable lives.

101 years later & an outcome we can hope for is a fresh focus on safety regs for subsurface adventure tourism. ImageImageImageImage
While the game controller (CEO said they had spares) is something we can all understand...

I think it's important to think of it as a indicator of the overall risk management & minimum-viable-submersible philosophy that seems to have been at work all over.

Pics: ballast. Image
"#OceanGate offers you the the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity ...[of] SAFELY diving to the Titanic wreckage site"

The breathless 2023 #Titanic dive promotional video puts safety in the first sentence.

UPDATE: an #OceanGate employee was allegedly fired for refusing to greenlight manned tests over safety concerns.

The details look quite ominous.

By @DanielStrauss4 h/t @ThatVDOVault
newrepublic.com/post/173802/mi… ImageImageImageImage
"the current 'experimental' approach... could result in negative outcomes (from minor to catastrophic) that would have serious consequences for everyone in the industry"

Unanimous letter of concern from @MTSociety to the #OceanGate CEO.

Via @nytimes
int.nyt.com/data/documentt… Image
Correction: these are drop weights.

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More from @jsrailton

Jul 8
THE #EU parliament #spyware debate has kicked off, follow along with me.

( triggered by the hacking of a MEP investigating spyware w/Pegasus)

It kicks off as expected with Commissioner @dubravkasuica (Croatia) trying frame the issue as a national one (govs should investigate...not the parliament).

This is likely to be unpopular among MEPs concerned by spyware abuses.

Next up? MEP & spyware victim @KrzysztofBrejza 1/Image
2/ Next: MEP @KrzysztofBrejza, himself a spyware target is clear: mercenary spyware is a risk to democracy & institutions.

I've experienced it myself. Spyware is dangerous when in the hands of the wrong ppl.

A very powerful statement.Image
@krzysztofbrejza 3/ Strong statements by @alexagiussaliba: Every citizen has the right to privacy.

This issue needs to be clearly investigated.

Spyware is incredibly invasive. Image
Read 11 tweets
Jul 3
BREAKING: 🇪🇺EU lawmaker investigating spyware abuses was hacked with Pegasus.

Infected during key moments of the PEGA committee.

More proof that it's spyware open season in Europe.. yet nothing is being done 1/

Our @citizenlab forensic investigation: citizenlab.ca/research/membe…Image
Image
2/Your're a MEP on the PEGA committee.

You spend a year hearing bleak testimony from spyware victims.

Journalists..dissidents... politicians. Lives upended by hacking.

They you learn that you're also a victim.

Meet @SteliosKoul.

By @AntoanetaRoussi politico.eu/article/probe-…Image
3/ @SteliosKoul's iPhone was hacked with a Pegasus zero-click attack.

No link to click. No attachment to open.

One minute your phone is private, the next it's a spy in your pocket.

Access to all your files, camera, microphone.

Listening to meetings & your private life.Image
Read 11 tweets
Jun 8
BREAKING: NSO Group caught trying to hack across @WhatsApp. Again!

In defiance of 🇺🇸US Courts.

WhatsApp disrupted the Pegasus campaign & says it violates US Federal injunction they won against NSO.

Asks Federal judge to hold NSO Group in contempt.

Many implications... 1/Image
Image
2/ Back in 2019 @WhatsApp sued NSO Group for hacking 1.4k of their users.

NSO tried every possible tactic to dodge the case.

But lost spectacularly in 2024 and got hit with huge damages & later a permanent injunction against hacking WhatsApp.

reuters.com/technology/cyb…Image
@WhatsApp 3/ Despite bruising losses in American court...

And getting 🇺🇸US sanctioned...

NSO chose optimism & has been trying to persuade everybody that they are reformed & should be delisted

I think is the eventual goal = get Pegasus spyware into US policing.
timesofisrael.com/seeking-to-get…Image
Read 8 tweets
May 7
It is hard to denounce China's Great Firewall when European politicians are preparing to demand the same thing.

It always starts with a call to protect children.

But it ends with adults needing permission to share their political views.

Embarrassingly short sighted.
2/ Parents want to protect their children, but once you build & implement bones of a system like this, with government developed 'verification' apps you've loaded the gun & pointed it at free expression.

You also suppress innovation.
3/ The funny thing? Every dictatorial regime has struggled to fight VPNs..

So what happens? You wind up with motivated & well-resourced people circumventing your controls...

And a society where everyone simultaneously feels less private & like they should be self-censoring.
Read 5 tweets
May 2
PAY ATTENTION: China just figured out a global veto on who gets to speak.

#RightsCon is a massive tech & rights conference.

Thousands attend from everywhere.

It was scheduled for next week in #Zambia with their gov's full cooperation.

Then, 🇨🇳#China made a call. 1/Image
2/ Last Monday, the #Zambian endorsed #RightsCon. Again.

Then, pressure from #China came down hard.

Almost immediately, things went sideways.

Starting at the border...

rightscon.org/rc26-statement/Image
Image
3/ People were already flying in from all over the globe to #Zambia... thousands were to follow.

Suddenly the tone at customs changed.

Customs officials were telling exhausted & puzzled attendees that their conference was cancelled.

Meanwhile? Official silence.

Weird, right?Image
Read 8 tweets
Apr 9
BREAKING: You checked the weather this morning.

And you just told a surveillance company where you sleep.

Meet #Webloc, used by ICE, cops & foreign govs to track 500m+ phones.

No warrant required.

Our latest @citizenlab investigation + how to protect yourself 🧵/1Image
Image
2/ Heard of ADINT aka ADvertising INTelligence?

Your apps don't just show ads.

They stream of info about your GPS location + a unique identifier to HUNDREDS OF BROKERS EVERY SECOND.

The industry swears the data is "anonymous" but it's actually a Spies-eye-view. Of everyone.Image
3/ Companies peddle the BS that advertising data is 'anonymous'

They want to keep you in the dark.

Because, behind the scenes...your weather app is a blinking tracking beacon.

And then players like @penlink turn that beacon into a data flow.

And sell it to governments.
Read 15 tweets

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