Wikileaks Dump Shows How CIA Hacks Into Phones: Here’s What We’re Reading

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Here’s what we’re reading today.

1. Wikileaks: The CIA can turn any smartphone and TV into a listening device

“It’s difficult to buy a new TV that doesn’t come with a suite of (generally mediocre) ‘smart’ software, giving your home theatre some of the functions typically found in phones and tablets. But bringing these extra features into your living room means bringing a microphone, too — a fact the CIA is exploiting, according to a new trove of documents released today by Wikileaks.”

The Intercept

2. Waiting on Trump, Liberal govt. planning cautious budget

“Bill Morneau’s second budget will be short on new spending and will include what amounts to a ‘down payment on the innovation agenda,’ as the finance minister takes a wait-and-see approach over the uncertainty surrounding U.S. President Donald Trump’s economic agenda.

“A senior government source says this budget will set the stage for what could effectively be a two budget year, with a significant fall fiscal update that would be able to factor in the full implications of the coming U.S. budget.”

CBC News

+1: Canada’s foreign affairs minister says Russia could try and “destabilize” Canadian politics. They may have already started. – Vice News

3. Conservatives in revolt over G.O.P. health care bill

“A long-awaited plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act and remake the American health care system faced a revolt from the right on Tuesday as conservative groups and lawmakers strongly criticized a bill that Republican leaders and President Trump had hoped to jam through Congress this month.”

New York Times

4. DARPA’s brain chip implants could be the next big mental health breakthrough—or a total disaster

“Why is the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency developing a controversial, cutting-edge brain chip technology that could one day treat everything from major depressive disorder to hand cramps?”

Gizmodo

5. With a soul this ugly, who cares about her looks?

“Feminist defenses of Kellyanne Conway’s appearance are beside the point.”

The Outline