The switch

VPNs let users become anonymous online, but they also offer a handy feature known as a kill switch. Learn what a VPN kill switch is, and how to make the ...

Then, once your connection to the remote server has been reestablished, the kill switch will deactivate and allow you to connect to the internet. So, if you want to avoid exploding your private information, consider using a kill switch to avoid any third parties from accessing it. But if your VPN provider does offer a kill switch, how can you activate it? If the kill switch feature is active on your VPN app, your device will be automatically disconnected from the internet whenever the VPN’s connection to the remote server is terminated. As soon as a connection interruption is discovered, your connection to the internet will be immediately blocked. But what exactly is a kill switch, and does your provider offer one?

Emmanuel Macron is among leaders who helped the ride-hailing company disrupt new markets.

The Uber Files is a leak of 124,000 records including emails and texts exposing conversations and meetings between Uber executives and public officials as the technology-driven taxi firm sought to expand its business. A spokesperson for Mr Kalanick said he never authorised any actions or programmes that would obstruct justice in any country, and any accusation he did is completely false. We will connect our respective teams to start working on a feasible proposal that could become the formal framework in France," an email from Travis Kalanick to Mr Macron reads. Uber lobbyist Mark MacGann described the meeting as "spectacular. Like I've never seen," the files show. In March 2015, Uber's Amsterdam office was raided by Dutch police. But now it's no longer there." Uber says Ms Kroes left the advisory board in 2018, and says it has since introduced new guidelines "strengthening oversight" of "lobbying and external engagements with policymakers" in Europe. A spokesperson for the Dutch ministry of economic affairs says that "Uber was not considered a start-up in 2015". Uber said the "suspension of UberPop was in no way followed by more favourable regulations," and a new law that came into force in 2018 resulted in France adopting "stricter regulations" that were "in no way beneficial to Uber". Emails say that Ms Kroes called ministers and other members of the government to persuade them to back down during the raid.During another raid a week later, Ms Kroes again contacted a Dutch minister the Uber Files show, and, in the words of an email, "harassed" the head of the Dutch civil service. At one point Uber wrote to Mr Macron saying it was "extremely grateful". "The openness and welcome we receive is unusual in government-industry relations." Uber says his replacement, Dara Khosrowshahi, was "tasked with transforming every aspect of how Uber operates" and has "installed the rigorous controls and compliance necessary to operate as a public company".

Regulators entered Uber's offices only to see computers go dark before their eyes as the company used covert tech to thwart government raids, leaked records ...

Documents illuminate how Uber used stealth technology to thwart regulators and law enforcement and how the company courted prominent political leaders as it sought footholds outside the United States. Two Dutch government officials, a prosecutor and a transport law enforcement official, recently confirmed that an Uber employee was arrested that month, though they declined to name the person. In another case revealed by the Uber Files , de Kievit emailed the company leadership on April 10, 2015, to say he had been arrested in the Amsterdam office. As a natural and foreseeable result, entrenched industry interests all over the world fought to prevent the much-needed development of the transportation industry.” The documents show Greyball was a preferred response mechanism for areas where Uber was alleged to be operating outside existing laws or regulations. Uber employees could create a geofence targeting a police station so anyone in or near the building would see the Greyball version of the app, which Uber sometimes called Fake View, the documents show. But Uber operations executives took control of the program and redeployed it against the government, former employees said. Uber’s Hazelbaker said, “Uber does not have a ‘kill switch’ designed to thwart regulatory inquiries anywhere in the world" and that it has not used one since Kalanick’s replacement, Khosrowshahi, became chief executive. The business model also relied on overcoming legal barriers to competing with a taxi industry that was heavily regulated in much of the world. Uber discussed or invoked the kill switch — code-named Ripley — more than a dozen times in at least six countries over a two-year span, according to the new documents and previous reporting on the tool. Bloomberg News, which first reported on the kill switch in 2018, reported that in at least one case, Uber turned over records not initially available to authorities after they produced a second search warrant. In written responses to questions, Uber acknowledged that the company made numerous missteps during the time covered by the files, an era when Kalanick, who was ousted by the board in 2017, led the company.

Three months before Delhi rape, Uber Asia chief told India team to 'embrace the chaos'

For instance, there is a confidential email from Uber manager Filip Nuytemans, dated February 10, 2015, on the subject of demands for driver data from special tax inspectors. There is also an email – it has the same date — from Uber’s legal counsel Zac de Kievit who said, “Providing the driver list will gut our supply: it makes it much more easier for the taxman, regulators and police to terrify our supply and enforce against it… A 10-page manual is also part of the data. “We will likely have both local and national issues in almost every city in India for the rest of your tenure at Uber… Don’t talk to the Government or folks close to the Government unless you have specifically discussed with Jordan (a reference to Jordan Condo, Uber’s Head of Public Policy for Asia)… we will generally stall, be unresponsive, and often say no to what they want. It states: “What we did in India is have the city team be as cooperative as possible and have BV (the company in Netherlands) take the heat. The data show 13 instances between 2014-2016 when the ‘Kill Switch’ was used in different cities across the globe.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a nonprofit network of investigative reporters, scoured internal Uber texts, emails, invoices, ...

Senior executives involved in global operation to thwart law enforcement, leaked files reveal.

In a statement, Uber said it had stopped using the kill switch in 2017, when Dara Khosrowshahi replaced Kalanick as chief executive and overhauled its corporate culture. Gore-Coty, who now runs the food delivery service Uber Eats, told the Guardian he regretted some of Uber’s tactics, which led to him being fined €30,000 in 2016 for running an illegal taxi service, a decision that was upheld on appeal earlier this year. Kalanick “has never been charged in any jurisdiction for obstruction of justice or any related offence,” she added. Seven minutes after Gore-Coty’s email, Kalanick followed up, copying in Uber’s lawyers: “Please hit the kill switch ASAP … Access must be shut down in AMS [Amsterdam].” But senior staff were hailing the lawyer’s approach by the time of another raid, in Paris, on 6 July 2015. Later that year, a Belgian court order forced Uber to suspend its unlicensed UberPop service in the country. Later that day, De Kievit emailed executives, including Kalanick: “Our team were detained and did not have an opportunity to raise the kill switch.” A source present that day recalls computer screens simply went black seconds after police arrived in the office, as if they had been powered down. Kalanick, Gore-Coty and Uber’s lawyers were copied into emails in which senior IT engineers discussed cutting access to laptops that had already been confiscated. Belgian authorities wanted to obtain company data about drivers, which was held on servers in the US, documents show. She said Kalanick had never been charged in any jurisdiction for obstruction of justice or any related offence. They discussed shutting down office access to the company’s main IT systems while simultaneously watching police searching computers for evidence.

Uber execs blocked authorities from accessing company data at least 12 times during European office raids, documents leaked to the Guardian reveal.

Uber used a secret tactic known internally as the "kill switch" to block law enforcement from accessing large amounts of company data during office raids across Europe, documents leaked to the Guardian reveal. The finding is just one of the several revelations published over the weekend as part of a global investigation based on 124,000 company documents leaked to the Guardian and shared with a consortium of media outlets. - Uber used a secret tactic known internally as the "kill switch" to block data during police raids.

They suspected the ride-hailing service was improperly declaring that it owed no provincial sales tax and helping some drivers dodge that tax and the federal ...

Jean-Christophe de Le Rue served as communications director to the federal public safety minister from 2013-15 before heading to Uber as a senior communications associate. The leaked files also show the global scale of Uber's ambitions. As Paris taxi drivers staged another protest in January 2016, Uber's then-CEO, Kalanick, wrote in a group text message that the risk of violence against its drivers should not be a deterrent: "I think it's worth it.. That evening, the head of local national police began to reverse course, promising to clarify the order. Its name has become a byword for ride-hailing apps in the many markets where it dominates, and it has branched into food delivery. The records, spanning from 2013 to 2017, shed light on a period when Uber was aggressively expanding and operating illegally by ignoring taxi regulations in many cities around the world, including in Canada. The office did not respond to questions about Macron's relationship with Uber. Earlier that fall, another pro-Uber op-ed appeared in the Journal signed by David MacLean, who was then vice-president of Alberta Enterprise Group, a business lobby organization. A Quebec Superior Court judge ruled that the warrants were valid. But at 10:40 a.m., at two Uber offices in Montreal, investigators noticed company laptops, smartphones and tablets suddenly all restarted at exactly the same time. Revenu Quebec agents had been investigating Uber for weeks, including making undercover visits to the company's Montreal offices and following its Quebec general manager to work one day. Uber's co-founder and then-CEO, Travis Kalanick, was looped into the email chain.

Uber execs blocked authorities from accessing company data at least 12 times during European office raids, documents leaked to the Guardian reveal.

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Uber lobbied political leaders to relax labour and taxi laws and considered portraying violence against its drivers as a way to gain public sympathy, ...

The Uber Files say the company cut its tax bill by millions of dollars by sending profits through Bermuda and other tax havens, then "sought to deflect attention from its tax liabilities by helping authorities collect taxes from its drivers". For example, the company used a "kill switch'' that cut access to Uber servers and blocked authorities from grabbing evidence during raids in at least six countries. The Uber Files revealed the extraordinary lengths that the company went to in order to establish itself in nearly 30 countries.

We know the old adage, if you're going to have fun, you better bring protection and never has the sentiment rung truer than in the gaming world.

RELATED: Want to get your gaming gear off to the best start? Thanks to the portability of the Nintendo Switch, many people use it while travelling to and from a location, or take it with them on big trips. You won’t have to worry about your console being protected- we can guarantee the hard shell will withstand any bump. Not all cases are charging cases, but the genius two-in-one deal will ensure your Switch will never run out of battery. For extra convenience, it also comes with a detachable wrist strap which makes it easy to carry your Switch Lite conveniently anytime, anywhere. To store all those extra games and cables, we made use of the neatly secured mesh pocket. Not only does it protect, but it also looks the part, with a cool, transparent design that is easy to attach and remove. This case looks like something straight out of the future! One major benefit we noted was the fact that it is made from weather-proof durable nylon with Poron foam padding, meaning it’s not just comfy, it’s also protected from the elements. What We Like As the first one we purchased, it has a special place in our hearts, but that hasn’t clouded our vision. Like controllers and docks, you’ll find a good Nintendo Switch case will elevate the experience and take your gameplay to the next level.

Here's an exclusively hoof-picked trailer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anMSFdAb6pc Wild River Games has revealed a se...

And, with your fully kitted-out horse, you can enter photo contests to ensure you and your horse are the prettiest pair! And fans, both old and young, can join in and participate in Western riding, dressage, and show jumping. And, new to the sequel, all dialogue will be fully voiced!