Firstly apologies for the delay in publishing our regular newsletter, but as you maybe aware we have been extremely busy in dealing with the land cleaning issues, the start of our Rural fire Protection and Prevention Campaign with the Portugal News, as well as the preparation and publication of our Definitive Guide to Rural Fire Protection and Land cleaning.
The Land Cleaning issue has been a major task involving many meetings with the ANPC, ICNF and GNR both in Lisbon and at a local level here in the Algarve.
Part of this was seeking from the GNR National Headquarters their policy on enforcement, given the difficulties many people were facing cleaning their land by the 15th March.
I am pleased that the response to this has been that this will be enforced using quote "good sense" and they are aware of the difficulties as outlined. In any event any fines will not now be processed until after 31st May, in situations where people have not cleaned their land by then. More about that in this newsletter.
Given the public interest in civil protection in particular rural fires, we have expanded our website to provided more information, covering prevention, protection, action during a fire and the aftermath of fires. We are thankful for the input we have received from government agencies in this respect. We have also inserted on our home page a tab where you can get the current ANPC weather warning to the population in English. We now have the largest resource available in English and other languages available in Portugal with over 35 downloads of information concerning this subject. Details in the newsletter.
On the crime front there have been some excellent arrests this month, including a joint operation between the Portuguese and Spanish Police which resulted in the seizure of 2.5 tonnes of cocaine with a street value of around €125 million. In fact there have so many interesting and diverse cases we have included more that usual in this section.
One example is the police action in Spain in collaboration with Europol against illegal TV streaming networks, which comes on top of similar operations in Cyprus last year.
Please note we are upgrading our sponsors pages on our website at present, so I apologise for any inconvenience during the upgrade process.The end result will be worth it.
To learn more about how to sponsor a newsletter by becoming one of our supporters please contact us on 913045093 or at
[email protected] .
David Thomas
President
Safe Communities Portugal
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Government approves program to provide homes for those displaced through fires or inclement weather
The Program is intended for those left homeless as a result of extreme natural phenomena or other extraordinary incidents.
The Government approved on 16
th March 2018 in the Council of Ministers, a program to guarantee the immediate accommodation of those who are without housing due to unforeseeable events, such as fires or inclement weather.
The decree-law,
Door of Entry - Support Program for Urgent Housing , aims to "give a faster response" to those who are temporarily or permanently homeless, explained the Minister of the Presidency, Maria Manuel Leitão Marques, during a press conference that took place at the end of the meeting.
In addition to financial support to cover the costs of immediate accommodation for those who need it, the program also provides for the rehabilitation or reconstruction of housing damaged by disasters and, if necessary, guarantees the cost of renting a dwelling for a maximum period of five years.
The program "intends to give an answer, which did not exist, to the situations that need an urgent response", explained the person in charge.
The program is not intended for those who lack housing but for victims of extreme natural phenomena or other extraordinary events, he added. The minister gave examples of families in the Algarve who were recently displaced due to the tornado in the Faro area and those affected by the fires in the centre of the country last year.
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Judicial Police and Spanish police seize 125 million euros worth of cocaine
The Judiciary Police and the Spanish National Police have seized about 2.5 tonnes of cocaine in the two countries and detained 10 people of different nationalities in the last two weeks. The value of the drugs could reach 125 million euros if sold on the street.
According to the director of the National Unit for Combating Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs, the 10 detainees, nine men and one woman, are of Polish, Spanish and Colombian nationality and are all detained in Spain.
The investigations began at the beginning of this year after information was obtained by the Portuguese Judicial Police that the criminal organization had a large amount of cocaine in the city of Lisbon and that was managing various deliveries for transport to Spain.
After knowing the meetings that were taking place in the Portuguese city to transport the drug to Spain, the investigators began worked jointly to identify the people, who were in those meetings and it was subsequently found that many resided in Spain.
Finally, the agents learned of a new drug transport and mounted a joint operation on the border, intercepting four vehicles that carried 800 kilograms of cocaine to the provinces of Badajoz and Cáceres.
After the seizure at the border, the rest of the drugs were located in several operations carried out simultaneously in Portugal. A total of 10 people have been arrested and 10 vehicles have been seized. The investigation is still continuing
in cooperation with the authorities of other countries.
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Portugal will deploy more than 500 police and military personnel in Frontex missions
Portugal will strengthen its participation in operations of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) in 2018 through a contingent of more than 500 police and military personnel to combat trafficking in human beings and support refugees.
"The tragedy of refugees and migration is now a central issue in the European challenge" and "Portugal has a very active participation in Frontex, which will be strengthened in 2018, both through the area of Internal Administration and through the Armed Forces" , said the Minister of Internal Administration.
"This is a commitment to participate in solidarity" of the European project, in the areas of border management and coastguard action in maritime areas, said Eduardo Cabrita.
"Portugal is one of the states that contributes the most human resources and technical equipment to the Frontex operations, which take place throughout the year," said Eduardo Cabrita.
According to official data, the country has increased its participation in the operations of this Agency for two years, with 487 personnel in 2016 and 536 last year. Frontex is a structure related to the security and control of the external borders, with SEF the point of contact in Portugal.
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Land Cleaning - latest News concerning enforcement
On 15th March 2018, The Council of Ministers approved a decree-law which determines that notices of mismanagement raised by the non-clearing of land will not take effect until May 31, if by that date the person responsible for the cleaning of land, has NOT undertaken (completed) the work by which they are legally bound.
Legally this means fines can still be initiated at any time, but will only be processed and effected if the work has not been undertaken by 31st May 2018.
In meetings held between Safe Communities Portugal and the GNR SEPNA in Lisbon and the Territorial Command Headquarters Faro, the GNR have stated that fining is a last resort as the whole object is to ensure that for safety reasons people do comply.
They stressed that "good sense" will prevail, in determining situations when fines are justified, and each situation will be scrutinised carefully at District Headquarters level. If enforcement action does become necessary, however, the Faro District Headquarters (covering the Algarve) have stated it will be undertaken as follows.
Firstly with immediate effect where a complaint has already been made to the GNR from the public about land that is overgrown, the GNR will visit that land. If it is found that the complaint is substantiated, they will, upon location of the owner, verbally inform the owner that he/she will be fined. The GNR will take Identification details, although the owner will not receive any written notification at this stage. Should the land be cleaned by 31
st May, however, no further action will be taken.
It is now important that owners start work if they have not already done so.
Read full enforcement actions here
We know of cases where people, mainly the elderly, are unable to carry out the work themselves and cannot afford contractors. In such cases it is recommended to solicit the help of friends, or visit the Junta da Freguisia to see if they can advise.
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EDP power line may have triggered one of the biggest fires of the year
Ignition from power lines that caused the fire may be the result from a failure to comply with safety regulations, the report of the Independent Technical Commission delivered on Tuesday 20
th
March in parliament has stated.
The Lousã fire in October 2017, one of the biggest of the year, was negligently caused and the source may result from EDP's failure to comply with the safety regulations for power lines.
According to a document that appears in the report of the Independent Technical Commission, whose source is the Forest Fire Information Management System of the Institute of Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), the cause of the fire that began on October 15 in Lousã and spread to nine counties was negligence and had as its origin the electric lines.
"The ignition originated from the electric lines, in this particular case where it resulted from a tree that fell onto a medium voltage line, and may have resulted from the non-compliance of the safety regulations of the electric lines by the management entity, EDP.
The commission's technicians say "the minimum safety distance from the electric lines]to the trees", was not adhered to. Original story in
Jornel de Noticais
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Europol and Spanish National Police arrest six persons in a big hit to Illegal TV Streaming networks
The crime ring made available more than 14 000 international points of sale providing illegal access to a large number of TV channels.
In March 2018 the Spanish National Police supported by Europol's Intellectual Property Crime Coordinated Coalition (IPC) arrested 6 individuals from a crime ring suspected of selling illegal television signals from more than 14 000 international points of sale. The signals were sold through a company which designed the application needed to illegally stream films, television series and sport events.
The investigation began when EGEDA, Mediapro and the Spanish Football League filed a complaint with the police. During the course of the investigation police officers discovered a company, based in Galicia, Spain which was suspected of transmitting signals for paid TV channels illegally.
The company developed both the decoder device and the application needed to illegally access the paid channels. The decoder was sold for EUR 120 and the server to transmit the illegal signal was hosted in France and controlled from the business in Spain.
In total 8 house searches were carried out in Spain, resulting in the arrest of six members of the organised crime group and the seizure of 4600 IT devices.
Comment
Similar operations were conducted in Cyprus some months ago.
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The Diário da República, 2.ª série - N.º 56 - 20 de março de 2018 - 20 de março de 2018 has announced that a total of 581 militates from the GNR will be promoted during 2018. These promotions date back to 2016 but have been frozen since then.
Of the 581 in the more senior ranks are 16 from Tenente Coronel to Coronel; 7 from Major to Tenente-Coronel; 14 from Captain to Major and 31 from Tenente to Captain.
Those to be promoted will formally informed on Frifay 23rd March at 1600 hrs.
Congratulations to all concerned.
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More than 400 thousand euros seized in investigation in City Hall of Pedrógão Grande
The Judicial Police seized more than 400,000 euros in the investigation that led to the arrest on Tuesday of a head of division of the City Hall of Pedrógão Grande, suspected of several crimes of embezzlement and falsification of documents.
The case involves a division chief, an accountant and a treasurer of the Câmara de Pedrógão Grande, Leiria district, who are suspected of "several crimes of embezzlement and falsification of documents," said a source of the Judicial Police told the agency Lusa on 21
st March.
The division chief was detained and one of the female employees was charged.
"We do not yet have a final value calculated (of the money diverted from the local authority), but in the operation conducted on Tuesday we seized, in cash, a value in excess of 80 thousand euros", being, together with the bank balance, seized "more of 400 thousand euros, "added the same source.
According to the PJ, the crimes will have lasted at least during 2017 and early 2018, but there is "a strong suspicion that this activity was already in existence before 2017".
The investigation started earlier this year, said the same source, noting that the deviation of money from the municipality
is not related to funds from donations associated with post-fire support.
The suspect appeared on 21st March PM at the Court of Leiria, for first interrogation and enforcement of pre-trial measures
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GNR dismantles the network that trafficked 2.5 million cigarettes from Angola
An international tobacco smuggling network, which trafficked more than 2.5 million cigarettes from Angola, was dismantled by the GNR in Lisbon. Four people were arrested.
In a statement, the GNR said that the group was transporting the tobacco by air from Angola to Portugal and other European countries, causing a loss to the Portuguese State of 2.7 million euros due to tax evasion.
On Tuesday 13
th March, soldiers from the Lisbon Tax Action detachment executed four arrest warrants and carried out 17 searches, 14 of which were domiciliary and seized 156,946 cigarettes of various brands, more than 41,000 euros, 19 items of computer equipment and two vehicles.
In the "Mambo" operation, four people were arrested and five more accused of being engaged in the fraudulent smuggling of tobacco into Portugal, with the districts of Lisbon and Setubal being the main distribution centres.
The four detainees are charged with aggravated smuggling, fraud, criminal association and tax fraud, and were placed in custody pending pre-trial determination.
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German citizen arrested at Lisbon Airport with electric weapon
A 50-year-old German citizen was detained at Lisbon Airport on Wednesday 14th March as she was preparing to embark for the United States with an electric taser weapon.
Police source explained that the woman had previously boarded and passed the gun through security at two European airports, including Frankfurt airport, Germany, recognized as one of the safest in Europe, before landing in Lisbon, to catch a connecting flight to the USA.
She was detained at about 3.45 pm by police officers of the Airport Division, while trying to board a flight to New York, the United States, where she lives.
The woman spent the night in a cell of the Metropolitan Command of Lisbon of the PSP, , and will appear before a magistrate of the Public Prosecutor's Office, who will decide on action to be taken.
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Woman detained at Lisbon airport with 160,000 doses of cocaine in suitcases
In a statement, the Judicial Police said that the woman, who was arrested at the airport in Lisbon on suspicion of drug trafficking, had "a significant amount of cocaine" that she was transporting by air from a Latin American country to Portugal.
According to PJ, cocaine was concealed inside 55 small handbags packaged in two suitcases.
The Judiciary Police emphasized that "cocaine carried by the detainee had a high degree of purity" and, if it reached illicit distribution channels, would be sufficient for at least 160,000 individual doses.
The 31-year-old detainee was present at the first judicial interrogation and was remanded in custody.
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Pre-trial detention for 13 robberies against the elderly
On 14
th
March 2018 at around 14.40 hrs the PSP Metropolitan Command of Lisbon, through the Division of Criminal Investigation, in the parish of Alvalade, Lisbon, arrested whilst caught in the act a 39 year old man, suspected of committing the crime of robbery.
During surveillance by police in the area it was possible to verify that the suspect approached elderly victims under threat of a weapon and physical force, pushing the victims to the entrance hall of their residence, and stealing items of value, leaving them, physically and economically weakened.
Following the arrest, steps were taken to locate other victims and carry out searches of the suspect's residence. Several items of property stolen from other victims, as well as two knives and garments with which he committed the crimes were seized, plus a pocket knife; a mobile phone; a women's handbag; and € 10.37 in cash.
The suspect is referenced for another 13 crimes of robbery, undertaken using the same MO, in various points of the city of Lisbon, in a short time.
The detainee, with a number of criminal records, was present at the 1st Criminal Investigation Section of the Lisbon Court of First Instance, for the first judicial interrogation, and was placed under preventive detention.
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Ten people arrested for illegal sale of U2 concert tickets
The Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE) has arrested 10 people caught in the act of illegally selling tickets online for U2 concerts in Portugal, and has seized 26 tickets, said an official in a statement.
According to the ASAE, the 10 people were arrested in several parts of the country, for the crime of speculation on the value of official sale of tickets for the concerts.
"Through its National Information and Criminal Investigation Unit, the Food and Economic Security Authority (ASAE) has been conducting, since February, an online ticket monitoring investigation aimed at combating speculation, through various Internet advertising sites for the concerts of Irish band U2, which will come to Portugal next September, "the ASAE statement said.
The authority added that 26 tickets "with face unit prices ranging from €37 to € 200 were seized, which were being sold from € 150 to € 400, allowing sellers to obtain profits of above 200%".
According to the statement, the defendants were already presented before the court.
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Tourist had 253 doses of cannabis inside the motor home in Vila do Bispo
A total of 253 doses of cannabis were seized this Tuesday, March 20, inside a motor home belonging, to a tourist of 36 years, in the beach of Ingrina, in Vila do Bispo.
The man, who was detained by the GNR, was also found in possession of 564 grams of opium paste, as well as two precision scales, a dagger and 420 euros which were seized.
The enforcement action took place during a routine GNR operation in the area.
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GNR seizes 11 metal detectors being used on beaches in the Algarve
The GNR Coastal Control Unit, through the Vila Real de Santo António Sub-station, with the support of the Integrated Surveillance, Command and Control System seized on 7
th
and 8
th
March, eleven metal detectors in the beach of Praia Verde, Praia da Altura and Praia of the Manta Rota.
As part of an action to monitor the coast and preserve archaeological assets, the GNR military identified eleven individuals of Spanish nationality who were operating metal detectors without having authorization from the Portuguese Institute of Archeology.
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Road accidents, injuries and deaths on the increase in the Algarve
According to the latest data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Authority (ANSR), between January 1 and March 7, 2018, eight deaths were recorded on the Algarve's roads, one more than in the same period last year, a large proportion on the EN125, and six more than in 2016.
The number of seriously injured also increased in the first months of this year, compared to the same period of 2017, from 20 to 31 (plus eleven).
In relation to the number of accidents - which last year reached a record number in the Algarve region, with a total of 10,752 accidents (511 more than in 2016 and 1,262 more than in 2015) - the ANSR statistics indicate that they have registered since the beginning of the year 1,489 road accidents, 28 more than in the same period of 2017.
The number of deaths, serious injuries and accidents continues to increase on the Algarve's roads, even after part of the main road that crosses the region has been heavily invested in improving the conditions aimed at safety.
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Man who killed his mother in Loulé sentenced to 16 years in prison
A man aged 66 years who killed his mother in Loulé on 16
th
January last year, was sentenced on March 20 to 16 years in prison.
The court found that the accused, a retired finance official and a sports club official in Loulé, killed his 93-year-old mother in the house where they both lived in that city.
This man, armed with an object, struck several blows on his mother's head, causing her death.
"He then cleaned up the remains and laid the victim on the bed, The INEM and the authorities attended the scene and confirmed her death," says the Public Ministry.
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GNR Search and Rescue exercises in extreme weather conditions
The GNR Intervention Unit, through the Mountain Subgrouping of Serra da Estrela of the Protection and Relief Intervention Group (GIPS), conducted between February 15 and March 15, a set of exercises, which involved mountain search and rescue operations in extreme weather conditions.
Within the various operational drills, two complex search and rescue exercises were carried out, namely an underwater rescue in icy waters and a complete mountain rescue operation during the Gisela storm. About 50 GIPS military personnel were involved including, underwater operations and first-aid search and rescue specialists.
The operational training was aimed at testing procedures and the ability of specialists to respond in extreme conditions, ensuring greater effectiveness in rescuing and helping citizens in dangerous situations.
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Extradition of two persons wanted by Portuguese authorities from Brazil
The Judicial Police, through the National Office of Interpol, in conjunction with the National Unit to Combat Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs, today obtained the return to Portugal from Brazil of two wanted persons in furtherance of extradition proceedings initiated by the Portuguese judicial authorities.
One of them a 45-year-old had been arrested in Natal, Brazil, in March last year, as a result of an international arrest warrant. In the year 2000 he was sentenced to serve 10 years and 6 months imprisonment for trafficking in heroin, cocaine, hashish, ecstasy and possession of prohibited firearms. Since his return to Portugal he has been taken to a prison to serve the sentence.
The other a man aged 63 years, was earlier detained in Fortaleza, Brazil, where he served 22 years in prison for murder, robbery and kidnapping crimes in that country.
He has now been handed over as part of an international arrest warrant as a suspect in connection with a case of cocaine trafficking from South America to Portugal dating back to 1999. He will be presented to the judicial authorities in the Court of the Municipality of Leiria for the first judicial interrogation and application of pre-trial conditions.
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Safe Communities Portugal
Expansion of the SCP Website covering Civil Protection
In view of the considerable importance being given to the subject of Civil Protection, in particular land cleaning and rural fires we have decided to vastly expand our website concerning this subject. As a result we have increased the number of pages on our main SCP website from five to nine pages. The new pages are as follows, with just a few bits of information to be added.
The information contained in these pages mainly comprises official government information explained in a way that is hopefully easier for English speaking communities. Information is shared with SCP by the ANPC in accordance with our joint protocol.
ANPC Weather Warnings
It is also important that people who may not read Portuguese are aware of the current Civil Protection weather warnings which are in place, together with the expected effects of the weather conditions and precautions that people should take.
Earlier this year we reached an agreement with the ANPC that we would translate their Warnings into English whereupon they place these on their website. At the same time we post on the SCP website.
To ensure that visitors to our website can find these easily we have placed red tabs on our home page and Civil Protection page entitled "Current ANPC Waether Warnings to the Population" which links to a new dedicated page showing the warning.
Please make a point of reading these warnings as they contain vital information.
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Security of your house during Easter Holiday period
I guess there will be many readers taking a well deserved break over the Easter holidays.
Perhaps a trip somewhere in Portugal or an overseas holiday you have planned for some time.
To avoid criminals becoming aware of your absence, it is important to undertaken a few simple measure to give you house the "occupied look" even though you are not there. Our top 10 tips are as follows:
- Make sure all the doors and windows are closed and locked.
- Ensure that the security alarm is set. Inform the security company that you will be away.
- Leave a couple of lights on preferably using a timer
- If your car is parked in the driveway, ensure it is locked
- Do not leave tools or bikes in the garden. If practical keep them in a locked outbuilding.
- Keep swimming pool pump rooms locked.
- Ask a neighbour to keep an eye on your property in your absence, perhaps moving the car in the driveway.
- Inform the GNR Safe Residence Program team in your area if your house is registered that you will be absent
- Make sure someone can remove postal items in your letter box as a full box is a give way of your absence
Lastly, the important one - do not broadcast to the world on social media that you will be absent - as criminal can monitor this.
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Civil Protection and Public Safety
Government to create 3600 kms of fire breaks to prevent the spread of fires
After securing the opening or maintenance of 1179 kms of fuel management of fire breaks in the state-run areas, the Government is preparing to create a further 2441 kms of fire breaks in privately owned forests.
The Ministry of Agriculture is launching the first steps of a plan that will create, in the most sensitive areas of the private forests, these fire breaks to stop the spread of fires.
This will involve the creation of over 837 kms of "fuel interruption tracks" and the maintenance of a further 342 kms of existing ones. These will be mainly located in the North and Center of the country.
With this plan, the national forest will have barriers designed to prevent the spread of fires covering 3620 kms.
"We are making the biggest investment ever to create infrastructure in the Portuguese forest against the summer fires," said Miguel Freitas, Secretary of State for Forestry. The creation of clean and open areas for the circulation of fire engines during the critical season of fires and sappers at other times of the year is one of the measures that experts consider to be most effective in curbing the large fires that, like Pedrógão's, consumed large forested areas, in different municipalities, over several days.
Of the 11,622 kms of fire breaks provided for by the national forest services under the PDFCI, only 1123 kms were built in the last decade.
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Landslip results in death of foreign tourist
A landslide at Ursa beach in Almoçageme, Sintra, struck two foreign nationals who were camping there. The man died and a woman was severely injured
.
A Brazilian man and a German woman were struck by stones that fell from the cliffs on Thursday morning, 15
th March. The victims belonged to a group of five tourists (three of Brazilian nationality and two of German nationality) who were on the beach camping. The victims were inside a tent when they were hit by the stones that fell from the top of the cliff some 150 meters high.
The 23-year-old man died and the 18-year-old woman who was injured was rescued by helicopter from the area. She was taken to Hospital de Saint Joseph.
The cliff was already identified as "unstable" due to the risk of landslides, the Maritime Police said. It is understood that the sign post that indicates that the cliff was unstable was vandalized and was not in place.
Some 29 emergency staff were involved in the rescue operation, including, the Volunteer Firefighters of Almoçageme, Municipal Civil Protection Service of Sintra, National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM), Maritime Police and GNR, and the Portuguese Air Force helicopter.
Comment
The authorities have warned people to stay away both from the tops/edge of cliffs as well as the beaches below cliffs, due to soil erosion resulting from the recent bad weather.
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Cybercrime and Computer Security
Facebook Data Breach - Latest
Mark Zuckerberg broke his silence Wednesday on the Cambridge Analytica data scandal that's plagued the social media giant in recent days and slashed stock value.
"We have a responsibility to protect your data, and if we can't then we don't deserve to serve you," Zuckerberg said in a statement posted on his Facebook page.
The research firm is accused of improperly gaining access to the personal data of more than 50 million Facebook users. Facebook says it learned of the misuse in 2015 but failed to notify the public before last weekend, when a pair of reports by The Observer newspaper in the U.K. and The New York Times revealed how the personal information had changed hands.
Zuckerberg said Facebook would notify users whose data was included in the set allegedly received by Cambridge Analytica and would also:
- Investigate all apps with access to Facebook data and demand audits of any app with "suspicious activity"
- Restrict developers' data access even further to prevent other kinds of abuse
- Launch a tool at the top of the News Feed that will show users which apps have access to their data and allow them to revoke those apps' permissions
Facebook on Wednesday outlined it will take to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future.
Zuckerberg will also appear on CNN at 9 pm ET to address the matter.
"I've been working to understand exactly what happened and how to make sure this doesn't happen again," he said. "I started Facebook, and at the end of the day I'm responsible for what happens on our platform. I'm serious about doing what it takes to protect our community."
Full report
CNBC 22nd March 2018
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Overseas News
More than 900 instances of On-line Terrorist Propaganda uncovered
On 14 and 15 March 2018 Europol's European Union Internet Referral Unit (EU IRU) took part in two Referral Action Days with colleagues from the national referral units of Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Slovenia and the United Kingdom, targeting terrorist content located on WordPress.com, a blogging service, and VideoPress, a video-hosting service for WordPress sites.
The intensive referral campaign identified over 900 items of branded terrorist propaganda that were swiftly flagged to the platform moderators for further review and eventual removal.
During the action days the specialised law enforcement units performed a qualitative assessment of the detected content, highlighting emerging patterns in terrorists abusing online platforms and promoting content intending to radicalise, recruit and propagate terrorist activities.
This coordinated action against online terrorist propaganda focused mainly on the online production of terrorist materials by media outlets affiliated with the so-called "Islamic State" and "al-Qaeda".
Among the items referred were propaganda videos and webpages glorifying or supporting terrorism and extremism. The final removal of the referred material is a voluntary activity by the platforms involved, taking into consideration their own terms and conditions.
Both national referral units and the EU IRU cooperate with the platforms to restrict availability of online content which promotes terrorism or incites violence.
During the Referral Action Days Europol promotes a coordinated approach to fighting terrorist propaganda online. Similar joint action, involving EU Member States and online industry partners, will continue to be organised on a regular basis.
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How you can help - Donation for crime prevention in Portugal
Each week Safe Communities Portugal provides advice and assistance to those who have contacted the association. No charge is made for this service. If you have benefited from this then why not make a small donation in return. Safe Communities Portugal is a non-profit association run by unpaid volunteers. Our services are free of charge and the association is funded by donations. Your generosity by making a donation to help maintain and further develop the work of the association and thereby help keep portugal a safe place to live and visit would be appreciated. Any amount helps.
Three ways to make a donation
Paypal - If you would like to make a donation through Paypal please visit our Welcome page and click on the "donate" button.
By cheque - If you wish to donate by cheque the bank account name is "Associacao SCP Safe Communities Portugal" and cheques can be posted to Caixa 207-Z, Alfontes, Boliqueime, 8100-062, Algarve.
By interbank transfer - If you wish to donate through inter bank transfer please use the same name with the following account details NIB 0033 0000 4542 9864 44705.
All donations should be marked "Donation for crime prevention". Thank you.
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Safe Communities Portugal - Regular Features
Just a reminder that in addition to our website and Facebook page, Safe Communities Portugal produces regular crime prevention features to help the community. These are
in the Algarve Resident and the next one is out on 5th April 2018.
We also have a 5 minute feature named "Crimecheck" on Owen Gee's Solid Gold Sunday which is usually aired at 0915 hrs on the last Sunday of each month. Recently we have more features than usual to cover the case of Missing Person John Bainbridge as well as land cleaning issues.
The next one is on 25th March covering the subject of enforcement of the land cleaning laws.
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How your friends can obtain up to date Crime Prevention advice
Please pass on details of Safe Communities Algarve to neighbours and friends so they to can benefit from the up to date crime prevention advice. Simply ask them to click on the following link to obtain the latest newsletter: www.safecommunitiesportugal.com This is a free service.
David Thomas
President
Safe Communities Portugal
22 March 2018
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