“Here are list of the most significant moves the president made on Day 1. unpaywalled New York Times – [Note – All Presidential actions are published here] Mr. Trump issued a sweeping grant of clemency to all of the nearly 1,600 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, issuing… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Civil Liberties
The Powerful AI Tool That Cops (or Stalkers) Can Use to Geolocate Photos in Seconds
404 Media: “A powerful AI tool can predict with high accuracy the location of photos based on features inside the image itself—such as vegetation, architecture, and the distance between buildings—in seconds, with the company now marketing the tool to law enforcement officers and government agencies. Called GeoSpy, made by a firm called Graylark Technologies out… Continue Reading
ProPublica Releases New Private School Demographics Lookup
“Now you can look up detailed demographic information about thousands of private schools across the country and compare them to nearby public schools. Private schools in the United States are, on the whole, whiter than public schools, with fewer Black, Hispanic or Latino students. This may not be a surprising statistic because private schools can… Continue Reading
As the Eaton Fire Still Burns, Locals Gather Seeds to Regrow
The New York Times – “…Ms. Raj, a University of California naturalist and master gardener, is a docent at the Eaton Canyon Nature Center and had been working to build a seed bank there. Altadena residents were familiar with one of the dozen or so wooden structures she had scattered around the neighborhood marked “Altadena… Continue Reading
NSA Warns iPhone And Android Users – Disable Location Tracking
Forbes: “…NSA warns that “mobile devices store and share device geolocation data by design…Location data can be extremely valuable and must be protected. It can reveal details about the number of users in a location, user and supply movements, daily routines (user and organizational), and can expose otherwise unknown associations between users and locations.” EFF:… Continue Reading
Allstate used GasBuddy and other apps to quietly track driving behavior
Ars Technica: “Texas has sued insurance provider Allstate, alleging that the firm and its data broker subsidiary used data from apps like GasBuddy, Routely, and Life360 to quietly track drivers and adjust or cancel their policies. Allstate and Arity, a “mobility data and analytics” firm founded by Allstate in 2016, collected “trillions of miles worth… Continue Reading
Inside the Black Box of Predictive Travel Surveillance
Wired – “Behind the scenes, companies and governments are feeding a trove of data about international travelers into opaque AI tools that aim to predict who’s safe—and who’s a threat… In Europe, at least four technology companies—Idemia, SITA, Travizory, and WCC—offer governments around the world software that uses algorithms on traveler data to profile passengers.… Continue Reading
Strict Scrutiny
“A podcast about the United States Supreme Court and the legal culture that surrounds it. Hosted by three badass constitutional law professors– Leah Litman, Kate Shaw, and Melissa Murray– Strict Scrutiny provides in-depth, accessible, and irreverent analysis of the Supreme Court and its cases, culture, and personalities. Each week, Leah, Kate, and Melissa break down… Continue Reading
Here is a list of every app on your phone selling your location data
Via Austin Corbett @austincorbett.bsky.social– Here is a list of every app on your phone selling your location data to advertisers, interested unknown 3rd parties, and the US government. Thanks to 404 Media and @josephcox.bsky.social There are 12, 373 apps on this Google doc as of today – the apps are used by children and adults… Continue Reading
The State of Democracy, January 2025
Marist Poll: “While more than seven in ten Americans say the issues that divide the country pose a serious threat to the nation’s democracy, there has been a steep decline in the proportion of Americans who have this view. In fact, many Americans think most of the key components to the U.S. democracy are working… Continue Reading
On The Fragility of Our Knowledge Base
JSTOR Daily: “Historian Glenn D. Tieffert shows how state interests in the People’s Republic of China can be protected by editing online databases and collections. Digital databases are vulnerable to authoritarian regimes. In fact, argues historian Glenn D. Tiffert, “no corner of the knowledge economy lies beyond their reach.” “Digital platforms offer [censors] dynamic, fine-grained… Continue Reading
Four Key Instruments of Russian Propaganda
United 24 Media: “Russia’s propaganda machine uses a calculated strategy—dismiss, distort, distract, and dismay—to manipulate perceptions and erode trust in truth worldwide. The world is only now confronting information warfare, but Russian propaganda has been refining it for decades. The term “disinformation” itself is a product of propaganda, deliberately crafted by Joseph Stalin to sound… Continue Reading
