Via FastCoExit: “Spyware like FinFisher contributes to a multi-billion dollar business. But until last week, activists had few ways to defend themselves, aside from the well-placed bit of duct tape over the computer camera and rigorous digital hygiene practices. That’s why Amnesty International, Privacy International, Digitale Gesellschaft, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation rolled out a… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: March 2015
FCC Releases Redacted Manual for Mobile Surveillance
Follow up to previous posting – StingRay surveillance device intercepts a cellphone signals, capture texts, calls, emails and other data – via Slate, via TheBlot: A heavily redacted copy of the 2010 manual for StingRay and KingFish mobile data surveillance equipment was released by the FCC in response to a FOIA request by TheBlot over… Continue Reading
United Nations To Create Special Rapporteur on Right to Privacy
EPIC: “The UN Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution on The Right to Privacy in the Digital Age that will lead to the selection of an independent expert on privacy. According to the resolution, the special rapporteur will have a broad mandate to assess developments, make recommendations, and promote the right to privacy. EPIC… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports – Children’s Health Insurance, NASA, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
Children’s Health Insurance: Coverage of Services and Costs to Consumers in Selected CHIP and Private Health Plans in Five States, GAO-15-323: Published: Feb 25, 2015. Publicly Released: Mar 27, 2015. NASA: Assessments of Selected Large-Scale Projects [Reissued on March 26, 2015] GAO-15-320SP: Published: Mar 24, 2015. Publicly Released: Mar 24, 2015. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute:… Continue Reading
2015 Brown Center Report on American Education: How Well Are American Students Learning?
Brookings – Editor’s Note: The introduction to the 2015 Brown Center Report on American Education appears below. Use the Table of Contents to navigate through the report online, or download a PDF of the full report. TABLE OF CONTENTS Part I: Girls, Boys, and Reading Part II: Measuring Effects of the Common Core Part III: Student… Continue Reading
Deciphering the fall and rise in the net capital share
Brookings Papers on Economic Activity – Matthew Rognlie, MIT Department of Economics: “In the postwar era, developed economies have experienced two substantial trends in the net capital share of aggregate income: a rise during the last several decades, which is well-known, and a fall of comparable magnitude that continued until the 1970s, which is less… Continue Reading
Yahoo Mortgage Calculator
“The loan amount, the interest rate, and the term of the mortgage can have a dramatic effect on the total amount you will eventually pay for the property. Further, mortgage payments typically will include monthly allocations of property taxes, hazard insurance, and (if applicable) private mortgage insurance (PMI). Use our mortgage calculator to see the… Continue Reading
Federal Reserve survey provides information on mobile financial services
News release: “The use of mobile phones to access bank accounts, credit cards, or other financial accounts continued to increase among adults in the United States last year, according to a Federal Reserve Board report, Consumers and Mobile Financial Services 2015. The report is the Board’s fourth looking at how consumers access banking services using… Continue Reading
Studying the air above oil and gas production areas in the western United States
NOAA and CIRES lead airborne field campaign to look at climate and air quality impacts: “Vast regions west of the Mississippi River are under development for oil and gas extraction, and the associated equipment has become a familiar sight on any cross-country road trip or flight. But while one focus is on what comes out… Continue Reading
U.S. ethanol exports in 2014 reach highest level since 2011
“According to EIA monthly supply data through December 2014, which EIA released in late February, U.S. exports of fuel ethanol in 2014 reached their second-highest level at a total of 826 million gallons. This level was second only to the 1.2 billion gallons exported during 2011 and 33% more than exports of fuel ethanol in… Continue Reading
Population Estimates for Counties and Metro Areas
The Villages, Fla., Nation’s Fastest-Growing Metro Area for Second Year in a Row – Florida was home to the nation’s fastest growing metro area from 2013 to 2014, according to new U.S. Census Bureau metropolitan statistical area, micropolitan statistical area and county population estimates released today. The Villages, located to the west of the Orlando… Continue Reading
New Memoir by Participant in U.S. H-Bomb Program Sheds Light on the Making of First Test Device
National Security Archive: “A new scientific memoir by one of the few surviving participants in the U.S. H-bomb project provides fresh information and insights into the production of the world’s first thermonuclear device. In an exclusive essay and selection of declassified documents provided to the National Security Archive and posted today on the Archive’s website,… Continue Reading
