Deborah Copaken: “You only have until June 26, 2024 to say no to Meta taking your personal photos and words and using them to train their generative AI. Here are step-by-step directions for opting out…Facebook has led to all sorts of horrors, including an orange-haired, coup-instigating felon in the White House; Russian interference in our… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: E-Records
Open Source LibreChat Offers More Than Just Extra LLMs
The New Stack: “With an interface inspired by ChatGPT, LibreChat offers an “enhanced” ChatGPT clone, an open source alternative with AI model selection as a main feature — while also providing additional features and customization options (including plugins for things like Retrieval-Augmented Generation). On the Practical AI podcast, LibreChat creator Danny Avila said he’s especially… Continue Reading
Screenshots of Everything
The New York Times [unpaywalled]: “Should we trust them? What to Know About A.I. Phones and Computers Apple, Microsoft and Google need more access to our data as they promote new devices that are powered by A.I…In this new paradigm, your Windows computer will take a screenshot of everything you do every few seconds. An… Continue Reading
Proton Drive Can Now Replace Google Photos on iPhone
HowToGeek: “Step aside, Google Photos. Proton Drive now offers automated photo backup with end-to-end encryption on iOS. This feature is available to both free and paid Proton Drive users. Proton Drive photo backup initially launched in December 2023 as an Android-exclusive feature. The new iOS implementation is practically identical to what we saw on Android—stored… Continue Reading
Nine Takeaways From Our Investigation Into Microsoft’s Cybersecurity Failures
ProPublica: “After Russian hackers exploited a flaw in a widely used Microsoft product duringone of the largest cyberattacks in U.S. history, the software giant downplayed its culpability. However, a recent ProPublica investigation revealed that a whistleblower within Microsoft’s ranks had repeatedly attempted to convince the company to address the weakness years before the hack —… Continue Reading
CISA, EAC release communications guide for state, local election offices
NextGov/FCW: “The top U.S. cybersecurity agency and federal election information clearinghouse jointly unveiled a guide to help election officials develop a public communications plan for conveying accurate information on election administration and security. Both the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and Election Assistance Commission targeted state, local, tribal and territorial officials in the guidance released… Continue Reading
Your employer might be spying on your tech. Here’s how to check.
Washington Post: “Your employer may be able to see everything you’re doing on your phone or computer. They might know you’re reading this article right now. (Hi!) But how can you be sure? Companies have a growing number of ways to keep tabs on workers. They can gather details from common workplace apps and use… Continue Reading
There’s a Trump Presidential Library at the National Archives and It’s Hiring
No words for this via Washingtonian – “Now here’s a fun job listing: This position is part of the National Archives and Records Administration. Incumbent serves as the Deputy Director of the Donald J. Trump Presidential Library within the National Archives and Records Administration. Serves as a principal advisor to the Library Director. At the… Continue Reading
Data broker shuts down product related to driver behavior patterns
The Record: “The revelation earlier this year that General Motors had been selling driver behavior patterns to data brokers — who in turn packaged and resold it to insurers — has led at least one of two major data brokers to shut down its related product. That data broker, Verisk, disclosed last month that it… Continue Reading
Google sued by top textbook publishers over ads for pirated e-books
XM: “June 5 (Reuters) – Google was hit with a lawsuit on Wednesday by educational publishers Cengage, Macmillan Learning, McGraw Hill and Elsevier accusing the tech giant of promoting pirate copies of their textbooks. The publishers told the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York that Google has ignored thousands of copyright-infringement… Continue Reading
What is masked email?
PC World: “Online security used to be simple. All you needed was a good password, and in the early days, you didn’t need a ton of numbers, letters, and special characters to achieve that goal. No need for antivirus software to verify you were logging into legitimate sites, either. Privacy also wasn’t quite as fragile… Continue Reading
States are already collecting more abortion data. And HIPAA won’t always keep it private.
Nebraska Examiner: “Years before the Dobbs decision, providers like Dr. Kylie Cooper were already uncomfortable with some of the reporting requirements for abortion procedures in states where they practiced. Cooper was a maternal-fetal medicine specialist for several years in Idaho before she reluctantly left the state in 2023 because of the near-total abortion ban that… Continue Reading
