AP: “Sensitive financial and health data belonging to millions of veterans and stored on a benefits website is at risk of being stolen or otherwise compromised, according to a federal employee tasked with cybersecurity who was recently fired as part of massive government-wide cuts. The warning comes from Jonathan Kamens, who led cybersecurity efforts for… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: E-Records
Your boss is watching
MIT Technology Review [unpaywalled]: “…A New York Times investigation in 2022 found that eight of the 10 largest private companies in the US track individual worker productivity metrics, many in real time. Specialized software can now measure and log workers’ online activities, physical location, and even behaviors like which keys they tap and what tone… Continue Reading
No, 150-Year-Olds Aren’t Collecting Social Security Benefits
Wired: “Elon Musk has repeatedly claimed that his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project had uncovered massive government fraud when it alleged that 150-year-olds were claiming Social Security benefits. But Musk has provided no evidence to back up his claims, and experts quickly pointed out that this is very likely just a quirk of… Continue Reading
How to change your settings to make yourself less valuable to Meta
Go to accountscenter.facebook.com and complete the steps below. Continue Reading
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 22, 2025
Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, February 22, 2025 – Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex… Continue Reading
Researcher Captures Contents of ‘DEI.gov’ Before It Was Hidden Behind a Password
404 Media [unpaywalled] “A German researcher captured the contents of the White House’s “DEI.gov” during a brief period when it was not password protected. The capture shows that the site contains a list of vague, alleged government-funded tasks and their costs, without sources or context, like “$1.3 million to Arab and Jewish photographers,” “$1.5 million… Continue Reading
Site tracks how much of Project 2025 has been implemented
Project 2025 Tracker – The site tracks overall progress now at 34% as well as well as detailed objectives specific to each government agency. This is a significant and very disconcerting tool. Thanks go out to the folks at the free project you can support via Patreon. See also Searchable Full Project 2025 Text: Mandate… Continue Reading
DOGE Claimed It Saved $8 Billion in One Contract. It Was Actually $8 Million.
The New York Times: “The biggest single line item on the website of Elon Musk’s cost-cutting team appears to include an error. The Department of Government Efficiency, the federal cost-cutting initiative championed by Elon Musk, published on Monday a list of government contracts it has canceled, together amounting to about $16 billion in savings itemized… Continue Reading
Will DOGE Soon Take Over the Federal Procurement Data System?
I am going to deduce, based on many ongoing purging and illegal take over of federal government finance related databases (among a vast array of other subject matter) that this announcement is cover for DOGE to take control of this critical e-government federal government contract system: NOTICE: FPDS Downtime Notification The FPDS production application (https://www.fpds.gov)… Continue Reading
Google’s new policy tracks all your devices with no opt-out
digitaltrends: “Google has begun enforcing new tracking rules across connected devices, such as smartphones, consoles, and smart TVs, as BBC reports. The tech giant once called the fingerprint tracking technique “wrong” in 2019, but has since reintroduced it.Google has commented that other companies broadly use the data, and it started using it on February 16,… Continue Reading
Back Up Everything. Even if Elon Musk Isn’t Looking at It.
The New York Times [unpaywalled] – “In recent weeks, Elon Musk and his aides have gained access to many federal agencies’ systems and unknown amounts of data. Many readers have written in to share their fears that the agencies — and the personal data they possess on hundreds of millions of taxpayers — are now… Continue Reading
The Best AI-Free, Encrypted Alternatives to Google Docs
Lifehacker: “Face it: with the competition spending hundreds of millions of dollars on it, Google’s recent foray into AI isn’t going to stop anytime soon. While you can hide Google Workspace’s Gemini buttons and prompts for now, you can’t actually stop the company from continuing to build its apps around a technology that revolves around… Continue Reading
