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Category Archives: Legal Research

How data brokers sell our location data and jeopardise national security

Netzpolitic.org: “The AdTech industry is torpedoing the privacy of millions of people in Germany and is a threat to national security. But the underlying problem is global: databrokers sell location data without sufficient control. This is the summary of a joint research by netzpolitik.org and BR. Our investigation with BR (Bayerischer Rundfunk) shows for the… Continue Reading

Donald Trump wants to reinstate a spoils system in federal government by hiring political loyalists regardless of competence

Via LLRX – Donald Trump wants to reinstate a spoils system in federal government by hiring political loyalists regardless of competence – If elected to serve a second term, Donald Trump says he supports a spoils system, a plan that would give him the authority to fire as many as 50,000 civil servants and replace them… Continue Reading

UN Cybercrime Draft Convention Dangerously Expands State Surveillance Powers

EFF –This is the third post in a series highlighting flaws in the proposed UN Cybercrime Convention. Check out Part I, our detailed analysis on the criminalization of security research activities, and Part II, an analysis of the human rights safeguards. “As we near the final negotiating session for the proposed UN Cybercrime Treaty, countries… Continue Reading

Tell Congress: Don’t Let Anyone Own The Law

EFF: “Court after court has recognized that no one can own the text of the law. But the Pro Codes Act is a deceptive power grab that will help giant industry associations ration access to huge swaths of U.S. laws. Tell Congress not to fall for it. A large portion of the regulations we all… Continue Reading

A week of nonstop breaking political news stumps AI chatbots

Washington Post [unpaywalled]: “In the hour after President Biden announced he would withdraw from the 2024 campaign on Sunday, most popular AI chatbots seemed oblivious to the news. Asked directly whether he had dropped out, almost all said no or declined to give an answer. Asked who was running for president of the United States,… Continue Reading

The FOIA.gov Search Tool Updated

“FOIA.gov, the government’s central resource for information about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) now includes additional functionality to help users locate commonly requested law enforcement and related records. The FOIA.gov Search Tool was updated to add a “Law Enforcement records” pre-defined user journey that helps the public more quickly locate commonly requested information. This user journey… Continue Reading

Voice-cloning technology brings key Supreme Court moment to ‘life’

AP: “Seventy years ago on Friday, no one outside of the U.S. Supreme Court building heard it when Chief Justice Earl Warren announced the historic Brown v. Board of Education decision on school desegregation. Now, through the use of an innovative voice-cloning technology, it is becoming possible for people to “hear” Warren read the decision… Continue Reading

Ransomware Attack Takes Down Computer System for America’s Largest Trial Court

AP: “A ransomware attack has shut down the computer system of the largest trial court in the country, officials with the Superior Court of Los Angeles County said. The cybersecurity attack began early Friday and is not believed to be related to the faulty CrowdStrike software update that has disrupted airlines, hospitals and governments around… Continue Reading

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 20, 2024

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, July 20, 2024 – 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

US financial regulators, banks, industry groups remain cautious on Supreme Court’s “Chevron” deference ruling

Thomson Reuters: “The Supreme Court’s recent decision that overturns the decades-old “Chevron deference” doctrine will likely have an enormous impact on the financial industry, and only time will tell how it fully plays out US financial institutions, the regulators who oversee them, and the industry groups that advocate for them have largely maintained a curious… Continue Reading

Google URL Shortener links will no longer be available

Yet another reason to stop using google via Google for Developers: “In 2018, we announced the deprecation and transition of Google URL Shortener to Firebase Dynamic Links because of the changes we’ve seen in how people find content on the internet, and the number of new popular URL shortening services that emerged in that time.… Continue Reading

How a little-known tool is sweeping the real estate industry by giving instant access to vast amounts of homebuyer data

The Record: “…Forewarn is primarily marketed to and used by the real estate industry, and it has been penetrating that market at a rapid clip. Although some real estate agents say the financial information it returns saves time when finding clients most likely to have the budget for the houses they’re looking at, most agents… Continue Reading