Mail-in genetic tests offer a wealth of information about your ancestry and insight into medical risks — in exchange for a lot of data. Here’s where that data goes, and how to delete it. “Consumer DNA testing kits like those from 23andMe, Ancestry.com and MyHeritage promise a road map to your genealogy and, in some… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Legislation
Transparency Caucus features tools to track legislative information
Alex Howell [includes video of the forum]: “On June 7, the Transparency Caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives hosted a remarkable forum inside of the United States Capitol that featured ten presentations from government officials and members of civil society on innovative tools and technologies. Following is a run down of who spoke and… Continue Reading
Regulating Big Tech: Legal Implications
CRS Legal Sidebar via LC – Regulating Big Tech: Legal Implications. June 11, 2019. “Amidst growing debate over the legal framework governing social media sites and other technology companies, several Members of Congress have expressed interest in expanding current regulations of the major American technology companies, often referred to as “Big Tech.” This Legal Sidebar… Continue Reading
Staff Pay Levels for Selected Positions in House Member Offices, 2001-2018
CRS Report via LC – Staff Pay Levels for Selected Positions in House Member Offices, 2001-2018. June 11, 2019. “Levels of pay for congressional staff are a source of recurring questions among Members of Congress, congressional staff, and the public.There may be interest in congressional pay data from multiple perspectives, including assessment of the costs… Continue Reading
Staff Pay Levels for Selected Positions in Senators’ Offices, FY2001-FY2018
CRS Report via LC – Staff Pay Levels for Selected Positions in Senators’ Offices, FY2001-FY2018. June 11, 2019. “Levels of pay for congressional staff are a source of recurring questions among Members of Congress, congressional staff, and the public.There may be interest in congressional pay data from multiple perspectives, including assessment of the costs of… Continue Reading
Internet of Things – An Introduction
CRS Report via LC – Internet of Things (IoT): An Introduction, June 4, 2019 – “The Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated devices that are connected to a network and/or to each other, exchanging data without necessarily requiring human-to-machine interaction. In other words, IoT is a collection of electronic devices that can… Continue Reading
Congress.gov New, Tip and Top for May 2019, Part 2
In Custodia Legis – “Earlier this month, Andrew shared the update to our committee schedule page, which launched in January 2019. With this month’s second release, we have enhanced the navigation of member profile pages. When viewing a bill or resolution on a member profile page, you can use the navigation arrows to move from… Continue Reading
Face Recognition Technology: DOJ and FBI Have Taken Some Actions in Response to GAO Recommendations to Ensure Privacy
Face Recognition Technology: DOJ and FBI Have Taken Some Actions in Response to GAO Recommendations to Ensure Privacy and Accuracy, But Additional Work Remains. GAO-19-579T: Published: Jun 4, 2019. Publicly Released: Jun 4, 2019. “The FBI’s face recognition office can now search databases with more than 641 million photos, including 21 state databases. In a… Continue Reading
Enforcing Federal Privacy Law – Constitutional Limitations on Private Rights of Action
CRS Legal Sidebar – Enforcing Federal Privacy Law—Constitutional Limitations on Private Rights of Action, May 31, 2019: “Over the last two years, the prospect of a comprehensive federal data privacy law has been the subject of considerable attention in the press and in Congress. Some Members of Congress and outside groups have developed many proposals… Continue Reading
Using Lexis Advance’s Legislative Outlook to Predict if a Bill Will Become Law
RIPS Law Librarian Blog – Sarah Gostchall – “…Lexis Advance, with its relatively new (2016) predictive analytics Legislative Outlook feature, was the clear winner. Though Bloomberg Law has a number of statutory tracking features for select areas of law, such as banking, tax, IP, etc., it doesn’t have a Arizona bill tracking database with all… Continue Reading
What’s the state of state public records law?
MuckRock – “Explore our four-part series detailing crucial aspects of state records law. Over the last nine months, our FOIA Fellow Jessie Gomez has been looking at public records law across the nation through our State of State Public Records Law project. Today, we’ll be exploring the major takeaways from her reporting. Primarily, our coverage… Continue Reading
16-Year-Olds Want a Vote. Fifty Years Ago, So Did 18-Year-Olds
The New York Times – “Stuart Goldstein still has the red-and-white bumper stickers and other artifacts from 1969, when he helped persuade New Jersey lawmakers that 18-year-olds should be able to vote. He was 18 himself then, working with two other college students, David DuPell and Ken Norbe, to build a political network that grew… Continue Reading
