Google Reaches $391.5 Million Settlement With States Over Location Tracking Practices
By: The Wall Street Journal November 14, 2020 WASHINGTON—Google has agreed to pay $391.5 million to settle allegations that it persistently misled consumers about how it tracked them on mobile phones and other devices. The settlement, announced by a coalition of 40 state attorneys general Monday, said that Google violated state consumer protection laws […]
UK Police Use of Live Facial Recognition Unlawful and Unethical, Report Finds
By: The Guardian October 27, 2022 Police should be banned from using live facial recognition technology in all public spaces because they are breaking ethical standards and human rights laws, a study has concluded. LFR involves linking cameras to databases containing photos of people. Images from the cameras can then be checked against those […]
Digitization, Surveillance, Colonialism
By: Liberties Date: October, 27 2022 As I write these words, articles are mushrooming in newspapers and magazines about how privacy is more important than ever after the Supreme Court ruling that has overturned the constitutionality of the right to have an abortion in the United States. In anti-abortion states, browsing histories, text messages, […]
The International Space Station Had to Move to Dodge Space Junk
By: NPR October 26, 2022 The International Space Station had to fire its thrusters this week to make sure it avoided space junk in orbit around Earth. The station fired its thrusters for 5 minutes and 5 seconds in what NASA called a “Pre-Determined Debris Avoidance Maneuver” at 8:25 p.m. ET Monday to increase its distance from […]
Information Commissioner Warns Firms Over ‘Emotional Analysis’ Technologies
By: The Guardian October 25, 2020 The information commissioner has warned companies to steer clear of “emotional analysis” technologies or face fines, because of the “pseudoscientific” nature of the field. It’s the first time the regulator has issued a blanket warning on the ineffectiveness of a new technology, said Stephen Bonner, the deputy […]
Hillicon Valley — Billionaires boost online right-wing spaces
By: The Hill October 21, 2022 Happy Friday (and “Midnights” release day) — we’re sad to report there are no data privacy songs after all! Today we’ll dive into how billionaires, including the rapper Ye, are buying, creating or investing in social media apps in a way that will transform the online ecosystem. Meanwhile, […]
Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Google over biometric data collection
By: The Hill October 21, 2022 Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) announced on Thursday that his office had sued Google over its collection of biometric data, or measurements of human bodies and characteristics. “The lawsuit alleges that Google, in yet another violation of Texans’ privacy, has collected millions of biometric identifiers, including voiceprints and […]
Federal Officials Trade Stock in Companies Their Agencies Oversee
By: The Wall Street Journal October 11, 2022 Thousands of officials across the government’s executive branch reported owning or trading stocks that stood to rise or fall with decisions their agencies made, a Wall Street Journal investigation has found. More than 2,600 officials at agencies from the Commerce Department to the Treasury Department, during […]
Facebook Is the Only Game in Town for Digital Political Ads
By: Bloomberg October 5, 2020 Beth Becker had just finished teaching Democrats how to use Facebook’s digital tools at the Netroots conference in Pittsburgh in mid-August when she heard about a protest taking place down the hall. Angry demonstrators were targeting the befuddled and apologetic employees of Facebook’s parent company, Meta Platforms Inc., who […]