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Daily Archives: October 10, 2014

Twitter – Taking the fight for #transparency to court

Twitter news release: ” As part of our latest transparency report released in July, wedescribed how we were being prohibited from reporting on the actual scope of surveillance of Twitter users by the U.S. government. Our ability to speak has been restricted by laws that prohibit and even criminalize a service provider like us from disclosing the exact number of national security letters (“NSLs”) and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (“FISA”) court orders received — even if that number is zero. It’s our belief that we are entitled under the First Amendment to respond to our users’ concerns and to the statements of U.S. government officials by providing information about the scope of U.S. government surveillance – including what types of legal process have not been received. We should be free to do this in a meaningful way, rather than in broad, inexact ranges. So, today, we have filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to publish our full Transparency Report, and asking the court to declare these restrictions on our ability to speak about government surveillance as unconstitutional under the First Amendment. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is already considering the constitutionality of the non-disclosure provisions of the NSL law later this week. You can read our filing with the U.S. District Court of Northern California in PDF form here. We’ve tried to achieve the level of transparency our users deserve without litigation, but to no avail. In April, we provided a draft Transparency Report addendum to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a report which we hoped would provide meaningful transparency for our users. After many months of discussions, we were unable to convince them to allow us to publish even a redacted version of the report. Meanwhile, we continue to look for comprehensive reform of government surveillance powers in the U.S., and we support meaningful efforts such as the USA Freedom Act of 2014 as introduced by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT), which would allow companies like Twitter to provide more transparency to its users. This is an important issue for anyone who believes in a strong First Amendment, and we hope to be able to share our complete Transparency Report.”

Characteristics of the Long-Term Unemployed in March 2007 and March 2014

CBO: “House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi has asked the CBO for information about the characteristics of people who have been unemployed for a long time. Specifically, she asked the agency to describe any changes in those characteristics that occurred between March 2007 and March 2014. In answering that question, this document supplements and updates information… Continue Reading

New GAO Reports – Immigration Detention, Nuclear Weapons, Highway Trust Fund, Market Research

IMMIGRATION DETENTION: Additional Actions Needed to Strengthen Management and Oversight of Facility Costs and Standards, GAO-15-153: Published: Oct 10, 2014. Publicly Released: Oct 10, 2014. NUCLEAR WEAPONS: Some Actions Have Been Taken to Address Challenges with the Uranium Processing Facility Design, GAO-15-126: Published: Oct 10, 2014. Publicly Released: Oct 10, 2014. HIGHWAY TRUST FUND: DOT Has Opportunities to Improve Tracking and Reporting… Continue Reading

Unlocking Big Data: Lessons Learned From The G-d Particle

Singularity Hub, Steven Kotler: It’s a puzzle wrapped in an enigma wrapped in a symphony. It’s the Higgs boson, the so-called G-d particle, the greatest physics find of the 21st century, turned into music. Chamber music, to be exact. Admittedly—and especially for fans of Pythagoras—this conversion is a little mind-blowing. But once you get beyond the cosmic significance, what’s… Continue Reading

Motor Vehicle Crash Injuries: Costly but Preventable

CDC Vital Signs: “More than 2.5 million Americans went to the emergency department (ED)—and nearly 200,000 were then hospitalized—for crash injuries in 2012. On average, each crash-related ED visit costs about $3,300 and each hospitalization costs about $57,000 over a person’s lifetime. The best way to keep people safe and reduce medical costs is to… Continue Reading

Personal Data Gathering and Dissemination – a commentary

Just the Facts? This Dossier Goes Further By Natasha Singer, New York Times: “NewsBios’ small-scale intelligence-gathering bears some resemblance to the computerized data-mining that large-scale information brokers use to classify consumers’ behavior. For instance, Experian Marketing Services, which helps companies tailor their marketing pitches,segments consumers into categories like: “postindustrial survivors,” “metropolitan strugglers” and “bourgeois prosperity.” NewsBios compiles… Continue Reading

HHS releases 13th Report on Carcinogens

“Four substances have been added in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 13th Report on Carcinogens, a science-based document that identifies chemical, biological, and physical agents that are considered cancer hazards for people living in the United States. The new report includes 243 listings. Ortho-toluidine, used to make rubber chemicals, pesticides, and dyes, has… Continue Reading

Global Monitoring Report 2014/2015: Ending Poverty and Sharing Prosperity

“The Global Monitoring Report 2014/2015 will, for the first time, monitor and report on the World Bank Group’s twin goals of ending extreme poverty by 2030 and boosting shared prosperity, while continuing to track progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). This Global Monitoring Report examines how a select set of policies in the areas… Continue Reading

Key U.S. Government Agency Positions and Officials in Global Health Policy

Key U.S. Government Agency Positions and Officials in Global Health Policy & Related Areas via Kaiser Family Foundation. See also Web Briefing: The U.S. Global Health Budget Tracker – Sep 11, 2014″The Kaiser Family Foundation has launched a new, interactive, online tool designed to provide the latest data on the U.S. government’s global health budget in an easy-to-access form. The U.S.… Continue Reading