Day archives: May 6th, 2019

Consider this – Alexa is always listening and collecting data about you

The Daily Dot – Here’s what you need to know about the security and privacy implications of smart speakers, both the myths and the realities – 1) Smart speakers are always listening – One of the first things you’ll hear about smart speakers like echo is that they’re “always listening” to your conversations—which is technically …

Subjects: AI, Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, Internet, Privacy

Microsoft offers software tools to secure elections

AP – “Microsoft has announced an ambitious effort to make voting secure, verifiable and subject to reliable audits by registering ballots in encrypted form so they can be accurately and independently tracked long after they are cast. Two of the three top U.S elections vendors have expressed interest in potentially incorporating the open-source software into …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Records, Government Documents, Legal Research

Human Rights Watch World Report 2019

“World Report 2019 is Human Rights Watch’s 29th annual review of human rights practices around the globe. It summarizes key human rights issues in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide, drawing on events from late 2017 through November 2018. In his keynote essay, “World’s Autocrats Face Rising Resistance,” Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Economy, Education, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents

New Rules On E-Evidence Could Streamline Criminal Investigations in the EU

Center for Data Innovation – “Law enforcement authorities have a problem: Evidence from crimes is often digital, such as emails or documents in the cloud, but investigators cannot easily access data stored in another country. While this issue is global, it is particularly acute within the EU. According to the European Commission, nearly two-thirds of …

Subjects: E-Mail, E-Records, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

450+ former federal prosecutors statement – Trump would have been charged with obstruction were he not president

Update – Washington Post – By early morning April 7, 2019, ” more than 720 former federal prosecutors who worked in Democratic and Republican administrations had signed a letter asserting that President Trump would have been charged with obstructing justice based on special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s findings — if Trump were not the …

Subjects: Congress, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Report – Nature’s Dangerous Decline ‘Unprecedented’ – Species Extinction Rates ‘Accelerating’

Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) – Current global response insufficient; – ‘Transformative changes’ needed to restore and protect nature; Opposition from vested interests can be overcome for public good – Most comprehensive assessment of its kind; 1,000,000 species threatened with extinction: “Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history …

Subjects: Climate Change, Environmental Law, Government Documents, Legal Research