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404 Media: A powerful Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) database, parts of which have been seen by 404 Media, allows the federal government to search for and filter people by hundreds of different, highly specific categories. Surveillance experts say the database is a tool that could possibly be helping ICE identify, detain, and deport people …
The Verge: “Google is opening up its Google Maps Platform data so that cities, developers, and other business decision makers can more easily access information about things like infrastructure and traffic, the company announced on Wednesday. Google is integrating new datasets for Google Maps Platform directly into BigQuery, the tech giant’s fully managed data analytics …
Via LLRX – Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 12, 2025 – 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 …
Wired [no paywall] “The SSA’s shift to Elon Musk’s X comes as the agency plans to cut its regional office workforce by roughly 90 percent, WIRED has learned. The Social Security Administration will no longer be communicating with the media and the public through press releases and “dear colleague” letters, as it shifts its public …
ProPublica – Meet the Tent Company Making a Fortune Off Trump’s Deportation Plans. “The privately held company Deployed Resources has made billions running tent detention facilities to hold immigrants entering the U.S. at the border. Now it is cashing in again on Trump’s plan to hold immigrants before deportation. Update, April 11, 2025: After this …
MakeUseOf: “Choosing an email provider isn’t just about sending messages—it’s about trust, features, and how much data you’re willing to give up. So, based on these factors and more, which email provider comes out on top between Gmail and Proton Mail?”
How to Geek: “Time Machine is Apple’s built-in macOS backup solution. You can use it to create a complete copy of your Mac’s drive so that you can restore your computer if something goes wrong or recover files that are later deleted.You should already be using Time Machine, but if you’re not then there’s no …
Democracy and the Policy Preferences of Wealthy Americans – Benjamin I. Page, Larry M. Bartels, and Jason Seawright. doi:10.1017/S153759271200360X. 2013 [important perspective on how we came to be where we are in 2025] “It is important to know what wealthy Americans seek from politics and how (if at all) their policy preferences differ from those …
Wired: “Palantir, the software company cofounded by Peter Thiel [rump supporter], is part of an effort by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to build a new “mega API” for accessing Internal Revenue Service records, IRS sources tell WIRED. For the last three days, DOGE and a handful of Palantir representatives, along with …
The Inquirer – Will Bunch: A viral conversation about the near-death of reading by U.S. college students in the iPhone era reveals a threat to democracy. “The notion of Donald Trump — who lived most of his adult life in a gilded penthouse above Fifth Avenue and thinks that he invented the word “groceries” — …
Wired – no paywall: “The Government Accountability Office’s audit examines DOGE’s handling of data at a number of federal agencies, according to sources and records reviewed by WIRED. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is auditing Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).”Records show that the GAO—an independent auditing, research, and investigative agency for Congress—appears …
Politico: “The memo appears to rely on a misinterpretation of a recent Supreme Court ruling. President Donald Trump has instructed federal agencies and their assigned DOGE teams to repeal any existing regulations that are inconsistent with his priorities without providing advance notice or going through the traditional public input process.The move accelerates the White House’s …
