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CNet – Law enforcement is tapping the tech for low-level crimes like shoplifting, because there are no limits. But the tool often makes errors. “…The US has no federal regulations on facial recognition, leaving thousands of police departments to determine their own limits. Advocates say that’s a concern for civil liberties. While some members of …
The New York Times – “President Trump signed an executive order this week that could substantially expand his ability to hire and fire tens of thousands of federal workers during a second term, potentially allowing him to weed out what he sees as a “deep state” bureaucracy working to undermine him. The executive order, issued …
“In response to growing concerns that extremists could attempt to interfere at the polls in the next few weeks as Americans cast their ballots, ADL (the Anti-Defamation League) has established a new online incident reporting tool that will enable voters to flag any potential hate crimes or disruptions involving extremists. In addition to an online …
The Guardian – “The leading US federal public health agency has rewritten its definition of who is at risk of contracting coronavirus to include people who come into close contact with infected individuals in multiple short bursts over a 24-hour period. The new definition of “close contact” issued on Wednesday by the Centers for Disease …
The New Yorker – Moxie Marlinspike, the founder of the end-to-end encrypted messaging service Signal, is “trying to bring normality to the Internet. “…Marlinspike is the C.E.O. of Signal, the end-to-end encrypted messaging service, which he launched in 2014; he is also a cryptographer, a hacker, a shipwright, and a licensed mariner…Marlinspike believes that encrypted-communication …
WSJ.com [includes a 4.24 min video which is free to watch] – Mathematicians are teaming up with political scientists to create models of how social media divides us, and results suggest at least one popular solution might actually make the problem worse. “Americans are more polarized than ever—at least by some measures. A growing body …
The New York Times – The First Amendment in the age of disinformation. “…The United States is in the middle of a catastrophic public-health crisis caused by the spread of the coronavirus. But it is also in the midst of an information crisis caused by the spread of viral disinformation, defined as falsehoods aimed at …
WSJ.com – Top USPS brass ends agency patrols that protected mail, letter carriers [possibly behind paywall] – “An order by the U.S. Postal Service to pull its uniformed police officers off city streets has sparked a legal battle pitting it against a police union, when the agency is already under scrutiny for delivery delays in …
Civil Liberties in Times of Crisis – Marcella Alsan, Luca Braghieri, Sarah Eichmeyer, Minjeong Joyce Kim, Stefanie Stantcheva, David Y. Yang NBER Working Paper No. 27972 Issued in October 2020. NBER Program(s): Health Economics, Public Economics, Political Economy “The respect for and protection of civil liberties are one of the fundamental roles of the state, …
Via Mary Whisner – “Writer and actor Heidi Schreck, a Wenatchee native who worked in the Seattle theater community, revisits her teenage years and her relationship with the nation’s founding document in a filmed version of her original play “What the Constitution Means to Me” (2020, not rated). The play, which premiered on Broadway, was …
Ogbuefi, Nnubia, RTBF: The Urgent Need for Expiration Date of Personal Information in the Cyberspace (April 10, 2020). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3678213 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3678213 “The internet is an information highway that remembers all our deeds and transgressions. It keeps track of all information posted online and recalls this information when there is a search for …
CRS report via LC – The 2020 Elections: Selected Resources for Members and Constituents, October 14, 2020: “The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and reports of potential election interference might raise questions for Members and constituents about the 2020 elections. Potential disinformation campaigns and changes to election procedures in response to COVID-19might make it more …
