Category «Civil Liberties»

To Break Google’s Monopoly on Search, Make Its Index Public

Bloomberg – The tech giant doesn’t have to be dismantled. Sharing its crown jewel might reshape the internet. ” Recognition is growing worldwide that something big needs to be done about Big Tech, and fast. More than $8 billion in fines have been levied against Google by the European Union since 2017. Facebook Inc., facing …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Mail, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Intellectual Property, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media

Donald Trump and the Plot to Take Over the Courts

The Nation – How the 45th president has packed the courts with ultraconservatives—and reshaped the judiciary for a generation. “…Trump’s Court—the collection of judges and justices now swarming our judicial system, nominated and confirmed to lifetime appointments on his recommendation—will linger, like an infected wound poisoning the body politic even after the initial injury has …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Courts, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues July 13, 2019

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues July 13, 2019 – Privacy and security issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, E-Mail, Internet, Knowledge Management, Privacy, Search Engines

This Is Palantir’s Top-Secret User Manual for Cops

Motherboard obtained a Palantir user manual through a public records request, and it gives unprecedented insight into how the company logs and tracks individuals – “Palantir is one of the most significant and secretive companies in big data analysis. The company acts as an information management service for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, corporations like JP …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Records, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

AP Exclusive: New Election Systems Use Vulnerable Software

AP via US News – “Pennsylvania’s message was clear: The state was taking a big step to keep its elections from being hacked in 2020. Last April, its top election official told counties they had to update their systems. So far, nearly 60% have taken action, with $14.15 million of mostly federal funds helping counties …

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

New Report on the Regulation of Artificial Intelligence

“Everybody seems to be talking about artificial intelligence (AI). Some people laud its possibilities, whereas others envisage nightmare scenarios where robots take over. But what is AI exactly and how are countries dealing with it? The Oxford Dictionary defines AI as “the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks normally requiring human …

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Congress, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

The future of women at work: Transitions in the age of automation

McKinsey – Concerted and creative new solutions are needed to enable women to seize new opportunities in the automation age; without them, women may fall further behind in the world of work. “The age of automation, and on the near horizon, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies offer new job opportunities and avenues for economic advancement, but women …

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Economy, Education

Most Republicans don’t trust fact-checkers, and most Americans don’t trust the media

Poynter: “Almost half of Americans believe that fact-checkers are biased, and the majority of these skeptics are Republican. But fact-checkers are still much more highly trusted than traditional media, a new study from Pew Research Center shows.  A new report by Mason Walker and Jeffrey Gottfried reveals that American’s’ opinions of fact-checkers are highly polarized …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Education, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Social Media

The Census Case Could Provoke a Constitutional Crisis

The Atlantic – Garrett Epps – Professor of constitutional law at the University of Baltimore – “President Trump has seldom been rebuked by the Supreme Court. The question now is how he’ll respond…”Trump seems to think he can avoid preclusion by issuing an executive order imposing the question. As of July 7, 2019, however, the …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research

Opting out of facial recognition at the airport is extremely difficult

Wired – “…The facial recognition plan in US airports is built around the Customs and Border Protection Biometric Exit Program, which utilizes face-scanning technology to verify a traveler’s identity. CBP partners with airlines—including Delta, JetBlue, American Airlines, and others—to photograph each traveler while boarding. That image gets compared to one stored in a cloud-based photo-matching …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, Legal Research, Transportation

FBI, ICE find state driver’s license photos are a gold mine for facial-recognition searches

Washington Post – A cache of records shared with The Washington Post reveals that agents are scanning hundreds of millions of Americans’ faces without their knowledge or consent – “Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Immigration and Customs Enforcement have turned state driver’s license databases into a facial-recognition gold mine, scanning through hundreds …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Mail, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Privacy

Information Mischief Under the Trump Administration

Cortez, Nathan, Information Mischief Under the Trump Administration (May 21, 2019). Chicago-Kent Law Review, Vol. 94, No. 2, 2019; SMU Dedman School of Law Legal Studies Research Paper No. 418. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3391965 “The Trump administration has used government information in more cynical ways than its predecessors. For example, it has removed certain information …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Government, E-Records, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research