Category «Civil Liberties»

These 20 Apps Are Watching You And You Probably Use Them Every Day

PCMag: “You might use these apps every day, but have no idea what they collect. These 20 apps are quietly harvesting your location, contacts, photos, and more—here’s what you can do about it. Everyone wants your data. There’s a lot of money in selling or sharing the information that apps collect about you. That’s why …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Commerce, E-Records, Internet, Privacy

Keeping up with 2025 executive orders and related litigation

Via LLRX – Keeping up with 2025 executive orders and related litigation – As of October 1, 2025, Donald Trump has signed a total of 210 executive orders during his current administration. Attorneys in many areas of practice need to know how to keep up with the latest EOs, as these orders may impact the funding, …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, E-Government, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

Press Freedom Watch

Poynter – An ongoing catalog of federal government actions affecting journalists. “A free press is the bedrock of American democracy, vital enough to be enshrined in the Bill of Rights. It informs citizens, holds leaders accountable and preserves democratic principles. After decades of relative freedom, the press now faces a precarious future. Since January, President …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

What if the Big Law Firms Hadn’t Caved to Trump?

But law firms are in a special position. They don’t just use the legal system; they play a critical role in creating and upholding it. Even more than other private actors, such as universities and media companies, law firms and lawyers have an established duty to uphold the integrity of the system they work in, …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Financial System, Government Documents, Legal Research

Keeping up with 2025 executive orders and related litigation

Keeping up with 2025 executive orders and related litigation – Michelle M. LaLonde, Michigan Bar Journal, October 2025. “One of the most memorable photographs from the 2025 presidential inauguration showed President Trump at the Resolute Desk with a large pile of binders as he signed new executive orders (EOs) targeting his highest-priority campaign issues. Since then, …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Education, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

ICE is building a social media panopticon

The Verge – no paywall – “The agency’s latest surveillance contract is an ’assault’ on democracy and free speech. As Immigration and Customs Enforcement carries out raids across the country, the agency is working rapidly to expand an online surveillance system that could potentially track millions of users on the web. Federal records The “real-time …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Records, Free Speech, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media

ICE Buys Powerful AI Software for Social Media Surveillance Scanning 8 Billion Posts Daily

DefectTechTimes – “The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has quietly signed a new $5.7 million deal to use advanced artificial intelligence (AI) software for social media surveillance. Federal records show that ICE will now have access to a system called Zignal Labs, a platform that can analyze more than 8 billion online posts every …

Subjects: AI, Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Records, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media

Nation’s biggest law firms back off from challenging Trump policies

Washington Post via MSN: “Smaller law firms are being pressed to their limits as they try to pick up the legal slack. The largest law firms in the United States have been far less likely to challenge President Donald Trump’s policies than they were during his first term, and smaller firms are carrying much more …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Courts, Free Speech, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

ICE recruitment ads appearing on Spotify, HBO Max and other streaming services

Note: ICE has the thirteenth largest military budge, in the world. ICE boosts weapons spending 700%. A Popular Information investigation reveals tens of millions in new ICE spending on guns, chemical weapons, and explosives. The Independent: “Customers of many of the country’s most popular streaming services have expressed concerns after Immigration and Customs Enforcement recruitment …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, E-Government, Internet, Legal Research, Social Media

Unfettered and Unaccountable: How Trump Is Building a Violent, Shadowy Federal Police Force

ProPublica: “…Although ICE is conducting itself out in the open, even inviting conservative social media influencers to accompany its agents on high-profile raids, the agency operates in darkness. The identities of DHS officers, their salaries and their operations have long been withheld for security reasons and generally exempted from disclosure under the Freedom of Information …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Defense, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Ring’s CEO says his cameras can almost ‘zero out crime’ within the next 12 months

The Verge Jamie Siminoff’s new book, Ding Dong charts how his video doorbell startup turned into a home security behemoth. A set of changes to TikTok’s law enforcement policy make it easier for the company to share users’ personal information with government and “regulatory authorities.” TikTok did not respond to repeated questions about the changes. …

Subjects: AI, Censorship, Civil Liberties, E-Records, Government Documents, Internet, Legal Research, Privacy

How the Proud Boys invented antifa

Salon – The far-right gang has been fully absorbed by Trump’s White House: “The first thing to understand about antifa is that it is not real. Yes, as a journalist, I’m obligated to offer some throat-clearing nuance: There is a thing called antifa that has existed for a long time, in the sense that there have …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Free Speech, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Social Media