Category «Civil Liberties»

The Atlas of Surveillance

EFF: “The Atlas of Surveillance is a database of surveillance technologies deployed by law enforcement in communities across the United States. This includes drones, body-worn cameras, automated license plate readers, facial recognition, and more. This research was compiled by more than 1,000 students and volunteers, and incorporates datasets from a variety of public and non-profit …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Privacy

Scaling Trust on the Web

“Risk and harm are set to scale exponentially and may strangle the opportunities generational technologies create. We have a narrow window and opportunity to leverage decades of hard won lessons and invest in reinforcing human dignity and societal resilience globally. That which occurs offline will occur online, and increasingly there is no choice but to …

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Internet, Knowledge Management

New Webinars via GPO

Webinar – Data Librarianship; Richard Huffine (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation); Friday, July 7. 2023; 2:00-3:00p.m. (EDT): Register to attend the live training webinar, “Data Librarianship.” Webinar: GovInfo API Overview and Search Service Preview – Register to attend the live training webinar, Date: Wednesday, July 12, 2023. Time: 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. (EDT) Recording and …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Economy, Education, Financial System, Health Care, Knowledge Management, Legal Research

Don’t believe the data: This is the most conservative Supreme Court we’ve known

MSNBC: “Hot takes summarizing the justices’ work can try to spin the data, but the reality is simple. By Steve Vladeck, professor at the University of Texas School of Law The effective end of the Supreme Court’s term on Friday touched off what has become an annual tradition: hot takes summarizing the justices’ work over …

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

How book bans threaten democracy

Vox: “A popular saying is that public libraries are the last bastion of true democracy.At the library, patrons aren’t really expected to pay for anything; they can use the library’s free services, from unlimited wifi to job application support; and, of course, the thousands of books libraries hold are available to anyone. But in recent …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Education, Free Speech, Government Documents, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation, Libraries

The Dobbs Divide

Five Thirty Eight – “Percentage change in the number of abortions per month, compared to the average monthly abortions before Dobbs (April and May 2022), through March 2023 by state: “New estimates provided exclusively to FiveThirtyEight by #WeCount — a national research project led by the Society of Family Planning, a nonprofit that supports research …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Government Documents, Legal Research, Legislation, Medicine, Privacy

There Is Always An Alternative

Remarks presented to York University’s Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies Graduating Class of 2023 The human condition is…not good. We’re in the polycrisis, a widening gyre of climate emergency, inequality, infrastructure neglect, rising authoritarianism and zoonotic plagues. But that’s not the bad part. Stuff breaks. The Second Law of Thermodynamics is not up …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Climate Change, Education, Environmental Law, Internet, Knowledge Management

Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Algorithmic Management, and Labor Law

Kim, Pauline, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Algorithmic Management, and Labor Law (June 12, 2023). Forthcoming in The Oxford Handbook of the Law of Work, eds Guy Davidov, Brian Langille, and Gillian Lester (2024) , Washington University in St. Louis Legal Studies Research Paper No. 23-06-01, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4476552 – “Employers are increasingly relying on …

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Economy, Legal Research, Privacy

Election Worker Safety and Privacy

CRS Insight – Election Worker Safety and Privacy, June 21, 2023: “Concerns about election workers’ safety and privacy have been reported since the 2020 election, in news reports and testimony before House and Senate committees. Some election workers have raised concerns about their physical safety while performing official duties, as well as threats to their …

Subjects: Censorship, Civil Liberties, Congress, Government Documents, Legal Research, Privacy

An Aggressive Supreme Court Reshapes the US as Its Standing Erodes

Bloomberg – free link: “A conservative supermajority is remaking US laws on the environment, health and firearms, even as public confidence declines and ethical questions grow. The Supreme Court, in the midst of a run of decisions that have stress-tested the core principles of US democracy, has rarely been so aggressive in using its powers — …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Economy, Financial System, Government Documents, Health Care, Legal Research

Everyone Likes Reading. Why Are We So Afraid of It?

The New York Times: Book bans, chatbots, pedagogical warfare: What it means to read has become a minefield. “Everyone loves reading. In principle, anyway. Nobody is against it, right? Surely, in the midst of our many quarrels, we can agree that people should learn to read, should learn to enjoy it and should do a …

Subjects: AI, Censorship, Civil Liberties, Education, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Internet, Knowledge Management, Legal Research, Legislation, Libraries, Privacy

Chamber of Secrets

Washington Monthly: “…The Supreme Court’s habit of deciding hugely important cases without briefings, arguments, or even a word of explanation threatens democracy. Some progressive legal scholars have coined the term demosprudence to underline that the opinion announcements are the only time that the Court’s members directly address the public. Clearly, however, the justices do not …

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Courts, Financial System, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Knowledge Management, Legal Research