Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery With Daily Postings Since 2002
Contents 1. Introduction 2. Surveillance Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Section 702 Facial Recognition Technology Border Search and Immigration Surveillance Surveillance Tech at the Border and the Virtual Wall Reproductive Justice and Digital Surveillance 2. Encryption and Cybersecurity End-to-End Encryption Client-Side Scanning and Other Recent U.S. Attempts At Encryption Backdoors Government Cybersecurity 4. Consumer Privacy Consumer …
Axios: “As Washington’s federal workforce is slashed by President Trump and DOGE, many in the DMV community are responding with another message: We stand with government employees. Why it matters: Some 373,000 federal workers live in the greater D.C. area, and many have been made to feel expendable at best (or worse, “smeared as leeches“). …
The Atlantic [no paywall]: “…Without the ability to issue research grants, the NIH effectively had its gas line cut. The agency employs thousands of in-house scientists, but a good 80 to 85 percent of its $47 billion budget funds outside research. Each year, researchers across the country submit grant proposals that panels of experts scrutinize …
Military.com: “While controversy swirls around last week’s mass firing of 1,000 Department of Veterans Affairs’ employees, a far greater threat to veterans’ health care is going completely unnoticed. Powerful leaders in Congress have quietly unveiled their plan to gut VA-delivered care, wrapped in the misleadingly titled “Veterans’ ACCESS Act.” If veterans don’t act fast, they …
AP: “Sensitive financial and health data belonging to millions of veterans and stored on a benefits website is at risk of being stolen or otherwise compromised, according to a federal employee tasked with cybersecurity who was recently fired as part of massive government-wide cuts. The warning comes from Jonathan Kamens, who led cybersecurity efforts for …
Wired [unpaywalled]: “Filters in water pitchers or under-sink systems capture dangerous chemicals, only for them to be returned to the environment. A researcher from North Carolina is pioneering a new system that could get rid of forever chemicals forever. There’s something scary in the water at Cape Fear. For years, chemicals giant DuPont and the …
US AID STOP WORK – Tracking. Informing: “As of February 19, 2025, 55K confirmed, 100K+ estimated globally – these are the confirmed jobs lost from USAID and their implementing partners who have had to lay off or furlough employees due to the funding freeze. The confirmed number is based on 83 organizations. These numbers are …
MIT Technology Review [unpaywalled]: “…A New York Times investigation in 2022 found that eight of the 10 largest private companies in the US track individual worker productivity metrics, many in real time. Specialized software can now measure and log workers’ online activities, physical location, and even behaviors like which keys they tap and what tone …
Brilliant Crank: “In the last six weeks, I haven’t talked to a single person who isn’t drowning in stress from the relentless flood of bad news. Despite their best efforts, some of my friends are falling into the doom loop—consumed by current events and attention-whore pundits saying whatever it takes to keep them trapped. Don’t …
Vox: “..About half of American adults report difficulties affording health care costs, according to KFF polling conducted in 2022, and about 41 percent carry some form of medical debt. A 2021 Census Bureau analysis found that about 14 million people owed more than $1,000 in medical debt, while 3 million Americans owed more than $10,000. …
The Team at Horizons Project is keeping up a database about movement activity focusing on the range of activity against various pillars. The Pillars — principled collective action & loving defiance. Subject matter tools, links and resources authored by: government workers; business; faith based initiatives; professional associations; unions. Includes Tactics Used, Links and Further Details. …
EXECUTIVE ORDER February 19, 2025. By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose. It is the policy of my Administration to dramatically reduce the size of the Federal Government, while increasing its accountability to the American …
