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Tech NewsIt’s Not Too Late to Pass a National Privacy Law (OK, It Kind of Is)
The federal government cares little about what happens to your most sensitive data. Its main focus today is stopping espionage and prosecuting computer criminals who pose a threat to itself or corporations and banks. Little energy is spent holding those same institutions accountable when malpractice and greed produce the same outcomes: millions of people threatened, … Continued
By Dell Cameron -
Tech News‘Frustrated’ Facebook Oversight Board May Seek to Examine Its Algorithm (or ‘Whatever’)
Facebook’s so-called “Supreme Court” is reportedly interested in seeking company’s permission to review the machine-learning models used to determine which Facebooks posts are given the most prominence in users’ feeds. Alan Rusbridger, former editor of Britain’s Guardian newspaper and one of 20 people Facebook handpicked to sit on its Oversight Board, said on Tuesday that, … Continued
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Tech NewsSoftware ‘Bug’ Keeps Arizona Prisoners Behind Bars Past Release Dates [Updated]
An Arizona law aimed at helping people with drug convictions earn early release from prison is reportedly being ignored in some cases due to flaws in state’s inmate management software, a Phoenix-area public radio station reported Monday, citing multiple government sources. KJZZ, an NPR member station, reports that the inmate software, known as ACIS, is … Continued
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Tech NewsTech PolicyDemocrats’ New Section 230 Bill Could ‘Devastate’ the Internet, Experts Say
New legislation introduced Friday by three Democratic senators purportedly aimed at holding social media companies accountable for harassment and discrimination on their platforms could have dire consequences unforeseen by the bill’s authors, experts said. The SAFE TECH Act, introduced by Sens. Mark Warner, Mazie Hirono, and Amy Klobuchar on Friday, seeks to reform several key … Continued
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Tech NewsRep. Matt Gaetz Staffer Cheered On Capitol Rioters Via Parler as They Overran Police
As police struggled futilely to fend off a wave of rioters outside the U.S. Capitol building on January 6, Joel Valdez, an aide to Congressman Matt Gaetz, made his way to the rooftop of his boss’s office building across the street on Independence Ave. Surveying the mob as it surrounded the complex, he captured a … Continued
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Tech NewsLeaked Parler Data Points to Users at Police Stations, U.S. Military Bases
Location data gleaned from thousands of videos posted on the social network Parler and archived days before Amazon restricted access to the app reveal its users included on-duty police officers across the U.S. and U.S. service members stationed at home and abroad. The presence on Parler of active military and police raises concerns, experts said, … Continued
Dell Cameron & Dhruv Mehrotra -
Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityParler Users Breached Deep Inside U.S. Capitol Building, GPS Data Shows
At least several users of the far-right social network Parler appear to be among the horde of rioters that managed to penetrate deep inside the U.S. Capitol building and into areas normally restricted to the public, according to GPS metadata linked to videos posted to the platform the day of the insurrection in Washington. The … Continued
Dell Cameron & Dhruv Mehrotra -
Tech NewsTrump Has Left Office, State Department Page Claims, Erroneously
The State Department published a bizarre notice on its website Monday saying President Trump’s term was expiring a full nine days ahead of schedule. The notice gave rise to speculation that… something was going on at the agency. What, no one could be sure. For at least an hour, the State Department’s biography page for … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityEvery Deleted Parler Post, Many With Users’ Location Data, Has Been Archived
In the wake of the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol by scores of President Trump’s supporters, a lone researcher began an effort to catalogue the posts of social media users across Parler, a platform founded to provide conservative users a safe haven for uninhibited “free speech” — but which ultimately devolved into a hotbed … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecuritySupreme Court Asked to Consider if Fifth Amendment Protects Passwords
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, two of the nation’s largest defenders of digital privacy, are asking the Supreme Court to stop criminal prosecutors from forcing people to unlock their own cellphones, under the argument that the U.S. Constitution’s protection against self-incrimination applies equally to passwords. While the debate is hardly … Continued
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Tech NewsTwitter Lets Trump Spread False Election Conspiracy as Mob Storms U.S. Capitol [Update: Trump’s Account Is Locked]
Update: A half hour after publication of this article, Twitter appeared to delete multiple Trump tweets falsely claiming he’d won the election. In a subsequent statement, the company said it had locked Trump’s account for 12 hours and that any additional violation of its rules would result in his permanent suspension. President Trump continued to … Continued
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Tech NewsPoliticsMcConnell Doesn’t Care About Section 230 or the Election—Just Keeping Your Relief Check Small
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell moved to block consideration of a House-approved stimulus package on Tuesday that includes $2,000 checks for many Americans—an amount sought after by a rising chorus of Republicans and an outgoing President Trump. McConnell moved to mask his desire to limit the relief payments to no more than $600, the figure … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityTreasury Department Warns of Increase in Covid-19 Vaccine-Related Fraud and Cybercrime
In a notice on Wednesday, the U.S. Treasury Department warned of an uptick in cyberattacks and scams linked to covid-19 vaccines, saying ransomware poses a particular threat as criminals search for ways to exploit the ongoing public health crisis. Certain scams linked to the vaccination efforts may include counterfeit vaccines, the agency warned, citing prior … Continued
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ReviewsLast, Last, Last-Minute Tech Gifts That Don’t Suck, According to Me
I didn’t pour a ton of money into upgrading my tech this year. Our flailing economy and my general unease about the impact of the pandemic on our already troubled news industry left me feeling a little more conservative than usual about how to spend my pocket money. Where I did invest, however, I believe … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityVeterans Affairs Officials Inexplicably Blow Off Briefing on SolarWinds Hack
Senior officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs abruptly cancelled a scheduled briefing with congressional leaders this week regarding the extent and impact of the SolarWinds cyberattack, a far reaching intrusion into the networks of multiple U.S. agencies and powerful corporations allegedly perpetrated by an elite team of Russian hackers sanctioned by Moscow. Democratic lawmakers … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityWhat We Know So Far About the SolarWinds Hacking Scandal
After infiltrating a Texas-based software company, an elite group of hackers turned its most widely used product into a Trojan horse. Their plan couldn’t have worked better. At least a half dozen government agencies (so far) and an untold number of America’s wealthiest corporations led them heedlessly right through the gates. Virtually no one outside … Continued
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Tech NewsBill Resurrected to Stop Feds From Reading Your Old Emails Without a Warrant
Decades before cloud computing was invented, the government decided it should have the power, after 180 days, to read anyone’s emails, and that it shouldn’t need a warrant to do this. While no lawmaker today would seriously suggest passing such an incredible invasive law, Congress has found itself incapable of closing this privacy loophole for … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecuritySentencing Nears for Gamer Who DDoS’d PlayStation Network as a Minor
A person behind a October 2016 cyberattack that temporarily crippled Sony’s Playstation Network and other online services has pleaded guilty to committing the act as a juvenile, Justice Department officials in New Hampshire said Thursday. Because the individual was a minor at the time, details about the incident, including the offender’s identity, remain sealed. For … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityA New ‘Buy Black’ Campaign Aims to Avert an Amazon Surveillance State
After a summer of nationwide protests against unchecked state violence brutalizing Black people in America, Amazon’s ever-escalating push to make itself indispensable to daily police work is drawing fresh scrutiny from a host of leading civil rights advocates. The tech giant’s efforts to support and enhance police surveillance capabilities, aimed unevenly at communities of color, … Continued
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Tech NewsPrivacy & SecurityTrump Axes Cyber Chief Who Debunked Claims of Election Fraud
President Trump has fired the nation’s top election security official, Christopher Krebs, head of the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Trump announced his decision Tuesday night via Twitter. Krebs, a Trump appointee and former senior counselor at DHS, is widely regarded for his knack of avoiding partisan politics, which is … Continued
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