National Labor Board Under Corporate Attack
NRLB Chief Counsel Calls Out Corporate Legal Tactics
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/04/11/top-us-labor-lawyer-calls-out-corporate-legal-tactics/
Cancer-causing forever chemicals found in Band-Aids
https://www.mamavation.com/health/band-aids-bandages-pfas-forever-chemicals-report.html
96% of hospital websites share visitor info with Meta, Google, data brokers
"Of the 100 hospital websites analyzed, 96 transferred user information to third parties, but only 71 had privacy policies listed, researchers led by Matthew McCoy, PhD, of the department of medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia."
https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/features/109630
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2817444
Government spyware is another reason to use an ad blocker
https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/13/government-spyware-use-ad-blocker/
Google blocks some California news as fight over online journalism bill escalates
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/04/12/google-california-news-journalism-00151873
I was banned from Elon’s ‘free speech’ X app for offending power
https://thegrayzone.com/2024/03/19/banned-elons-free-speech-x-app/
Democrats Cry Foul as Anti-Free Speech Allies Turn Against Them
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Demands Big Tech and FBI Hand Over Censorship Collusion
https://dailycaller.com/2024/04/09/exclusive-jim-jordan-demands-docs-communications-between-big-tech-and-fbi/
Social Media Fact Checkers Claim Their Work Isn’t Censorship. Here’s Why It Is
https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2024/fact-checking-is-not-censorship/
The Case Against Technofascism: When Big Tech Companies Censor Speech
https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/legal_features/the_case_against_technofascism_when_big_tech_companies_censor_speech
The Motion Picture Association Doesn’t Get to Decide Who the First Amendment Protects
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2024/04/mpa-doesnt-get-decide-who-first-amendment-protects
Librarians fear new penalties, even prison, as activists challenge books
Book-Ban Campaigns Hit 4,240 Titles Last Year
Georgia Bookstore Sues Jail Over Policy Banning Book Shipments
https://reason.com/2024/04/08/georgia-independent-bookstore-sues-jail-over-policy-banning-book-shipments/
States Keep Passing Unconstitutional Age-Verification Laws for Porn Sites
https://reason.com/2024/04/11/states-keep-passing-unconstitutional-age-verification-laws-for-porn-sites/
JP Morgan Chase monetizes 80M customers' spending data
"Today, Chase launched Chase Media Solutions, its new digital media business, providing brands with the ability to connect directly with the financial institution’s 80 million customers. Chase Media Solutions serves as a key conduit for brands, connecting them with consumers’ personal passions and interests. In turn, Chase customers benefit from personalized offers and the ability to earn cash back with brands they love or are discovering for the first time."
https://media.chase.com/news/chase-launches-chase-media-solutions
AZ Supreme Court Rules Near-Total Abortion Ban 'Enforceable'
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arizona-supreme-court-abortion-law_n_661579b6e4b07b7205f16f94
Arizona Republicans block attempt to repeal abortion ban
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/arizona-republicans-abortion-ban-1864-block-repeal/
Lawmakers Unveil Historic Draft Comprehensive Data Privacy Legislation
There's One Big Problem With the New Federal Data Privacy Bill
"The proposed law would eliminate potentially stronger, state-level protections that currently exist."
https://gizmodo.com/theres-one-big-problem-with-the-new-federal-data-privac-1851395470
The Pros and Cons of the House’s Data Broker Bill
https://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-pros-and-cons-of-the-house-s-data-broker-bill
Honeypots, Harassment on the Up + Big Tech Bogeyman for Privacy Reform Push
Lawmakers Introduce the “Stop Spying Bosses Act”
CPPA Executive Director issues statement on American Privacy Rights Act
https://twitter.com/CalPrivacy/status/1777438641671020764
NPR CEO Strikes Out at Editor Who Exposed the Bias of Company
Landlords are using a popular software tool to jack up your rent
A Texas company called RealPage, which sells software to property managers to help them set rents and juice their profits. Its algorithm tells landlords exactly how much rent they should charge for units in their buildings, based on a potent mix of both public and nonpublic data that property owners supply to the company. "Outpacing the market is code for charging higher prices than what would be charged in a market untainted by collusion," the complaint reads. "This is price fixing, and it is illegal."
https://www.businessinsider.com/apartment-rent-increases-landlords-antitrust-lawsuits-real-estate-software-realpage-2024-4
Patent and Trademark Office guidance on use of AI-based tools
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/04/11/2024-07629/guidance-on-use-of-artificial-intelligence-based-tools-in-practice-before-the-united-states-patent
AI Companies Would Have to Fess Up on What They Use to Train AI Under Proposed Law
https://gizmodo.com/ai-companies-fess-up-use-to-train-ai-under-proposed-law-1851399200
Labor Dept Shared Non-Public Inflation Data With Secret Group Of Wall Street "Super Users"
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/05/business/economy/labor-statistics-super-users.html
BLS official claims it was a mistake to share data with "super users"
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-03-07/bls-denies-having-list-of-super-users-after-cpi-email-drama
Roku Data Breach Affects 567K Customers
https://www.wired.com/story/roku-breach-hits-567000-users/
The Real Battle for Data Privacy Begins When You Die
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/ar-BB1lktmQ
Woman receives over 200 pages of documents about her driving from LexisNexis
"Your private driving data is being shared, and it could be used against you. When Temieka Clay requested her LexisNexis consumer file, she got more than 200 pages of records cataloging details from the car’s onboard computer about her driving."
https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/is-big-brother-tracking-your-driving/CY6BJ7MBSVGKTLP6QLTEFUE2NA/
Universities have signed over students’ private FERPA data to a third-party vendor
https://www.thecollegefix.com/concerns-raised-over-universities-signing-over-students-private-ferpa-data-to-voter-data-companies/
https://verityvote.us/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/national-student-data-sharing_VerityVote.pdf
The Partner Alliance for Safe Schools and Shooter Detection Systems create 'Secure Grants' program to put Gunshot Detectors in Every School
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240405523625/en/
https://shooterdetectionsystems.com/securegrants/
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau report on financial privacy concerns with online video game purchases
"Publishers are collecting large amounts of data on players, including behavioral details such as financial data, purchasing history and spending thresholds. Gaming platforms can also track players’ location data, which can generate an accurate portrait of a player’s daily routines, such as their home address, places of employment or worship, and health and medical status. And with the advent of virtual- and mixed-reality gaming, the information gathered by headsets may include biometric data such as iris scans, eye movement, pupil response, and gait analysis, which may pose medical privacy risks."
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-report-identifies-financial-and-privacy-risks-to-consumers-in-video-gaming-marketplaces/
Banking in Video Games and Virtual Worlds
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/data-research/research-reports/issue-spotlight-video-games/
Your iPhone Is Tracking You, Even If You Ask It To Stop
https://studyfinds.org/iphone-tracking-you-apple-apps-privacy/
Privacy of Default Apps in Apple’s Mobile Ecosystem
https://acris.aalto.fi/ws/portalfiles/portal/141787684/Privacy_of_Default_Apps_in_Apple_s_Mobile_Ecosystem.pdf
Apple Vision Pro users suffer black eyes, headaches and neck pain
Appeals court takes up thorny issue of immunity for purveyors of gambling apps
Google is authorized to host top secret data in the cloud
https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/public-sector/google-public-sector-achieves-top-secret-and-secret-cloud-authorization
The Competition and Markets Authority Sounds the Alarm over Big Tech’s grip on GenAI
https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/11/cma-genai-gamma-warning/
CISA emergency directive tells agencies to fix credentials after Microsoft data breach
https://cyberscoop.com/cisa-emergency-directive-tells-agencies-to-fix-credentials-after-microsoft-breach/
Microsoft Pitched OpenAI’s DALL-E as Battlefield Tool for U.S. Military
https://theintercept.com/2024/04/10/microsoft-openai-dalle-ai-military-use/
Federal government affected by Russian breach of Microsoft
https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/cisa-microsoft-assess-midnight-blizzard-risk/712423/
Microsoft left internal passwords exposed
https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/09/microsoft-employees-exposed-internal-passwords-security-lapse/
Microsoft squashes SmartScreen security bypass bug
https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2024/04/09/smoke-and-screen-mirrors-a-strange-signed-backdoor/
Consumers will finally see FCC-mandated ‘nutrition labels’ for most broadband plans
https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/10/24125572/fcc-broadband-nutrition-labels-isp-deadline-today
Outlogic Prohibited from Sharing or Selling Sensitive Location Data
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/04/ftc-finalizes-order-x-mode-successor-outlogic-prohibiting-it-sharing-or-selling-sensitive-location
Got an unpatched LG 'smart' television? It could be watching you
https://www.bitdefender.com/blog/labs/vulnerabilities-identified-in-lg-webos/
Snap and Snowflake are developing ways for advertisers to build privacy-enhancing technologies
Unsubscribe: Refusing to pay to use what we own
https://pirg.org/articles/unsubscribe-refusing-to-pay-to-use-what-we-own/
Tesla settles wrongful death lawsuit from fatal crash
https://apnews.com/article/tesla-autopilot-lawsuit-settlement-f4c19ce05e17669de212fc262265e351
Woman Sues Tesla After Toddler Starts Car, Runs Her Over While Pregnant
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article287553355.html
Home Depot Confirms Data Breach After Employee Info Appears on Hacker Forum
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/home-depot-confirms-third-party-data-breach-exposed-employee-info/
Privacy Beats Ransomware as Top Insurance Concern
https://www.darkreading.com/data-privacy/privacy-ransomware-top-2024-cyber-insurance
Proton acquires Standard Notes to deepen its pro-privacy portfolio
https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/10/proton-standard-notes/
Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on data privacy proposals
10 doctors on an FDA panel reviewing Abbott heart device had financial ties with the company
Financial relationships doctors and healthcare providers have with drug and medical device companies
https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/
Alcohol Addiction Treatment Firm (Monument) Banned from Disclosing Consumers' Personal Health Data Without Consent
Group Health Cooperative data breach affected 534K people
https://ghcscw.com/notice-of-data-privacy-event/
Otolaryngology Associates data breach affected 316K people
https://otolaryn.com/important-notice-about-a-data-breach/
Zuckerberg SF General Hospital lost patients logbook
Disgusted: Judge slashes Bayer’s $1.5B Roundup verdict by more than 60 percent
https://fortune.com/2024/04/05/bayer-monsanto-roundup-weed-killer-supreme-court-ruling-punishment/
State & Local Privacy News
ME- Proposed right to abortion falls short of two-thirds support in House
https://www.pressherald.com/2024/04/09/maine-proposed-right-to-abortion-falls-short-of-two-thirds-support-in-house-but-more-votes-ahead/
NH- Over a Year After Donut Mural Lawsuit, Officials Ask Conway Voters to Make Them the Speech Police
MA- Defense lawyers say technical flaws persist in Breathalyzer testing
MA- Boston city councilor ducks four more public safety votes amid attendance scrutiny
MA- Cambridge cop placed on leave after accidental gun discharge in school
RI- Committee Holds Hearing on Bill to Reform Asset Forfeiture
CT- Old Lyme to Expand its Emergency Operations Center
https://www.theday.com/local-news/20240411/old-lyme-looks-to-expand-its-emergency-operations-center/
CT- AG report on the status of state’s Data Privacy Act
https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/ag/press_releases/2024/ctdpa-final-report.pdf
NY- Doctors Making $350,000 Are Struggling to Find Long Island Homes
MD- Legislature Passes 2 Major Privacy Bills (Kids Code), Despite Big Tech Pushback
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/07/technology/maryland-children-privacy-laws-technology.html
PA- Nazareth Man Sues Borough Over Law Criminalizing ‘For Sale’ Signs in Car Windows
AL- Hueytown Police Department to install 8 license plate readers in patrol cars
FL- Social media firms brace for lawsuits after gov. DeSantos enacts law banning kids from platforms
https://flarecord.com/stories/657643848-social-media-firms-brace-for-lawsuits-after-florida-enacts-law-banning-kids-from-platforms
ID- After Decades of Imprisoning Patients, Legislature Approves Secure Mental Health Facility
https://www.propublica.org/article/idaho-approves-secure-mental-health-facility
IA- WTF? Senate Passes Legislation To Limit Lawsuits Against Pesticide Manufacturers
KS- Bill calls for police asset forfeiture transparency
https://www.ksnt.com/capitol-bureau/bill-calls-for-asset-forfeiture-transparency-in-kansas/
OK- Edmond Police Department's request for more Flock Safety license plate readers, draws privacy concerns
TX- Court ruled pharmacies do not have to fill prescriptions for abortion meds
CO- Colorado Springs police want new speed safety cameras
https://gazette.com/news/crime/colorado-springs-considers-new-speed-safety-camera-program/article_1b209e44-f5e7-11ee-bc01-b323647091c4.html
CO-Denver to spend $90M in 2024 on services for migrants, cutting budgets from all city agencies to fund programs
AZ- AG Says She Wouldn't Enforce 'Unconscionable' Abortion Ban
https://www.azag.gov/press-release/attorney-general-mayes-statement-planned-parenthood-az-v-mayes
AZ- Governor Says Age Verification Bill Violates First Amendment
https://www.404media.co/arizona-governor-veto-age-verification-bill/
CA- Bill would stop book banning by public libraries
https://www.courthousenews.com/california-bill-would-stop-book-banning-by-public-libraries/
CA- Government's Latest Hustle: Utility Bills Based on Ratepayers' Income
https://mises.org/mises-wire/californias-latest-hustle-utility-bills-based-ratepayers-income
CA- San Francisco woman describes tow truck trying to nab her moving car
The company, along with two others, were charged by City Attorney David Chiu in February for fraud and illegally towing parked cars. His office described the company as "unscrupulous" in an online news release. Specialty Towing is now prohibited from bidding or receiving city contracts.
https://abc7.com/tow-truck-san-francisco-specialty-towing-company-california/14647703
World Privacy News
As Surgeons, We Have Never Seen Cruelty Like Israel’s Genocide in Gaza
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/surgeons-cruelty-israel-gaza
Europe and Palestine human rights groups sue Germany over arms exports to Israel
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/rights-groups-file-new-case-against-german-arms-export-israel-2024-04-12/
The WHO’s Road to Totalitarianism
Dr Meryl Nass has described the WHO’s notion of ‘pandemic preparedness’ as a ‘scam/boondoggle/Trojan horse,’ which aims (among other things) to transfer billions of taxpayer dollars to the WHO as well as other industries, in order to vindicate censorship in the name of ‘public health.'
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-whos-road-to-totalitarianism/
The WHO Proposals: An Open Letter
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-who-proposals-an-open-letter/
Pandemics: A Business Opportunity for the WHO and Big Pharma
https://brownstone.org/articles/pandemics-a-business-opportunity/
World Bank officials discuss using Korea’s national digital ID as a model
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/biz/2024/04/602_372090.html
Worldcoin allegedly allows people to delete their Iris scan and ID permanently, adds age verification checks
SITA's White Paper "Face The Future" claims airport biometrics is the future of travel
https://www.sita.aero/globalassets/docs/white-papers/sita-biometrics-white-paper.pdf
The EU Migration Pact: a dangerous regime of migrant surveillance
Human Rights Watch ask UN to address racial profiling by French police
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/11/france-groups-seek-un-intervention-address-racial-profiling
Frontex rattled by probe into contract with travel agency accused of fraud
It remains unclear who at Frontex took the decision to award the contract in spite of the ongoing investigations and claims of fraudulent activity.
Police forces check intelligence and criminal databases after errors discovered in mobile service provider O2 data
Disinfo Lab Proposes Expanding ICANN Operations To Target “Disinformation” Sites at the Domain Level
https://www.disinfo.eu/of-domain-names-and-ducks/
Chinese fashion app Temu could face strict new EU content rules
https://www.politico.eu/article/chinese-fashion-app-temu-could-face-strict-new-eu-content-rules/
Apple alerts users in 92 nations to mercenary spyware attacks
https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/10/apple-warning-mercenary-spyware-attacks/
Pirate Party ask EU Commission to look into Companies Shutting Down Games People Have Paid For
https://www.patrick-breyer.de/en/pirates-ask-eu-commission-to-look-into-killing-of-video-games/
EU political parties promise to steer clear of deepfakes ahead of election
Russia- The European Court of Human Rights rules Putin violated Georgia citizens’ humans rights
Russia- Human Rights Activist Vladimir Kara-Murza Marks Two Years In Prison
https://www.justsecurity.org/94473/russian-rights-activist-vladimir-kara-murza-2-years-behind-bars/
Netherlands- Government uses facial recognition to ID buyers of cigarettes
Netherlands- Data Protection Authority reminds businesses to report data breaches
https://autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl/actueel/ap-waarschuwt-risicos-cyberaanvallen-vaak-veel-te-laag-ingeschat
Norway- Court rules police unreasonably fined Indigenous activists
https://apnews.com/article/norway-wind-farms-sami-acquitted-fines-c98cdb40e1e65325ccd50a40def5cc3c
Germany- Government faces war crime claims (sending weapons to Israel) claims at The Hague
Belgium- Intelligence services are investigating Russian influence network suspected of paying EU lawmakers
France- International Groups Seek UN Intervention to Address Police Racial Profiling
https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/04/11/france-groups-seek-un-intervention-address-racial-profiling
France- Data Protection Authority publishes recommendations on the development of AI systems
France- Data Protection Authority fined Hubside.Store 525,000 euros for sending people spam text messages and phone messages
https://www.cnil.fr/en/commercial-prospecting-hubsidestore-fined-eu525000
Spain- Data Protection Authority fined Burgos Club de Fútbol €120,000 for installing employee fingerprint scanners
https://www.aepd.es/documento/ps-00483-2023.pdf
UK- Shoplifting crackdown to include £55m for facial recognition tools in England and Wales
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/10/shoplifting-crackdown-to-include-55m-for-facial-recognition-tools-in-england-and-wales
UK- How facial recognition technology has changed policing
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bf74c3fc-67c3-4762-9ef4-f7433660e23d
UK- Jacob Rees Mogg is wrong: Britons do want digital ID cards
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/apr/06/would-id-cards-be-such-a-bad-thing-if-they-could-make-things-work-better
UK- Big Brother Watch responds to police facial recognition plans
https://bigbrotherwatch.org.uk/press-releases/big-brother-watch-respond-to-government-facial-recognition-plans/
UK- PM William Wragg Quits Tories Over Honey Trap Sexting Scandal
UK- Millions of stolen UK consumers internet browser cookies leaked on the dark web
https://nordvpn.com/no/research-lab/stolen-cookies-study/
UK- Microsoft opens an AI hub in London
https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2024/04/07/announcing-new-microsoft-ai-hub-in-london/
UK- Half of Businesses, Charities Failed to Report Data Breaches
SCT- BS Warning: 240 Hate Crimes in 1st Week Justify New Law, Says Justice Secretary
Malaysia- Government's national digital ID program to start in May
Sri Lanka- Unlawful use of weapons in policing of protests
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/04/sri-lanka-unlawful-weapons-protests/
Israel- Hailo AI to use Paravision's facial recognition in their processors
Nigeria- Government renews contract with IDEMIA facial recognition to ID citizens
"This project, supported by the World Bank through its ID4D initiative, will ensure that each citizen’s identity in the civil database remains unique."
https://www.idemia.com/press-release/nigeria-receive-one-worlds-most-powerful-biometric-systems-idemia-smart-identity-2024-04-09
NZ- Office of the Privacy Commissioner asks for comments about facial recognition
Canada- Hamilton International Airport to use SITA facial recognition to ID passengers
Jamaica- Government to use facial recognition to ID passengers at airports and cruise line ports
https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/business/20240405/big-biometrics-project-unfold-airports-cruise-port
Costa Rica- Government's issues 700K biometric passports
https://qcostarica.com/costa-rica-expects-to-issue-700000-biometric-passports-in-2024/
Argentina- Cash-strapped citizens queue for Worldcoin's Iris scans
"Argentines eyeing a financial boost are lining up by the thousands to have their irises scanned in exchange for a few crypto tokens as part of an online biometrics project under scrutiny in several countries."
https://www.barrons.com/news/cash-strapped-argentines-queue-for-eyeball-scans-8d2ce8f5