In a blockbuster 5-4 decision issued today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that warrantless government tracking of cellphone users via their cellphone location records violates the Fourth Amendment. “A person does not surrender all Fourth Amendment protection by venturing into the public sphere,” declared the majority opinion of Chief Justice John Roberts. “We decline to […]
Surveillance & Technology
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Forget Facebook, Google. Here’s What I Worry About Much, Much More by John Stossel…
Upset because Facebook and Google invade your privacy? Be glad you don’t live in China. Facebook and other Western apps are banned there. The government views their openness as a threat. So the Chinese use platforms like WeChat and Alibaba. Now the Chinese government takes data from those platforms to assign all people who use […]
The IT Guy and Wasserman Schultz…
Allegations of fraud, theft, bigamy, and violence surround Imran Awan. It’s a story reminiscent of a spy novel. But the scandal surrounding Imran Awan has plenty of elements of the surreal and the farcical, too. Awan was a congressional IT staffer. Numerous members of his family joined him on the congressional payroll. Now he is […]
EU Votes for Law That Digital Rights Org Says Would ‘Destroy the Internet As We Know It’…
The European Parliament took its first step Wednesday in passing a law that would, as a digital rights coalition says, “destroy the the Internet as we know it.” The vote is likely to be the European Parliament’s official position unless the general assembly forces another vote on the legislation next month, Reuters reports. Article 13 […]
The Government’s Creepy Obsession with Your Face…
The government is obsessed with your face. Do not be flattered. This is more of a creepy stalker fixation. From the federal Department of Homeland Security down to local police departments, governmental use of biometric facial recognition software has gained a startling amount of traction in recent years. And these agencies are getting help from […]
Trump’s Space Council Orders a Traffic Control System for Objects in Space…
The US government is moving to tackle the problem of space junk. Shortly after he announced his intentions to create a “space force” wing of the military on Monday, President Trump signed Space Policy Directive-3 (SPD3) at the third meeting of the newly revived National Space Council. It’s the most concerted effort by the US […]
Elon Musk: ‘I Am a Socialist’…
Tesla CEO and PayPal billionaire Elon Musk surprised many Friday when he declared on Twitter that he is a socialist. Conservative critics, however, may well have agreed, given his companies’ reliance on the state. Musk tweeted his declaration Friday after first tweeting that socialists have no sense of humor: Those who proclaim themselves “socialists” are […]
The Government Agency That Made Silicon Valley…
One of the major legacies of WW2 – on both sides of the Atlantic – was a profound awareness that science and technology matter. They played a huge role in winning the war, and they must have an equal place in winning the peace. In the United States, President Roosevelt’s wartime science guru, Vannevar Bush, […]
Australian Cybersecurity Expert: Facebook Listens to Conversations, Serves Ads Based on What it Hears…
“You’re talking about this conspiracy theory that gets passed around, that we listen to what’s going on on your microphone and we use that for ads. We don’t do that,” Mark Zuckeberg said after Senator Gary Peters asked whether Facebook listens to its users, according to the Independent. Yet, seemingly everyone – Senator Gary Peters […]
Senators Ask Jeff Bezos Just How Many Complaints Amazon’s Received About Eavesdropping Echoes…
Lawmakers in the U.S. have taken a greater interest in the failures of tech companies lately but most of the focus has been on Facebook and Google while Jeff Bezos has been busy making a reported $230,000 a minute. Now it’s Amazon’s turn in the barrel. On Thursday, Senators sent a list of questions regarding […]
Twitter to Face Claims by ‘White Advocate’ Over Banned Accounts…
Twitter Inc. lost its bid to dismiss a lawsuit by a “white advocate” who was banned from the site in a challenge to the company’s ability to exclude users it deems objectionable. California Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn in San Francisco rejected Jared Taylor’s claims that Twitter violated his free speech rights and discriminated against […]
Disgraced Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Indicted on Criminal Charges…
Federal prosecutors have indicted Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and the company’s former president Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani with nine counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Prosecutors claim that the pair defrauded investors, doctors, and patients while promoting and running their now disgraced blood-testing startup. In the new court filing—submitted […]
Apple Bans Cryptocurrency Mining Apps from Its App Stores…
Due to the surge in cryptocurrency prices, not only hackers but also legitimate websites and mobile apps are increasingly using cryptocurrency miners to monetize by levying the CPU power of your PC and phones to mine cryptocurrencies. However, Apple wants to protect your Mac and iPhone battery from shady cryptocurrency mining apps, and therefore, the […]
What the Net Neutrality Repeal Means…
After a protracted and vicious fight, the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) on Monday officially repealed net neutrality rules requiring internet providers to treat all web content equally. The Republican-led FCC’s decision to scrap the Obama-era rules has led many observers and consumers to wonder: “How will my internet be affected?” The most vocal advocates for […]
Louie Gohmert Slams FBI for Refusing to Investigate Imran Awan (VIDEO)…
Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, made a speech in the House on Tuesday berating the FBI for failing to investigate Imran Awan, a Pakistani congressional IT worker who has worked for one in five House Democrats. Gohmert detailed Awan’s crimes, including sending nearly $100,000 to family members in Pakistan from a loan Awan got using a […]
Related
76ers GM Quits After Claims He Used Fake Twitter Accounts to Attack Own Players…
Bryan Colangelo has resigned as the Philadelphia 76ers’ president of basketball operations, the team confirmed on Thursday. Colangelo’s decision comes after allegations last month that he used anonymous Twitter accounts to attack his own players, his predecessor and, strikingly, to defend his dress sense. “It has become clear Bryan’s relationship with our team and his […]
Millions of Facebook Users Private Posts Shared Publicly Due to Software Bug…
After a year of troubling mishaps on its massive social platform, Facebook has landed itself in yet another self-inflicted privacy debacle. As many as 14 million Facebook users who thought they were posting items they only wanted their friends or smaller groups to see may have been posting that content publicly, the company said Thursday. […]
China’s ZTE Will Pay $1B Fine, Hire Compliance Officers in Deal with U.S….
The U.S. has reached a deal with Chinese telecom giant ZTE, but the company will have to pay up and make some major business changes, according to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. ZTE will pay a $1 billion fine and have to put $400 in escrow for violating sanctions, Ross said Thursday during an interview on […]
Facebook, Amazon, Google And Twitter All Work With Extreme Left-Wing SPLC…
Four of the world’s biggest tech platforms have working partnerships with a left-wing nonprofit that has a track record of inaccuracies and routinely labels conservative organizations as “hate groups.” Facebook, Amazon, Google and Twitter all work with or consult the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in policing their platforms for “hate speech” or “hate groups,” […]
We’ve Reached a New Level in Bionics: Artificial Limbs We Forget Are Artificial…
Improved amputation techniques are giving amputees with advanced prosthetic limbs a feeling of control comparable to that of their original arms and legs, according to new research out of MIT. A team of biophysicists and engineers was able to create a natural-feeling prosthetic by taking a smarter approach to amputation. In this new approach, the […]