Parler shuts down as new owner says conservative platform needs big revamp

Parler shuts down as new owner says conservative platform needs big revamp

Starboard also claims that artificial intelligence technology can help boost Parler’s reach. “Advancements in AI technology, along with the existing code base and other new features, provide an opportunity for Starboard to begin servicing unsupported online communities—building a home for them away from the ad-hoc regulatory hand of platforms that hate them,” the company said.

A tiny company with a UPS Store address could help the government get around browser security

A report from The Washington Post has raised doubts about a root certificate authority used by Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and other tech companies with ties to US intelligence. The company in question, called TrustCor, works as a root certificate authority to validate the trustworthiness of websites — and while the report found no concrete evidence of wrongdoing, it raised significant questions about the company’s trustworthiness.

A tiny company with a UPS Store address could help the government get around browser security

Related:

[04-27-2021] Shadowy DARPA-Linked Company Took Over ‘Chunk’ Of Pentagon’s Internet

Mail fraud? Biden’s postal inspectors tracked pro-gun activists

The U.S. Postal Service monitored protesters across the country, snooping on Americans focused on issues involving guns and President Biden’s election, according to records obtained by The Washington Times.

“We determined that certain proactive searches iCOP conducted using an open-source intelligence tool from February to April 2021 exceeded the Postal Inspection Service’s law enforcement authority,” the Postal Service watchdog said in a March audit. “Furthermore, we could not corroborate whether other work analysts completed from October 2018 through June 2021 was legally authorized.”

Mail fraud? Biden’s postal inspectors tracked pro-gun activists

H/T: John Crump News

Welcome to the club!

Facial recognition, fake identities and digital surveillance tools: Inside the post office’s covert internet operations program

Facial recognition, fake identities and digital surveillance tools: Inside the post office’s covert internet operations program

Republicans were told social media surveillance of protests was prompted by the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests that erupted in response to Floyd’s death. That video was not part of the briefing for Democrats.

Chief postal inspector tells lawmakers that social media monitoring began after George Floyd protests

Chief postal inspector tells lawmakers that social media monitoring began after George Floyd protests

Yet now it’s Republicans leading the charge against the USPS, after it emerged that iCOP was monitoring right-wing social media accounts following the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. It’s unclear if news that the program was also tracking protests related to Black Lives Matter will prompt Democratic lawmakers, who have so far been silent about the program, to join their GOP colleagues in asking for more answers.

Related:

The Postal Service is running a ‘covert operations program’ that monitors Americans’ social media posts

The Postal Service is running a ‘covert operations program’ that monitors Americans’ social media posts

The law enforcement arm of the U.S. Postal Service has been quietly running a program that tracks and collects Americans’ social media posts, including those about planned protests, according to a document obtained by Yahoo News.

The Postal Service is running a ‘covert operations program’ that monitors Americans’ social media posts

H/T: Steve Lehto on YouTube.

They can’t deliver the mail, on time, but they can watch my cat videos!? /s