As Congress debated Section 702 – the authority within the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that allows U.S. intelligence agencies to surveil foreign threats located abroad – the FBI solemnly informed lawmakers that the use of Section 702 is essential to allowing the bureau to catch domestic terror plots. In fact, the FBI claimed Section 702 was used to derail a “potentially imminent terrorist attack” against critical U.S. infrastructure.
Did the FBI Just Get Caught Lying to Congress About the Efficacy of “Backdoor Searches”?
Tag: Privacy
House Votes To Extend Warrantless Spying Powers
Auto Makers Are Selling Data On Your Driving Habits To Your Insurer Without Properly Informing You
from the I-can’t-drive-55 dept
Last September, Mozilla came out with a privacy study indicating that the auto industry was the worst tech industry the organization tracked. Mozilla found that not only does the industry hoover up a ton of data from your use of vehicles, it collects and monetizes most of the data on your phone. Often without transparency or adequate safeguards:
“All 25 car brands we researched earned our *Privacy Not Included warning label — making cars the official worst category of products for privacy that we have ever reviewed.“
Auto Makers Are Selling Data On Your Driving Habits To Your Insurer Without Properly Informing You
Someone tell Rep. Mike Gallagher that China is buying our data! /s
Related:
Automakers Are Sharing Consumers’ Driving Behavior With Insurance Companies
Data Broker That Trafficked In Abortion Clinic Location Data Also Helps The Air Force With ‘Targeting’
Case in point: a data broker by the name of SafeGraph was busted in 2022 selling the app-gleaned location data of users who had visited abortion clinics. Journalists found that the company was selling a week of granular location data of clinic visitors for as little as $160, documenting not just which clinic they visited and how long they stayed, but where they went before and after.
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At the same time, SafeGraph contracts with government agencies like the CDC to help do things like track the effectiveness of pandemic lockdowns. And there’s ongoing, emerging data indicating that the company has a fairly robust relationship with the U.S. Air Force that involves providing data for, among other things, “targeting cycle and decisions” in “contested geographies.”:
“Geospatial Data to Navigate Contested Geographies,” the documents and public procurement records, dated May 2023, read. “Improving AFCENT and 9AF Targeting Cycle and Decisions.” 9AF, or Ninth Air Force, is responsible for missions with partner nations in Southwest Asia.”
Related:
Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central):
USAFCENT Area of Responsibility
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.
Microsoft, X throw their weight behind KOSA, the controversial kids’ online safety bill
Microsoft, X throw their weight behind KOSA, the controversial kids’ online safety bill
In spite of some revisions, the bill’s many critics have warned that KOSA would dangerously sanitize the internet, empower censorship and isolate young LGBTQ people in the process. Security, privacy and free press advocates have also called attention to the bill’s potential threat to encryption. The bill was revised last year in response to some criticisms, but many concerns persist.
Related:
Snap Breaks Under Pressure, Supports Dangerous KOSA Bill That Will Put Kids In Danger
Microsoft Joins In On The ‘Screw Over LGBTQ Kids’ Party By Supporting KOSA
However the claim that KOSA is “reasonable,” “impactful,” “tailored,” or “thoughtful” is just grade-A bullshit. The law is a total mess, and will do real harm to kids beyond just being obviously unconstitutional. As we’ve pointed out multiple times, GOP support for the bill is because they know it will be used to censor LGBTQ content. The GOP’s leading “think tank,” the Heritage Foundation has publicly supported the bill because they believe censoring LGBTQ content “is protecting kids.” Meanwhile, bill co-sponsor, Marsha Blackburn (whom Smith thanks above for her “leadership,”) has similarly admitted that Congress should pass KOSA to “protect minor children from the transgender in our culture.”
Dan Crenshaw’s measure greenlighting psychedelics to treat PTSD part of defense bill + More
The legislation would allow supervised clinical studies with active-duty members.
Dan Crenshaw’s measure greenlighting psychedelics to treat PTSD part of defense bill
Related:
First-ever provision for psychedelic studies included in defense bill
National Defense Authorization Act, pp. 402-406, p. 1817 ($50,311 allocated for R&D)
Ron Wyden Wants To Know Why The DEA Still Has On-Demand Access To Trillions Of Phone Records
For decades, the government has used the Third Party Doctrine to obtain massive amounts of phone records without a warrant.
Even prior to the creation of the Third Party Doctrine by the Supreme Court in 1979, government agencies were obtaining phone records using pen register requests that provided them with info on numbers called and the length of the calls. This method, however, required the government to supply some information of its own: specifically, a targeted source phone number phone companies could use to search for call metadata.
Ron Wyden Wants To Know Why The DEA Still Has On-Demand Access To Trillions Of Phone Records
No, TikTok Is *Not* a Chinese Spy App
FBI Director Admits Agency Rarely Has Probable Cause When It Performs Backdoor Searches Of NSA Collections
After years of continuous, unrepentant abuse of surveillance powers, the FBI is facing the real possibility of seeing Section 702 curtailed, if not scuttled entirely.
FBI Director Admits Agency Rarely Has Probable Cause When It Performs Backdoor Searches Of NSA Collections
Nikki Haley Reinvigorates The GOP’s Breathless TikTok Hysteria… For The Children
We’ve noted many times how the GOP’s obsession with TikTok is stupid, performative, and utterly hollow. For example, the party desperately wants to ban TikTok for “privacy reasons,” yet consistently opposes passing privacy laws, or regulating data brokers that traffic in far more data — at a far greater international scale — than TikTok executives could ever dream of.
Nikki Haley Reinvigorates The GOP’s Breathless TikTok Hysteria… For The Children
Related:
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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