Kamala Harris Touts DHS Program Encouraging High School Spying

When Vice President Kamala Harris toured the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School this week, site of the infamous 2018 Parkland, Florida, mass shooting, she pushed for more gun control and called for communities to accept more federal help in stopping school shootings. “I will continue to advocate for what we must do in terms of universal background checks and assault weapons ban” Harris said.

Kamala Harris Touts DHS Program Encouraging High School Spying

Lawmaker Who Led TikTok Ban Bill Joins Private Surveillance Firm

Lawmaker Who Led TikTok Ban Bill Joins Private Surveillance Firm

Republican Rep. Mike Gallagher, who led the charge on a bill that could effectively ban TikTok within the country — on the basis that China can “surveil its users” — plans to take up a post with the American surveillance company and defense contractor Palantir, Forbes reported.

Gallagher, who currently chairs the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, was the lead sponsor on the bill that would force TikTok’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to sell the popular social media platform within six months or face a potential ban from app stores and web-hosting services.

After the vote, Palantir executive Jacob Helberg, who also serves on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, called on his social media followers to fund opponents to lawmakers who voted no on the bill to ban TikTok. Gallagher worked with Helberg in recent months as part of an effort to build bipartisan, bicoastal support of the bill. Helberg took a job at Palantir as a senior policy advisor to CEO Alex Karp back in August.

Related:

Wikipedia:

The United States–China Economic and Security Review Commission (informally, the U.S.–China Commission, USCC) is an independent agency of the United States government. It was established on October 30, 2000, through the Floyd D. Spence National Defense Authorization Act.

Lighting Up the Gray Zone: The Philippines-Taiwan Counter-Coercion Toolkit

Perry World House’s Thomas Shattuck and Robin Garcia are out with an important new white paper which recommends the public release of visual information to counter China’s coercive activities, using the Philippines and Taiwan as examples. As the champions of “assertive transparency”, SeaLight enthusiastically welcomes this timely new scholarship!

Lighting Up the Gray Zone: The Philippines-Taiwan Counter-Coercion Toolkit

Perry World House is at the University of Pennsylvania, another university funded by the US government. I’ve updated my Project Myoushu document, to reflect the following:

The origin of Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation. It’s sponsored by the Office of Naval Research, an organization within the Department of Navy. I saw it over at the Asian Century Journal, yesterday.

From a previous post.

Related:

Documents

Japan, U.S. and Philippines to discuss stronger military ties & US, Philippines to expand strategic port

Japan, U.S. and Philippines to discuss stronger military ties & US, Philippines to expand strategic port

Japan, U.S. and Philippines to discuss stronger military ties

The three foreign ministers will discuss ways to strengthen cooperation in the wake of increasing collisions in the South China Sea between ships from the Philippines and China.

They agreed to work toward signing a Reciprocal Access Agreement that would make it easier for members of the Self-Defense Forces and the Philippine military to engage in joint training exercises by simplifying procedures to obtain visas and bring weapons and ammunition into each other’s countries.

Japan will also provide funds for the Philippines to acquire a coastal surveillance radar system.

Related:

US, Philippines to expand strategic port

Read More »

Auto Makers Are Selling Data On Your Driving Habits To Your Insurer Without Properly Informing You

Source

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

How Cyprus is used to facilitate genocide

How Cyprus is used to facilitate genocide

Activists claim the UK and US use Cyprus as an “unsinkable warship” as recent conflicts in the Middle East spark renewed controversy over British military bases on the Mediterranean island.

UK ‘bases of death’ in Cyprus see controversy amid Middle East conflicts

Previously:

U.S. Spies Have ‘Wide Range’ of Facilities on UK’s Cyprus Base Near Gaza and Share Intelligence with Israel Daily

Data Broker That Trafficked In Abortion Clinic Location Data Also Helps The Air Force With ‘Targeting’

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.

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

The Anti-Defamation League: Israel’s Attack Dog in the US

Posing as a civil rights group, the ADL has long operated as an intelligence organization targeting Israel’s critics. So why does the media still treat it as a credible source?

The Anti-Defamation League: Israel’s Attack Dog in the US (archived)

Related:

ADL defines genocide and civil disobedience within the FBI

The Kings of Garbage, or, The ADL Spied on Me and All I Got Was This Lousy Index Card