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The Privacy Flaw Threatening U.S. Democracy + More
The Privacy Flaw Threatening U.S. Democracy
One of the primary tools authoritarian leaders around the world use to control their citizens is mass surveillance. Neil Richards, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis, says Congress needs to pass legislation that protects the privacy of Americans so existing surveillance mechanisms can no longer be abused.
“We need a robust federal privacy law, we need robust enforcement mechanisms, we need to somehow rein in the commercial surveillance apparatus because that’s a key component in authoritarian regimes. … They co-opt the existing cameras and sensors,” Richards says. “It used to be that it would be a fascist’s dream to have a camera and a speaker in every home, and of course, we did it to ourselves.”
Woodrow Hartzog, a law professor at Boston University, says any privacy laws that Congress passes need to be written with the understanding that a future president could try to find ways to get around these privacy protections.
Congress is working on data privacy legislation known as the American Data Privacy Protection Act, but critics have claimed that it doesn’t go far enough to protect people’s privacy. The Federal Trade Commission is also reportedly working to create new rules for how large tech companies handle people’s data, and Hartzog says those rules could theoretically provide a helpful check on an authoritarian government because it would have less ability to “co-opt our own devices against us.”
Medical Experts Weigh in on Continued COVID School Measures: ‘There Is No Place for Universal Mandates’
Medical experts weighed in on the advancement of school COVID-19 mask mandates and other pandemic-related measures for the upcoming academic year, at odds over whether the science makes sense.
Several schools have surprised parents with announcements that they’ll keep pandemic-related policies in place in the case of high transmission rates. The BA.5 Omicron subvariant of the virus is surging, but current vaccines continue to offer protection against hospitalization for severe disease and death.
Frustrated parents have the backing of experts who say the time for mandates has long expired. “Children continue to be the most vulnerable to harsh COVID restrictions,” Fox News medical contributor Nicole Saphier told Fox News Digital. “The CDC has begun moving towards risk-based recommendations yet they are not speaking out when mask and vaccine mandates are still being instituted.
“Adults are able to congregate in bars, concerts, airplanes and other settings without masks, yet kids have proven over and over again to be the lowest risk for severe COVID and over 90% of which have already had COVID, are being forced to mask up.”
‘Move Over Freedom’: Actor Russell Brand Warns About Amazon’s New Convenient Way to Pay
Superstar Russell Brand warned about Amazon‘s new palm payment convenience system the company launched in California and Texas and said it’s one step closer to giving away our freedom.
During the 47-year-old actor’s “Awakening with Russell” show Monday, Brand highlighted the fact that Whole Foods stores were installing palm-scanning payment systems and all it takes is a “wave of the hand” to pay for one’s groceries. In the video titled “It’s Happening,” the host talked about the “nefarious nature of big tech” and asked if this kind of biotech is like another “snitch” from the company which he said has a history of “stealing your data” and giving it law enforcement.
He added that the “mentality behind these ideals, behind these advances often includes data capture, increased power for companies like Amazon.”
Scanning Students’ Homes During Remote Testing Is Unconstitutional, Judge Says
As the pandemic unfolded in spring 2020, an Educause survey found that an increasing number of students — who had very little choice but to take tests remotely — were increasingly putting up with potential privacy invasions from schools. Two years later, for example, it’s considered a common practice that some schools record students throughout remote tests to prevent cheating, while others conduct room scans when the test begins.
Now — in an apparent privacy win for students everywhere — an Ohio judge has ruled that the latter practice of scanning rooms is not only an invasion of privacy but a violation of the Fourth Amendment’s guaranteed protection against unlawful searches in American homes.
The decision came after a Cleveland State University student, Aaron Ogletree, agreed to a room scan before a chemistry exam, even though his teacher had changed their policy, and he did not expect it to happen before the test.
After the test, Ogletree sued Cleveland State for violating his Fourth Amendment rights, and Ohio judge J. Philip Calabrese decided yesterday that Ogletree was right: Room scans are unconstitutional.
Met Opera Drops Vaccine Requirement, Still Mandates Masks
The Metropolitan Opera is dropping its vaccination requirement for audiences next season but still will mandate the wearing of masks.
The decision announced Tuesday differentiates the Met from Broadway theaters, which loosened restrictions in July by making mask-wearing optional. In May, most Broadway theaters lifted the requirement that audience members provide proof of vaccination to enter venues.
Six Months After the Freedom Convoy, Trudeau’s Lies and Cowardice Are Clearer Than Ever
It’s been six months since Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cracked down on one of the largest labor protests in recent history. In February, thousands of Canadian truck drivers joined what became known as the Freedom Convoy, driving to Ottawa and parking their rigs in the capital city in protest of Trudeau’s vaccine mandates. I was one of them.
But rather than meet with truckers, Trudeau demonized us as extremists and then invoked the never-before-used Emergencies Act, meant to be used during times of war or terrorism, granting the government extraordinary powers they do not normally have.
Six months later, it’s clearer than ever just how unjustifiable Trudeau’s actions really were. In a recent report, the CBC, Canada’s federal public broadcaster, found that at the time Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, an agreement for truckers to leave the city’s residential streets had already been reached between the City of Ottawa and Convoy organizer Tamara Lich and other organizers. The Emergencies Act meant that the agreement wasn’t given time to play out before the government took such a draconian move.
“This is a black mark on Canadian history,” Dean French, who organized the agreement, told the CBC of Trudeau’s actions. “History will show this was a total overreaction.”
Queensland Teachers and Staff to Get Pay Docked for ‘Failing to Comply’ With COVID Vaccine Mandate
Queensland’s Education Department is docking the pay of 900 school staff who did not get the COVID vaccine, saying that ignoring the mandate put others at risk.
Staff members including teachers, teacher aides, administration staff, cleaners and school officers will have a “small-scale temporary reduction of one increment of pay” for 18 weeks, the department said.
A direction from the state’s Chief Health Officer required school staff to be vaccinated against COVID from November last year, but the decision was revoked in June and staff have since returned to the workplace.
Germany Tightens COVID Rules for Travel During Fall, Winter
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Cabinet approved legislation Wednesday that ensures basic protective measures against the coronavirus pandemic are continued during the fall and winter when more virus cases are expected.
The presentation of the rules — which also include the new obligation to wear N95-type face masks during all long-distance travel by train and bus as well as on planes — coincided with the publication of photos showing the chancellor and German Economy Minister Robert Habeck flying to Canada earlier this week without wearing masks.
The pictures triggered strong public criticism of an alleged double standard for politicians and regular people. Currently, medical face masks are mandatory on planes and public transport though N95-style masks are recommended.
Microchipping Kids? They’re Not Pets
The Spectator Australia reported:
Society should adopt a general rule: if the World Economic Forum thinks something is a good idea, we do the opposite.
As part of its Davos 2022 thought-fest, an article appeared on the World Economic Forum site penned by Kathleen Philips, Vice President of R&D for imec and General Manager of its Eindhoven site in the Netherlands, regarding the topic of transhumanism. Included in this article was the casual suggestion that we might one day consider microchipping children ‘for their safety.’
Pretty much every dangerous and terrible idea is ‘for our safety’ these days, but even the pro-bubble-wrap helicopter parents stopped and lofted an eyebrow. While they don’t mind fitting their kids with backpacks that have a leash hanging off which they use to walk their children like dogs — at least the backpacks can be taken off.
Once we start talking about altering humanity out of choice, rather than medical necessity, civilization needs to have a different conversation.
TikTok’s Comin’ for Your Location, Tests ‘Nearby’ Feed
TikTok users may soon have access to a third section in their feed that would show local content, as the platform is experimenting with a third feed called “Nearby.”
The feature is currently being tested in Southeast Asia, and users who are part of the test will see this new tab beside the ‘For You’ and ‘Following’ page, a TikTok spokesperson told TechCrunch. The spokesperson also told TechCrunch that this new feed is also being tested with a feature that would allow users to tag locations in their videos and that this feature is being gradually rolled out to all users.
A feature based on location like this ‘Nearby’ feed would likely require users to share their location with TikTok, so you’d be likely to see popular restaurants, parks, hiking trails, etc. nearby.
Snap Agrees to $35 Million Settlement in Illinois Privacy Lawsuit
Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, has reached a $35 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit in Illinois. The suit alleges that Snapchat’s filters and lenses violated Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which is a powerful state measure that has tripped up tech companies in recent years. The news was first reported by the Chicago Tribune.
Snapchat users in Illinois who used the app’s lenses and filters between November 17, 2015, and the present may be eligible to receive a cut of the settlement. The Chicago Tribune reports individual payouts are estimated to be between $58 and $117. Although the settlement amount still needs to go through a final approval hearing in November, users who think they may be eligible can submit a claim online.
A spokesperson for Snap told TechCrunch in an email that the social media company denies that Lenses violate BIPA, noting that Lenses don’t collect biometric data that can be used to identify a specific person.
The Illinois privacy law has tangled up other tech giants as well, including Facebook, TikTok and Google. Most recently, a federal judge in Illinois granted final approval for a $92 million class-action lawsuit settlement with TikTok. The lawsuit alleged that TikTok violated both federal law and Illinois’ BIPA by unlawfully collecting users’ biometric data and sharing it with third parties.
Meta Reaches $37.5 Million Settlement of Facebook Location Tracking Lawsuit + More
Meta Reaches $37.5 Million Settlement of Facebook Location Tracking Lawsuit
Meta Platforms Inc. (META.O) reached a $37.5 million settlement of a lawsuit accusing the parent of Facebook of violating users’ privacy by tracking their movements through their smartphones without permission.
A preliminary settlement of the proposed class action was filed on Monday in San Francisco federal court and requires a judge’s approval.
It resolved claims that Facebook violated California law and its own privacy policy by gathering data from users who turned off Location Services on their mobile devices.
The users said that while they did not want to share their locations with Facebook, the company nevertheless inferred where they were from their IP (internet protocol) addresses, and used that information to send them targeted advertising.
With Days Left for Turnaround, Tennis Great Novak Djokovic Still Barred From U.S. Open for Refusing COVID Vax
Tennis great Novak Djokovic is still barred from competing in the U.S. Open for refusing to get vaccinated against COVID.
As of Monday, a rule from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) still stands barring the 21-time Grand Slam champ from traveling to the U.S. to compete in the tournament that starts on August 29.
Tennis 365 reported Monday that Djokovic is still on the main draw list, but it’s unclear if the CDC will relax its rules or carve out an exemption for the athlete.
Djokovic, who is not hopeful an exemption will be granted, has made clear in the past that he has no plans to vaccinate against the virus, noting his good health and feelings about medical freedom.
New York Ending COVID Rules in Schools
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced Monday that students and teachers will no longer be required to isolate or quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19.
The move puts New York schools in line with recently changed coronavirus guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Earlier this month, the CDC dropped quarantine and social-distancing recommendations for those who come in close contact with a COVID-positive person.
Hochul added that the state will also scrap “test to stay” programs that allowed students who came in contact with the virus to stay in the classroom as long as they tested negative.
Anyone in a school who tests positive for the virus will still be required to quarantine for five days and wear a mask upon their return to school for at least five days.
New York City Exempts Some Illegal Aliens From School Vaccine Requirements
New York City is rolling out the red carpet for school-aged illegal aliens under a new program replete with taxpayer-funded benefits not afforded to American families — including school-related vaccine exemptions for some children.
Yet if you are an American child and your parents own or rent, a different set of standards applies.
NYC’s Department of Education (DOE) website states that students in grades kindergarten through 12 must be fully vaccinated against various diseases.
While New York City does not have a COVID-19 immunization requirement for students to attend class, the city does mandate the vaccine for a range of after-school activities. According to the NYC DOE, families who do not vaccinate their children as required aren’t even allowed to send them to school. There are limited medical exemptions and zero religious exemptions for non-illegal alien students.
Former Mighty Mighty Bosstones Frontman Dicky Barrett Has New Band, Same Anti-COVID Vaccine Views
The Boston Globe via MSN reported:
Dicky Barrett says his refusal to get the COVID vaccine is the reason the Mighty Mighty Bosstones broke up, but he’s got a new band.
In an interview with musician Joseph Arthur, a fellow COVID vaccine skeptic, Barrett said he and his former Bosstones bandmates “never say never” about re-forming, but he’s excited about his new act.
In addition to the break-up of the Bosstones, Barrett’s vax status also cost him his job as the announcer on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” a gig he’d held since 2004.
The Bosstones frontman said he never seriously considered getting the COVID vaccination because “I felt that what was happening was dangerous and I couldn’t signal to people, or even let them think, that I was taking part in it.”
As Amazon Grows, so Does Its Eye on Consumers
From what you buy online, to how you remember tasks, to when you monitor your doorstep, Amazon is seemingly everywhere.
And it appears the company doesn’t want to halt its reach anytime soon. In recent weeks, Amazon has said it will spend billions of dollars on two gigantic acquisitions that, if approved, will broaden its ever-growing presence in the lives of consumers.
This time, the company is targeting two areas: healthcare, through its $3.9 billion buyout of the primary care company One Medical, and the “smart home,” where it plans to expand its already mighty presence through a $1.7 billion merger with iRobot, the maker of the popular robotic Roomba vacuum.
Perhaps unsurprisingly for a company known for its vast collection of consumer information, both mergers have heightened enduring privacy concerns about how Amazon gathers data and what it does with it. The latest line of Roombas, for example, employs sensors that map and remember a home’s floor plan.
Former Security Chief Claims Twitter Buried ‘Egregious Deficiencies’
Twitter executives deceived federal regulators and the company’s own board of directors about “extreme, egregious deficiencies” in its defenses against hackers, as well as its meager efforts to fight spam, according to an explosive whistleblower complaint from its former security chief.
The complaint from the former head of security Peiter Zatko, a widely admired hacker known as “Mudge,” depicts Twitter as a chaotic and rudderless company beset by infighting, unable to properly protect its 238 million daily users including government agencies, heads of state and other influential public figures.
Among the most serious accusations in the complaint, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post, is that Twitter violated the terms of an 11-year-old settlement with the Federal Trade Commission by falsely claiming that it had a solid security plan.
What the Twitter Whistleblower Could Mean for Elon Musk’s Takeover Deal
Elon Musk‘s months-long effort to buy — and then to get out of buying — Twitter has been marked by a range of unexpected twists. Now, a stunning whistleblower disclosure from the company’s former security lead Peiter Zatko is almost certain to become the latest complication.
As part of a wide-ranging, nearly 200-page disclosure sent last month to U.S. lawmakers and regulators, which was exclusively reported by CNN and The Washington Post on Tuesday, Zatko alleges that Twitter (TWTR) has neither the incentive nor the resources to properly measure the full scope of bots on its platform.
He also alleges that Twitter suffers from a range of other security vulnerabilities that it has for years failed to fix. (Twitter has broadly defended itself and criticized Zatko’s allegations as “riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies.”)
The new disclosure could help bolster Musk’s argument and potentially encourage the court to pay closer attention to the bot issue.
This App Beeps Every Time You Send Data to Google, and It Beeps a Lot
What if you got an audio cue every time your computer sent data to Google? Enter Googerteller, an app created by developer Bert Hubert (via 9to5Google). It makes a beeping noise every time your computer sends data to Google, and as you might imagine, it beeps a lot.
The app works by using a list of IP addresses Google uses for its various services (excluding those related to Google Cloud) and alerting you whenever your computer communicates with one of those addresses. As you can see in the video, it beeps basically every time you click on anything.
Googerteller is only available for Linux (though there are ways to run it on a Mac), but we doubt people are going to swarm to install it on their systems. It’s easy to forget just how often you’re being tracked online, and the app’s value is in providing a very direct (and scary) example of how often your data is being sent to Google.
Biden Still Pushing Federal Worker Vaccine Mandate Despite Eased CDC Guidelines + More
Biden Still Pushing Federal Worker Vaccine Mandate Despite Eased CDC Guidelines
President Biden’s administration is still pursuing litigation to implement a federal worker vaccine mandate despite recently changed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for both vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
The case, called Feds for Medical Freedom v. Biden, is set for a hearing before the entire Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Sept. 13. It stems from a case filed in Texas last December that resulted in a federal trial court issuing a nationwide injunction against the federal government enforcing its vaccine mandate for civilian employees.
A panel at the appeals court then ruled for the Biden administration, overturning the trial court. But the Feds for Medical Freedom workers group asked the entire 17-judge appeals court to weigh in. The court agreed, putting its previous ruling on hold and preventing the mandate from being enforced until a final ruling is issued. Now the Biden administration is set to go to court to try to enforce that mandate next month.
But the CDC recently changed its coronavirus guidelines, making recommendations on quarantine and prevention effectively equal between vaccinated and unvaccinated people.
Judge Throws out Maine Lawsuit Against COVID Vaccine Mandate
A federal judge has dismissed a complaint from a group of healthcare workers who said they were unfairly discriminated against by Maine’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement.
The plaintiffs sued Democratic Gov. Janet Mills and other Maine officials along with a group of healthcare organizations in the state. The workers argued that the vaccine mandate violated their right to free exercise of religion because it did not provide an exemption for religious beliefs.
Jon Levy, the chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, wrote Thursday that the vaccine mandate was “rationally based” and that “no further analysis is required.”
Liberty Counsel, a law firm representing the healthcare workers, said in a statement on Friday that it would appeal the dismissal. The firm said in a statement that Levy’s dismissal was “critically flawed” and “contrary to recent Supreme Court precedent involving COVID restrictions on places of worship and many other Supreme Court decisions.”
HVCC to Enforce SUNY Vaccine Mandate, President Says
On Monday morning, Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) President Roger Ramsammy released a statement saying that the school will comply with SUNY policy that all students get vaccinated. HVCC had intended to make vaccinations optional in order to remove a barrier to higher education, Ramsammy said.
The union representing faculty at HVCC had loudly pushed back against the school’s decision to make vaccinations voluntary despite a SUNY-wide requirement. According to the union, they have offered to negotiate a staff vaccine requirement for over a year. After HVCC’s decision to enforce the vaccination requirement, the union said in part, “The entire situation could have been avoided had the College simply chosen to continue complying with the SUNY policy, as it had until just over a month ago.”
Public School Districts Implementing COVID Restrictions Meet Ferocious Community Pushback
School districts have re-implemented mandates for children for the 2022-2023 academic year, against the wishes of many parents across the U.S., who have been fighting it tooth and nail at the board of education meetings.
Most recently, a 4-year-old boy in San Francisco, California was kicked out of school for not wearing a mask, Fox News Digital reported Friday.
The dad’s attorney, Tracy Henderson, sent a cease and desist letter to the principal in the Mountain View Whisman School District which alleged bullying, discrimination and harassment over the mask requirement. Mountain View Whisman School District has since rescinded its mask mandate.
In another example, a Philadelphia mom, Suzanne Shaheen, who said her son has asthma, threatened to sue her school over the restrictions. “With a mask, no teacher would be able to see that he is having a flare-up, and the school district is basically isolating any kid who is not willing to wear a mask,” she told Fox & Friends First. All pre-kindergarten students in Philadelphia are required to wear masks all year while older age groups are required to wear masks for the first 10 days.
COVID Vaccine Mandate Undercut by Updated CDC Guidance: Lawsuit
An amended lawsuit filed Aug. 19 urges a court to rule against Rhode Island’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, pointing in part to updated COVID-19 guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Dr. Stephen Skoly is challenging Rhode Island’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, alleging it unconstitutionally discriminates against people with protection from prior infection.
The mandate imposed by state officials allowed medical exemptions but not ones on the basis of prior infection, or natural immunity. That violates the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause, according to the 34-page complaint, filed in federal court in Rhode Island.
Skoly has suffered from Bell’s Palsy, a condition that has been linked to COVID-19 vaccines. He has also recovered from COVID-19, which gives him a high level of protection. After consulting with his doctor, Skoly decided not to get vaccinated.
Lawyers for Skoly listed two studies showing that natural immunity is superior to vaccination. They also noted how the CDC on Aug. 11 changed its guidance, which is utilized by officials across the country in imposing regulations.
Many Colleges Ease Mask Rules in Third Year of Coronavirus Pandemic
At George Washington University, masks are still mostly required indoors. So is vaccination against the coronavirus, with a booster shot. So is viral testing for students returning to campus. Catholic University, a few miles away, makes all of that optional.
Around the country, colleges divided sharply last year on whether to require vaccination. That split endures. The University of California at Berkeley, for instance, mandates the coronavirus vaccine and, for those who are eligible, a booster shot. The University of Texas at Austin doesn’t require them but “strongly encourages” them.
Isolation rules for those infected with the virus and quarantine rules for those exposed to it appear to be easing in many places. So are strict indoor masking policies. UC-Berkeley, which required face coverings indoors a year ago, now strongly recommends that masks be worn indoors regardless of vaccination status.
Beethoven Performance Axed as British Singers Refuse to Back Down to U.S. Orchestra’s COVID Mask Demands
A performance of Beethoven has been axed after a British orchestra refused to back down to a U.S. orchestra’s COVID mask demands.
The Edinburgh Festival Chorus was due to perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony alongside the Philadelphia Orchestra at the Edinburgh International Festival.
But the choir rejected the U.S. orchestra’s calls to wear face masks while singing, meaning the event has been canceled.
As a result, the Philadelphia Orchestra will now perform Beethoven’s Fifth on Aug. 25 because it doesn’t require a choir, organizers have said. But the cancellation has disappointed many fans, who were eagerly anticipating the event.
China’s Endless COVID Hysteria Is a Dark Experiment in Social Conditioning
There are many people that will say that Americans “rolled over” in the face of COVID restrictions and vaccine pressures despite extensive evidence that neither of these things had any effect on stopping or stalling the pandemic. But the notion of American pacifism is simply not true. If it were then the U.S. would be looking a lot more like China right now.
Growing opposition to meaningless COVID lockdowns and the vaccine passports was a mainstay in the U.S. that made government enforcement impossible. Joe Biden‘s attempt to introduce federal vax passport rules for businesses failed miserably, red states defied the lockdowns within a few months of the start of the pandemic and the states that kept restrictions in place had higher rates of infection while their economies sank. When it became clear to the establishment that millions of Americans were not going to comply, they had to back off.
Without the millions of courageous people that refused to comply our country might look very different today. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has faced little public opposition over their draconian COVID rules, and when they do, they don’t worry much because the population is completely disarmed. This has resulted in a veritable nightmare world for the citizenry. In fact, it almost seems like an experiment to find out how much psychological torture and oppression human beings are willing to endure.
Oracle’s ‘Surveillance Machine’ Targeted in U.S. Privacy Class Action
Enterprise giant Oracle is facing a fresh privacy class action claim in the U.S.
The suit, which was filed Friday as a 66-page complaint in the Northern District of California, alleges the tech giant’s “worldwide surveillance machine” has amassed detailed dossiers on some five billion people, accusing the company and its ad tech and advertising subsidiaries of violating the privacy of the majority of the people on Earth.
The suit has three class representatives: Dr. Johnny Ryan, senior fellow of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL); Michael Katz-Lacabe, director of research at The Center for Human Rights and Privacy; and Dr. Jennifer Golbeck, a professor of computer science at the University of Maryland — who say they are “acting on behalf of worldwide Internet users who have been subject to Oracle’s privacy violations”.
The key point here is there is no comprehensive federal privacy law in the U.S. — so the litigation is certainly facing a hostile environment to make a privacy case — hence the complaint references multiple federal, constitutional, tort and state laws, alleging violations of the Federal Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Constitution of the State of California, the California Invasion of Privacy Act, as well as competition law, and the common law.
Signify Health Stock Surges As Amazon Reportedly Joins Potential Bidding War With CVS, UnitedHealth
Shares of Signify Health skyrocketed Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported e-commerce giant Amazon is reportedly looking into acquiring the at-home health services provider, joining a crop of other corporate giants — including CVS and UnitedHealth — in a potential bidding war that could value the firm at more than $8 billion.
Shares of Signify jumped as much as 40% early Monday to reach their highest level since July after WSJ reported over the weekend that Amazon is among firms looking to strike a deal to buy Signify within the next few weeks; Signify’s market cap climbed to about $6.8 billion amid the stock surge.
Virtual Reality Can Help Get Our Patients Vaccinated — Evidence Suggests VR Reduces Needle Pain and Anxiety
Whether it is the newly approved COVID-19 vaccines or school-required immunizations, many children receive their mandatory shots over summer vacation.
Estimates show that as many as two-thirds of children and one-fourth of adults have strong fears of needles. Despite the past few years’ extensive coverage of the political and cultural objections to vaccinations, procedural anxiety and fear also act as significant barriers to getting the entire population vaccinated against newer illnesses like COVID-19 as well as older ones.
Virtual reality (VR) offers an important solution for addressing the fear of needles and lessening anxiety associated with these common and necessary procedures.
Norway Wants Facebook Fined for Illegal Data Transfers
Facebook owner Meta Platforms should be fined for continuing to shuttle Europeans’ personal information to the United States in violation of a landmark EU court ruling, Norway’s data protection authority has told its peer regulators.
The authority is one of a handful of European regulators responding to the Irish Data Protection Commission‘s draft decision from July that orders Meta to cease its use of a legal instrument called standard contractual clauses (SCCs) to transfer data across the Atlantic — everything from family pictures to payroll information.
The Norwegian document suggests that the regulator wants to go further than the Irish Data Protection Commission, which in July decided to block Meta’s EU-U.S. data transfers but made no mention of a fine for the violations.
The Low Threshold for Face Recognition in New Delhi
Indian Law Enforcement is starting to place huge importance on facial recognition technology. Delhi police, looking into identifying people involved in civil unrest in northern India in the past few years, said that they would consider 80% accuracy and above as a “positive” match, according to documents obtained by the Internet Freedom Foundation through a public records request.
Facial recognition’s arrival in India’s capital region marks the expansion of Indian law enforcement officials using facial recognition data as evidence for potential prosecution, ringing alarm bells among privacy and civil liberties experts.
There are also concerns about the 80% accuracy threshold, which critics say is arbitrary and far too low, given the potential consequences for those marked as a match. India’s lack of a comprehensive data protection law makes matters even more concerning.
DC Schools Require COVID Vaccines for 12 and up, Despite New CDC Guidance + More
DC Schools to Relax Some COVID Protocols Ahead of First Day
DC Public Schools will relax some of its coronavirus protocols to align with updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, system leaders said during a back-to-school town hall on Thursday.
Students and employees who are exposed to the virus will need to quarantine only if they show symptoms, officials said. Schools will also stop conducting daily health screenings when children arrive on campus, instead shifting the responsibility onto parents and guardians to check for symptoms. Masks will remain optional in school buildings, leaders said.
However, DC schools will continue to enforce measures including “test-to-return,” which requires students and staff to show proof of a negative coronavirus test on the first day of school. Officials introduced the policy last academic year amid an Omicron variant surge.
DC children ages 12 and up will also need to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus to attend class — among the strictest mandates in the country. School officials during the town hall pleaded with families to make sure their students are up-to-date on the vaccine, as well as immunizations for other illnesses.
TikTok’s In-App Browser Can Monitor Your Every Click and Keystroke
You know how some popular apps don’t let you out of the app when you click on a link, opening said link in their own little in-app browser instead? As it turns out, this enables these apps to monitor what you do. And among the most popular apps that do this, TikTok appears to be the worst offender.
In a blog post on Thursday, security researcher Felix Krause announced the launch of InAppBrowser, a tool that lists all the JavaScript commands executed by an iOS app as its in-app browser renders a webpage. To show what the tool can do, Krause analyzed some popular iOS apps that have an in-app browser, and the results are disturbing. Krause’s data shows that apps including TikTok, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and Facebook, all modify webpages that are opened in the in-app browser.
When Krause dug a little deeper into what these apps’ in-app browsers really do, he’d found that TikTok does some bad things, including monitoring all of the users’ keyboard inputs and taps. So, if you open a web page inside of TikTok’s app, and enter your credit card details there, TikTok can access all of those details.
TikTok is also the only app, out of all the apps Krause has looked into, that doesn’t even offer an option to open the link in the device’s default browser, forcing you to go through its own in-app browser.
Judge Blocks Military From Discharging Marines Who Object to COVID Vaccine Mandate on Religious Grounds
Hundreds of U.S. Marines who have had their requests for religious exemptions from the COVID-19 vaccine mandate denied by the military branch are safe from discharge for now, after a ruling on Aug. 18 by a federal judge.
The Marines have failed to adhere to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which requires the federal government to prove that a compelling governmental interest requires a certain action and that no less restrictive alternatives exist, U.S. District Judge Steve Merryday, a George. H.W. Bush appointee ruled.
That includes rejecting the vast majority of religious exemptions using boilerplate language, despite many Marines being deemed by chaplains to hold sincere religious beliefs, and not offering compelling reasons to support vaccinating the minority of Marines who want exemptions.
Family Wants a Judge to Declare Maine’s School Vaccination Rules Unconstitutional
Two Cumberland County parents who haven’t vaccinated their 7-year-old son for religious reasons want a judge to declare Maine’s school vaccination requirements unconstitutional.
Gregory and Rita Fox of Cumberland last month sued the state of Maine and its education commissioner, Pender Makin, as well as Maine School Administrative District 51, which serves Cumberland and North Yarmouth after school officials refused to allow their son to attend without the required vaccinations.
The lawsuit challenges a Maine law that took effect in September 2021 that eliminated families’ ability to claim religious and philosophical exemptions to the state’s vaccination requirements for public and private school students.
The state does not require that students be immunized against COVID-19. However, the legal challenge to the lack of a religious exemption to the vaccine requirements is reminiscent of a challenge to Mills’ requirement that healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID-19. That policy included a medical, but not religious, exemption, which drew a legal challenge from a national Christian organization. The U.S. Supreme Court last fall declined to block Mills’ mandate.
Dr. Robert Malone Sues Washington Post for Defamation
Dr. Robert Malone on Aug. 19 sued The Washington Post, alleging statements in an article about him were defamatory. The Jan. 24 article says Malone offered “misinformation” when he said during a speech that the COVID-19 vaccines “are not working” against the Omicron virus variant.
As proof, the paper linked to studies by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from January that found a booster shot on top of a primary series was protecting well against severe disease. The studies were published in the agency’s quasi-journal, which has a stated goal of being aligned with the agency’s messaging. The centers have repeatedly promoted COVID-19 vaccination during the pandemic.
Later in the speech, Malone said that the vaccines “do not prevent Omicron infection, viral replication, or spread to others.” That quote was not included in the Post’s article.
“I said nothing about disease and death at that point in time,” Malone told The Epoch Times, accusing the Post of taking a “selective misquote” and using the CDC study to contest an assertion he never made.
Hong Kong Reopens COVID Isolation Facility as Cases Spike
Hong Kong plans to reopen one of its largest COVID-19 isolation facilities amid climbing case numbers that stand at a four-month-high.
Hospital Authority Chief Manager of Quality and Standards Lau Ka-hin said at a Friday briefing that an isolation facility will open up next week, providing 200 hospital beds for COVID-19 patients and employing 100 healthcare workers.
He added that some services will be reduced at Hong Kong hospitals, specifically minor non-emergency services.
FTC Threatens to Sue Firm Allegedly Revealing Abortion Clinic Visits
The Federal Trade Commission is threatening to sue an adtech company it alleges reveals people’s visits to sensitive locations, including women’s reproductive health clinics, according to a lawsuit against the agency.
The agency’s proposed complaint, against Idaho-based Kochava, argues the company violates laws that prohibit “unfair or deceptive practices” by allowing its customers to license data collected from mobile devices that can identify people and track their visits to healthcare providers.
In addition to women’s reproductive health clinics, the agency argues that the data can be used to trace people to therapists’ offices, addiction recovery centers and other medical facilities. Because the coordinates the company collects included a time stamp, they can be used to identify when a person visited a location.
The action is an early indication of how the agency might assert itself as a defender of health-related data, in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June.
Apple Security Flaw Could Let Hackers Control iPhones, iPads and Macs — What You Need to Know and How to Fix It
Apple has warned of serious security flaws for iPhones, iPads and Macs that could allow hackers to take complete control of devices and may have been “actively exploited,” urging customers to update their devices as soon as possible in a rare admission from the tech giant that takes pride in its security measures.
Apple provided few details on how it became aware of the flaws or who had made the discoveries, crediting both to anonymous researchers. There have been no confirmed reports so far of cases where the vulnerabilities were used against users or their devices.
In its security reports, Apple said it does not disclose, discuss or confirm any security issues until after an investigation has occurred and patches are available.