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DC Schools to Relax Some COVID Protocols Ahead of First Day

The Washington Post reported:

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

Mashable reported:

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

The Epoch Times reported:

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

Bangor Daily News reported:

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

The Epoch Times reported:

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

The Hill reported:

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 Washington Post reported:

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

Forbes reported:

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.