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‘No Consistent Patterns’: Scientists Find No Evidence That Closing Schools Materially Reduced Transmission
For years, scientists and commentators who questioned COVID-19 policies were censored, blacklisted, and canceled across the country. Many of these dissenting views have since been vindicated from the lab origins theory to the lack of efficacy of surgical masks to the opposition to the closure of schools.
Now, a new study in the Journal of Infection further undermines the once-orthodox views of the pandemic, concluding that “reopening schools did not change the existing trajectory of COVID-19 rates.” In other words, we shut down our schools, without any demonstrable benefit to the country. We did, however, succeed in reducing free speech in the name of combating “disinformation.”
The report is based on one of the comprehensive studies to date on the pandemic:
“Data were extracted from government websites. Cases and COVID-19 hospitalization and death incidence rates were calculated during the Delta and early Omicron periods in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland and the U.K., for two weeks preceding and six weeks after schools reopened. We summarized stringency of public health measures (GRI), COVID-19 vaccination rates by age and SARS-CoV-2 testing rates.”
In comparing these different countries, the scientists found no significant differences in reported cases: “No consistent patterns in cases, hospitalizations or deaths despite school re-openings or changes to public health measures.” The suppression of the lab theory and the targeting of dissenting scientists show the true cost of censorship and viewpoint intolerance.
Gov.uk App Could Lead To ‘Mandatory ID Scheme’, Claim Privacy Groups
A new app to hold citizens’ driving licenses, passports and benefits documents risks being used as a “launchpad for a mandatory ID scheme,” privacy campaigners have claimed. Peter Kyle, the technology secretary, last week unveiled plans for a gov.uk app and gov.uk wallet, intended to save time and hassle for millions by allowing them to carry on their phones digital versions of paper documents.
These would include proofs of right to work in the U.K., rights to benefits, veteran ID cards and DBS certificates, which employers use to check the criminal record of someone applying for a role. The technology will include biometric security such as face scans. Similar e-government apps are already in use in countries including Poland, Estonia and Iceland.
Kyle said the technology would be voluntary and paper documents would continue to be used, but added that he was striving to make the app’s convenience so “compelling” that people would consider its use “unavoidable.”
Biometrics Institute Identifies Dire Need for Clear Language in Biometrics and AI
These days, biometrics are most often deployed in tandem with AI. A new paper from the Biometrics Institute, “Members’ Viewpoints: The Relationship Between Biometrics and Artificial Intelligence (AI),” collects expert opinions that show “significant disparities,” suggesting that not everyone is comfortable with the pairing.
“Rarely has the biometrics community disagreed on an issue at this level before,” says Isabelle Moeller, CEO of the Biometrics Institute, in a post. “This paper reflects the conflicting perspectives of our global community on an evolving topic that is critical technology for biometric success. Understanding the relationship between biometrics and AI is essential for responsible innovation and the development of ethical guidelines for their use.”
The problems begin at the baseline, in attempting to define the terms. “Some say that biometrics are an adjunct to AI technology and, as a consequence, are always an integral part of it,” says the report.
“Others point out that while biometrics and AI can be used together in a variety of applications it is also the case that some biometric applications exist quite separately from AI.” “The interpretation of this relationship relies heavily on the definition being used for both AI and biometrics.”
CVS Is Turning Locked Shelves Into an Excuse to Make You Download Its App
CVS is finally willing to unlock the treasures that they have placed behind lock and key — so long as you’re willing to give the company an additional peak into your personal information. According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, the pharmacy giant is trying out a pilot program that will allow customers to unlock cabinets and shelves via the CVS app.
CVS’s new system for allowing customers to unlock common goods that have been put behind plexiglass will operate primarily through the company’s app. People hoping to actually be able to take things off the shelves like they would do in a normal store will have to download the CVS app and sign up for the company’s loyalty program.
You’ll have to be logged into the app and connect to the store’s Wi-Fi, then enable Bluetooth connectivity on your device in order to activate the feature that allows you to unlock the cabinets.
PowerSchool Begins Notifying Students and Teachers After Massive Data Breach
U.S. edtech giant PowerSchool has begun notifying individuals affected by a December 2024 data breach that likely affects millions of students and teachers across North America.
PowerSchool said in a brief update on Monday that it had started the process of filing legally required regulatory notifications following the breach, which saw attackers use a stolen account credential to access the company’s customer support portal to exfiltrate huge quantities of sensitive student and teacher data. PowerSchool previously told TechCrunch that the hacked account was not protected with multi-factor authentication.
The California-based PowerSchool has already filed a data breach notification with Maine’s attorney general, which confirms that more than 33,000 state residents had data stolen during the breach. Though Maine state law typically requires organizations to disclose the total number of individuals known to be affected by a breach, PowerSchool has not yet disclosed this figure.
Convenient or Intrusive? How Poland Has Embraced Digital ID Cards
Much is being said about Poland’s economy potentially overtaking Britain by 2030, but in some areas Poles are already ahead. They can produce a digital identity card or driving license and use an array of public services using a mobile app, mObywatel. When accessing it for the first time, users have to verify their identity by logging into electronic banking, using a digitally enabled physical ID card, or through a special “trusted profile” online.
The app, which has 8 million users, has a myriad features such as allowing Poles to produce a digital version of their ID, check how many penalty points they have on their driving license, look up their vehicle’s history, check air quality locally and find their polling station.
The regulation, which is expected to be fully implemented by 2026 or 2027, provided the legal framework to allow electronic identification systems to work across European Union borders, “so you could show and verify your digital driving licence in Germany, or digital ID in Spain,” Sionkowski said.
