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School Districts Can’t Require COVID Vaccines, California Supreme Court Affirms

San Francisco Chronicle via MSN reported:

The state Supreme Court rejected a challenge Wednesday to a ruling that said school districts in California cannot require their students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 because only the state government can issue such a mandate.

While public health agencies have recommended the vaccinations for children as young as six months old, legislation calling for vaccine mandates in schools has stalled in Sacramento. Gov. Gavin Newsom initially proposed requiring students to be vaccinated last July but has put his order on hold. And courts have stopped local school districts from acting on their own.

Wednesday’s case involved the San Diego Unified School District, the state’s second-largest with more than 121,000 students. The district first proposed in September 2021 to require students 16 and older to be vaccinated against the coronavirus to attend classes, sports and other in-person events. Its order would have allowed exemptions for medical reasons but not for religious or personal objections.

The district later said it would postpone its order until July 2023, but by then it was already being challenged in court. And in November the state’s Fourth District Court of Appeal, the first appellate court to rule on the issue, said school districts had no authority to order vaccinations on their own.

Lawmakers Should Give Parents Control Over Kids’ Social Media

Newsweek reported:

Big Tech and America’s parents want different things for our kids. A new report co-released last week by the Institute for Family Studies (IFS) and the Ethics and Public Policy Center (EPPC) — titled “Five Pro-Family Priorities for the 118th Congress and Beyond” — makes that indisputably clear.

In a survey by YouGov of more than 2,500 American adults on a host of family policy preferences, EPPC fellow Patrick T. Brown found that 80% of parents support requiring parental permission before a minor opens a social media account. That’s a huge number, but only a touch larger than the 77% who support giving parents administrator-level access to what their kids are seeing and doing online.

Even setting aside the popularity of these proposals, lawmakers must act for the sake of America’s children, to shield them from the unprecedented access that massive tech corporations have to their brains — access that has fostered little other than disaster. America’s teens are suffering, and, as this report reveals, their parents are crying out for help.

Parental consent and a private right of action are good steps, but, on balance, without more robust preventative provisions, this is a win for Big Tech. Their business model is built upon getting access to kids while they’re young and addicting them so they can be molded into ready consumers, to be bombarded with ads ad infinitum. These companies are in a race to the bottom.

The Push to Ban TikTok in the U.S. Isn’t About Privacy

Wired reported:

Fresh off their successful effort to ban TikTok on government devices last year, China hawks in the U.S. Congress are looking to expand that ban further, even as lawmakers continue allowing U.S. companies to scoop up Americans’ data and share or sell it with third parties — potentially including China’s government.

The irony is largely lost on many in Congress. Lawmakers are renewing their calls for a nationwide TikTok ban and pushing the Biden administration to force a breakup of the Chinese-owned tech company. Meanwhile, efforts to pass a national privacy law, which failed last year, have largely evaporated.

While e-isolationism is now en vogue when it comes to the CCP, U.S. tech companies continue to write their own rules. The internet is built on the premise that data is currency, which is why Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others have invested countless millions on lobbyists in recent years. The status quo is a windfall for these tech giants.

Whether the fears are warranted or ungrounded, Congress isn’t even having the right debate, according to Senate Finance Committee chair Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon. “Banning TikTok would be a godsend for sleazy rip-off data brokers,” the Oregon Democrat says. “TikTok is one piece of the puzzle, but don’t miss the overall challenge — because until you reign in these data brokers … you’re going to have all kinds of people’s personal data in America still on its way to China and hostile powers.”

‘Dangerous Surveillance’: Republican Lawmaker Wants to Ban Federal Reserve From Issuing Digital Currency

The Epoch Times reported:

House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) has introduced legislation that seeks to prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) while insisting that a digital equivalent to the dollar must uphold privacy and sovereignty.

“Any digital version of the dollar must uphold our American values of privacy, individual sovereignty, and free market competitiveness. Anything less opens the door to the development of a dangerous surveillance tool,” Emmer stated in a tweet on Feb. 22.

Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.) extended his support for the bill, saying that he is “proud to co-sponsor” the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act.

“On the awful idea for central bank digital currency: We have enough problems with abusive government surveillance. The Fed should not have means to monitor individual account holders or their transactions,” he said in a tweet on Feb. 22.

Facebook, Twitter, Minecraft Report Inconsistent Policies in Google Play About How They Use Your Data, Study Finds

The Hill reported:

The majority of the most downloaded apps from Google Play Store have provided inconsistent answers about how safe user data is on their platforms, according to a report released by Mozilla on Thursday.

Mozilla, the not-for-profit organization behind the Firefox browser, looked at the 20 most popular paid and free apps in the popular Google Play app store for its report.

It found that nearly 80% of the 40 apps reviewed had “some discrepancies” between the app’s privacy policies and the information the app reported on Google’s data safety form.

That form requires that apps declare how they collect and handle user data for apps available in the Google Play Store. The report then ranked those 40 apps on how transparently they disclosed their use of personal data.

DOJ Reportedly Probes Google Maps, Adding to Sprawling Antitrust Concerns

CNBC reported:

The Department of Justice has renewed its focus on Google Maps, adding to its already-sprawling antitrust investigation into the company, Politico and Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The DOJ is homing in on whether Google illegally bundles its mapping and search products by making app developers use them together, the outlets reported, citing unnamed sources. Politico also reported that the DOJ is looking into how Google packages its maps, app store and voice assistant for automakers through Google Automotive Services.

A lawsuit could come as soon as this year, Politico reported, though sources told the outlet no decision has been made on whether to file a case.

DOJ has already filed two antitrust lawsuits against Google: One in 2020 targeting Google’s distribution of its search product, and one last month focused on its online advertising business.

Tony Blair Launches New Push for Biometric Digital ID for All Citizens

Reclaim the Net reported:

Former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair is again promoting a controversial plan to give every British citizen a digital ID. This would entail the utilization of new biometric technology to store a person’s passport, driving license, tax records, qualifications and right-to-work status. Sir Tony had previously attempted to introduce ID cards during his time as Prime Minister.

Tony Blair and former Conservative lawmaker William Hague have stated that a major transformation of the government with regard to technology is necessary in order to keep up with the ever-changing world.

However, there was backlash from their demands with Sir Jake Berry calling it a “creepy state plan to track you from the cradle to the grave.”

Big Brother Watch director Silkie Carlo said: “A sprawling digital identity system of the type described by Sir Tony and Lord Hague is utterly retrograde and would be one of the biggest assaults on privacy ever seen in the U.K. The public has consistently opposed mandatory ID systems and there is absolutely nothing to suggest the public would want or support such a digital ID system now.”

Beijing Pulls the Plug on ChatGPT Over Fears It Could Help Spread U.S. ‘Disinformation,’ Reports Say

Insider reported:

Beijing has started to clamp down on access to ChatGPT in China, according to reports.

OpenAI’s chatbot is not officially available in China, but some people have reportedly found ways to access it via VPNs or “mini programs” released by third-party developers.

Beijing uses its “Great Firewall” to block many foreign websites and applications, including the full version of Google Search.

European Commission Bans TikTok From Official Devices

CNN Business reported:

The European Commission has banned TikTok from official devices because of concerns about cybersecurity, a move sharply criticized by the company in its latest run-in with Western governments over how it handles user data.

Commission staff has until March 15 to delete the short-form video app, owned by China’s ByteDance, from work devices and any personal devices that use Commission apps and services.

European Commission spokesperson Sonya Gospodinova told reporters that the ban was “temporary” and “under constant review and possible reassessment.”

The measure piles further pressure on TikTok, already banned from U.S. federal government devices and from official devices in some U.S. states due to fears that the app’s user data could wind up in the hands of the Chinese government.