Category «Congress»

What We Know About You: Welcome to the Surveillance State

Kevin Novak begins his article with a reference to a report in The Wall Street Journal that caught his attention. Commercial data brokers are selling their third-party data to the government. If you’re an optimist, you would think this could be a good thing. Our intelligence agencies and the defense department may be able to identify patterns that could predict and prevent an unfortunate event – terrorism, for example. But honestly, how would you feel if all the conversations in your house that Siri and Alexa are silently listening in on are sold in the aggregate to the government…or something else?

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Computer Security, Congress, Cybercrime, Cyberlaw Legislation, Cybersecurity, Data Mining, Economy, Gadgets/Gizmos, Legal Research, Social Media

Violence Against Women and International Law – Updated February 2024

Sabrina I. Pacifici is identifying and documenting pertinent sources for researchers on the October 7, 2023 terrorist attack and violence against women and girls. The guide was originally published on November 23, 2023 – link here, and had 8 pertinent sources on this topic comprising government reports, academic papers, reviews of UN/NGO programs, news, databases, analysis and commentary. Part 2 of this series, published December 31, 2023 – link here, expanded the original guide with more than a dozen new sources. This update comprises primary government sources and secondary news sources along with extensive video footage and eye witness testimony to facilitate accurate research about the atrocities committed on October 7, 2023. It includes links and abstracts to more than a dozen additional sources from interviews, reports, and ongoing investigations identifying critical facts about the planning and systemic use of violence against women and girls during, and subsequent to, the October 7, 2023 terrorist attacks.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Government Resources, Legal Research

Jan. 6 was an example of networked incitement

The shocking events of Jan. 6, 2021, signaled a major break from the nonviolent rallies that categorized most major protests over the past few decades. What set Jan. 6 apart was the president of the United States using his cellphone to direct an attack on the Capitol, and those who stormed the Capitol being wired and ready for insurrection. Joan Donovan and her co-authors, a media and disinformation scholar, call this networked incitement: influential figures inciting large-scale political violence via social media. Networked incitement involves insurgents communicating across multiple platforms to command and coordinate mobilized social movements in the moment of action.

Subjects: Communications, Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Government Contracts, Leadership, Legal Research, Social Media, Terrorism, United States Law

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, October 29, 2023

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Victims of Deepfakes Are Fighting Back; Without a Trace: How to Take Your Phone Off the Grid; Microsoft Fixes Excel Feature That Forced Scientists to Rename Human Genes; and Flipper Zero can now spam Android, Windows users with Bluetooth alerts.

Subjects: AI, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Legal Research, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, October 14, 2023

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Phishers Spoof USPS, 12 Other Natl’ Postal Services; Privacy professionals need to be aware of tech abuse; Is That ATM Safe? 8 Tips to Protect Your Debit or Credit Card; and Cybercrime Classification and Measurement.

Subjects: Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Government Resources, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, October 7, 2023

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Delete your digital history from dozens of companies with this app; Need a VPN? Here Are the Ones You Can Officially Trust; H&R Block, Meta, and Google Slapped With RICO Suit; and 3 Chatbot Privacy Risks and Concerns You Should Know About.

Subjects: AI, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Financial System, Firewalls, Legal Research, Legislative, Privacy, United States Law

AI in Banking and Finance, September 15, 2023

This semi-monthly column by Sabrina I. Pacifici highlights news, government reports and industry white papers as well as academic papers on the subject of AI’s fast paced impact on the banking and finance sectors. The chronological links provided are to the primary sources, and as available, indicate links to alternate free versions. Each entry includes the publication name, date published, article title and abstract. Four highlights from this week: Generative Artificial Intelligence in Finance: Risk Considerations; Banks hear the eerie echoes of AI-generated voices; I.R.S. Deploys Artificial Intelligence to Catch Tax Evasion; and Blockchain, AI Set to Transform Financial Markets: Moody’s.

Subjects: AI in Banking and Finance, Blockchain, Congress, Economy, Financial System, Legal Research

The Case for AI Guardrails

Kevin Novak sets the table with his opening statement: Whatever you think about the U.S. government or our elected officials, it does have guardrails in place to protect its citizens. For pharma and food products, it’s the FDA. For workplace safety there’s OSHA. For mobility safety, it’s the Department of Transportation. For safe investments, there’s the SEC. For consumer protection, there’s the Federal Trade Commission. For AI and emerging tech, there’s nothing.

Subjects: AI, Climate Change, Congress, Legal Research, Legislative, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 30, 2023

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Amazon delays virtual care service’s unveiling after senators raised privacy concern; FBI launches national ‘swatting’ database amid rising incidents; How Do Some Companies Get Compromised Again and Again?; and Does ChatGPT Save My Data? OpenAI’s Privacy Policy Explained.

Subjects: AI, Big Data, Congress, Criminal Law, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Education, Email Security, Financial System, Health, Healthcare, Legal Research, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, June 11, 2023

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Top 5 Most Common Text Message Scams & How to Avoid Them; From “Heavy Purchasers” of Pregnancy Tests to the Depression-Prone: We Found 650,000 Ways Advertisers Label You; Service Rents Email Addresses for Account Signups; and FTC Slams Amazon with $30.8M Fine for Privacy Violations Involving Alexa and Ring.

Subjects: AI, Communications, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email Security, Healthcare, KM, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media