Category «United States Law»

Going Grey and Facing Age Discrimination: Moving Towards an International Treaty on the Rights of Older Persons

For more than two decades attorney Catherine Morris has conducted research, education, and advocacy in the field of international human rights. Her article illuminates an issue that impacts vast numbers of people regardless of nationality. Concerns for the well being of older persons are rarely framed as human rights issues entrenched in age discrimination. This may now be changing after the shocking revelations of maltreatment and excess deaths of older persons in Canadian care homes in 2020. In the United States, the CDC continues to report that 90% percentage of COVID-19 deaths compromise those 65 and older. In both Canada and the U.S. the epicenter of the mortality burden of Covid is among those referred to as “elderly.” Morris states the abuses exposed in 2020 were predictable consequences of Canada’s longstanding neglect of older persons’ fundamental rights. Decades of efforts by Canadian civil society organizations (CSOs) along with international CSOs, and UN human rights bodies may now be gaining traction in a drive for a United Nations (UN) treaty to spell out and guarantee the fundamental human rights of older persons around the world. But efforts may continue to stall until leaders in Canada and other countries come to grips with the root cause of the abuses – endemic ageism.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Elder Law, Government Resources, Healthcare, Legal Research

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 31, 2022

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: How to Wipe a Computer Clean of Personal Data; AI paper mills and image generation require a coordinated response from academic publishers; US House boots TikTok from government phones; and How to Use ChatGPT and Still Be a Good Person.

Subjects: AI, Congress, Criminal Law, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Financial System, Privacy, Social Media

As viral infections skyrocket, masks are still a tried-and-true way to help keep yourself and others safe

The cold and flu season of 2023 has begun with a vengeance. Viruses that have been unusually scarce over the past three years are reappearing at remarkably high levels, sparking a “tripledemic” of COVID-19, the flu and respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. This November’s national hospitalization levels for influenza were the highest in 10 years. Emily Toth Martin and Marisa Eisenberg are infectious disease epidemiologists and researchers, and have spent our careers focused on understanding how viruses spread and how best to stop them. To respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, public health colleagues have had to quickly revive and apply decades of evidence on respiratory virus transmission to chart a path forward. Over the course of the pandemic, epidemiologists have established with new certainty the fact that one of our oldest methods for controlling respiratory viruses, the face mask, remains one of the most effective tools in a pandemic.

Subjects: Health, Healthcare, Medical Research

Jan. 6 committee tackled unprecedented attack with time-tested inquiry

Claire Leavitt, Assistant Professor of Government, Smith College, presents an overview of the broad investigative powers of the Congress from the 1920s to the present. The latest investigation may be its most consequential to date. After 18 months, more than 1,200 interviews and 10 public hearings that presented 70 witnesses’ testimony, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack released its 845-page final report late on Dec. 22, 2022. The report recommended that the Department of Justice prosecute former President Donald Trump on four criminal charges, including conspiracy and incitement of insurrection. The committee’s recommendation to prosecute a former president was unprecedented. But its investigation of the events of Jan. 6, 2021 fell squarely within Congress’ power, and added a new chapter to a centuries-long history of congressional investigations into government scandals and failures.

Subjects: Congress, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Election Law, Government Resources, Legal Research

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 24, 2022

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: The Trojan House Source: The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project; Google Takes Gmail Security to the Next Level with Client-Side Encryption; Hunting for Mastodon Servers; and ByteDance [aka TikTok] employees spied on U.S. journalists, audit finds.

Subjects: Business Research, Cybercrime, Cyberlaw, Cybersecurity, Free Speech, KM, Privacy, Social Media, Technology Trends

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 10, 2022

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: Apple Commits to Encrypting iCloud, Drops Phone-Scanning Plans; Darknet Markets Generate Millions in Revenue Selling Stolen Personal Data, Supply Chain Study Finds; Top EU court rules Google must delete inaccurate search results; and Who Is Collecting Data from Your Car?

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Data Mining, Encryption, KM, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media, Technology Trends

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, December 3, 2022

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: 5 cybersecurity predictions for 2023; Cops Can Extract Data From 10,000 Different Car Models’ Infotainment Systems; A Peek Inside the FBI’s Unprecedented January 6 Geofence Dragnet; and Thinking about taking your computer to the repair shop? Be very afraid.

Subjects: Big Data, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email, Email Security, KM, Privacy, Search Engines, Search Strategies, Social Media, Spyware, Travel

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, November 26, 2022

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: A Broken Twitter Means Broken Disaster Response; Third-party data brokers give police warrantless access to 250 million devices; House Dems say facial recognition company misrepresented its help to consumers; and Do’s and don’ts of data de-identification.

Subjects: AI, Big Data, Blockchain, Congress, Criminal Law, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Employment Law, Legal Research, Privacy

Elon Musk’s ‘hardcore’ management style: a case study in what not to do

Professor Libby Sander explains why as a case study in how to implement organisational change, Elon Musk’s actions at Twitter will go down as the gold standard in what not to do. Among other things, the evidence shows successful organisational change requires: a clear, compelling vision that is communicated effectively; employee participation; and fairness in the way change is implemented. Trust in leaders is also crucial. Change management never quite goes to plan. It’s hard to figure out whether Musk even has a plan at all.

Subjects: Communication Skills, Employment Law, Ethics, KM, Labor Law, Leadership, Management, Social Media, Technology Trends, Telecommuting