Category «United States Law»

The Heritage Foundation’s Reckless Misuse of FOIA to Target Individuals

In this Opinion, researched and authored by Michael Ravnitzky, he says that the Heritage Foundation’s current public records campaign is an abuse of the FOIA process. In recent years, the Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project and its publishing spinoff, The Daily Signal, have filed an unprecedented and overwhelming number of FOIA requests – 65,000 according to Reuters and more than 50,000 according to ProPublica. According to recent articles, the goal of the requests is to scrutinize government employees’ communications, to identify (for example, individuals using keywords or phrases such as “climate change”, “reduction in force” or DEI) and potentially remove civil servants perceived as obstructive to Trump’s agenda, in preparation for a potential Trump administration.

Read more

Subjects: Digital Archives, E-Discovery, Freedom of Information, Government Resources, Legal Research, United States Law

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 28, 2024

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. Five highlights from this week: LinkedIn Halts AI Data Processing in UK Amid Privacy Concerns Raised by ICO – they automatically opted in all users; Lessons from the CrowdStrike outage; Verizon faces lawsuit over allegedly illegal collection of voiceprints; New feature of iOS 18 and later: Request or give remote control in a Facetime call on an iPhone; and Telegram Will Share User IP Addresses, Phone Numbers With Police Upon Request.

Read more

Subjects: AI, Copyright, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Internet Trends, Legal Research, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 21, 2024

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. Five highlights from this week: FTC Says Social Media Platforms Engage in ‘Vast Surveillance’ of Users; AI voices are officially too realistic; Tor Network Denies Report That ‘Anonymity Is Completely Canceled’; ‘Terrorgram’ Charges Show US Has Had Tools to Crack Down on Far-Right Terrorism All Along; and DuckDuckGo Joins AI Chat, Promises Enhanced Anonymity.

Read more

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Internet Trends, Privacy, Search Engines, Search Strategies, Social Media, Spyware, Technology Trends

TikTok ban goes to the court: 5 essential reads on the case and its consequences

TikTok headed to court on Sept. 16, 2024, in a bid to overturn a law that would force the video app to divorce from its China-based parent company or be banned in the U.S. During the appearance before a panel of judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, layers for TikTok said imposing such a prohibition would have “staggering” consequences for free speech. The court hearing is the latest development in a lengthy saga over the fate of an app that is widely popular, especially among young Americans, but that many politicians in Washington fear poses or is a security risk. Eric Smalley and Matt Willimas report that the outcome of the oral arguments presented by lawyers from the U.S. government on one side and TikTok and parent company ByteDance on the other, it’s unlikely to be the end of the story. Many analysts expect the case will head to the Supreme Court.

Read more

Subjects: Legal Research, Social Media, United States Law

You want to vote in the 2024 election − here is how to make sure that your voice is heard

Voting will begin in many states in just a few weeks – Alabama became the first state to begin sending out mail-in ballots on Sept. 11, 2024. It’s one of 10 states that send mail-in ballots to voters more than 45 days before Election Day. Every state’s regulations and procedures are different, so it is vital that you understand the requirements and opportunities to vote where you live. Amy Dacey, Executive Director of the Sine Institute of Policy and Politics, American University, outlines a plan to ensure your vote and that your vote is counted regardless of where you live.

Read more

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Election Law

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 14, 2024

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. Five highlights from this week: Why digital identity should be a priority for the next president; Google, TSA Testing New “ID Pass” in Wallet, Created by Scanning Passport; Google sued over AI-driven tool for customer service call review; and Reolink’s battery-powered security camera can record for days without subscription fees; and This Tool Finds Matching Usernames Across 400 Social Media Networks.

Read more

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Financial System, Law Library Management, Privacy, Search Engines, Search Strategies

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 7, 2024

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: In a Big Blow to Internet Archive, Appeals Court Says Online Lending Library Is Not Fair Use; Clearview AI was keeping an illegal database of faces; gets fined; How to scan for unknown trackers that might be following you; Chase money glitch: How a viral TikTok trend turned out to just be plain check fraud; and How to scan for unknown trackers that might be following you.

Read more

Subjects: Cryptocurrency, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Healthcare, Legal Research, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, August 31, 2024

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. Six highlights from this week: Remote Work: A Ticking Time Bomb Waiting to be Exploited; Microsoft to overhaul Windows security after outage hits hospitals; How safe is Telegram?; Wyze’s new AI feature lets users search security cam footage; Safeguarding Subsea Cables Protecting Cyber Infrastructure amid Great Power Competition; and When A.I.’s Output Is a Threat to A.I. Itself.

Read more

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Government Resources, Healthcare, Privacy

Artificial Intelligence and the Law

David Colarusso founded and co-directs the Suffolk University Law School’s Legal Innovation & Technology (LIT) Lab. By training he is an attorney and science educator. By experience, he’s a data scientist, craftsman, and writer. LLRX is pleased to share what Colarusso states is not a traditional syllabus, because this class he is teaching is not a traditional class. He won’t just ask you to “think like a lawyer,” he will require that you act like one. In-class time will be devoted mostly to running simulations of varying fidelity for ten potentially precedent making cases and arguing the merits of proposed AI legislation. In addition to serving as an attorney—taking a case from trial through appeal—you will have the chance to act as a judge, jury, legislator, and legislative advisor. He says…”we’re in for some serious play.”

Read more

Subjects: AI, Communications, Courts & Technology, Education, Legal Research, Legislative, United States Law

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, August 24, 2024

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. Five highlights from this week: Meta’s new crawler could scrape your page, even when you don’t want it to; Don’t trust Google for customer service numbers. It might be a scam; Cox Communications Battles Copyright Case That Could Disrupt TV Streaming for Millions; U.S. government urging to update Galaxy phones due to vulnerability; and IRS still faces security challenges in aftermath of taxpayer data leak.

Read more

Subjects: Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Privacy, Social Media
➤