Intelligence Chief Says Smart-Home Devices May Be Used to Spy On YouThe U.S. director of national intelligence, James Clapper, has told lawmakers that intelligence agencies could soon use the "Internet of Things" to conduct covert surveillance on the population.
The Internet of Things refers to smart-devices which are embedded with electronics, software, sensors, and network connectivity, that enables them to collect and exchange data and to be sensed and controlled ... (more)
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Mandatory Mental Illness Screening and The Drive to Confiscate FirearmsOn Sunday in his weekly column Ron Paul discussed a recommendation by the United States Preventive Services Task Force.
The recommendation calls mental health screening of all Americans. "The task force wants to force health insurance companies to pay for the screening. Basic economics, as well as the Obamacare disaster, should have shown th... (more)
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DHS Official Thinks People Should Have to Give Up Their Anonymity to Use The InternetApparently, the only way to stop terrorists from hating us for our freedom is to strip away those offensive freedoms.
Erik Barnett, the DHS's attache to the European Union, pitched some freedom-stripping ideas to a presumably more receptive audience via an article for a French policy magazine. Leveraging both the recent Paris attacks and the omnipresent law enforcement excuse for any bad idea -- child porn -- Barnett suggested victory in the War on Terror can be achieved by st... (more)
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Facebook Announces They're Now Banning ALL Talk of Firearms, Ammo, or Gun Parts TradingFacebook and its acquired service, Instagram, no longer allow users to make arrangements to buy or sell firearms, gun parts, or ammunition. The new rule has given users a hot topic to share and post about, whether they "Like" it or not.
“Over the last two years, more and more people have been using Facebook to discover products and to buy and sell things to one another. We are continuing to develop, test, and launch new products to make this experience even better for peop... (more)
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Legislator Thinks Warrantless Cell Phone Searches The Best Way to Combat Distracted DrivingThe Supreme Court's Riley decision made it clear: law enforcement cannot search cell phones without a warrant. Seems pretty straightforward. Cell phones aren't mere "containers" -- they contain a great deal of information that has historically been afforded a reasonable expectation of privacy. Get a warrant.
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VIDEO: College Students Taught Most U.S. Terrorists 'Conservative' White MenMost acts of terrorism in America are committed by white men who are "religiously motivated and politically conservative," a psychology professor recently taught his students, adding that "9/11 is basically the only act of foreign-born terrorism that has ever happened in the United States."
The "Introduction to Psychology" lesson was given by Dr. Ross Avilla, a lecturer at the University of California-Merced, who backed up his argument by telling his class about a white Christian ... (more)
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NY State Legislator Proposes Ban On Sale of Encrypted SmartphonesIt appears someone's listening to local crackpot New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance's demands that encryption be outlawed to make law enforcement easier. His "white paper" didn't have the guts to make this demand, instead couching it in language stating he would be completely unopposed to a legi... (more)
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Police to Pursue Online Trolls and Receive Hidden Browser History From Internet ProvidersThe Investigatory Powers Bill is a piece of legislature that will give police new surveillance power allowing them to pursue anonymous and known internet bullies, according to the UK Times.
Cyberbullying is using information and communication technologies to deliberately and repeatedly behave in a manner intended to harass, threaten, humiliate or harm others... (more)
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UK Government Wants to Send Tech Execs to Jail For Disclosing SurveillanceMany tech companies -- Twitter, Yahoo and Google, to name three -- have a policy of notifying users when it's suspected that a state-level actor is attempting to hack into their account.
Specifically, UK ministers want to make it a criminal offence for tech firms to warn users of requests for access to their communication data made by security organizations such as MI5, MI6 and GCHQ (the Government Communications Headquarters).
A June report by David Anderson ... (more)
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Who Needs a No-Fly List When You Can Just Ground 91 Million Citizens?Great news for people who think there's just too damn much freedom in this country: the government's "no-fly" list is about to get much, much longer. The citizens of several US states may soon find that they can't use their drivers' licenses to get into federal facilities or even board planes.
Enforcement of a 2005 federal l ... (more)
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California: City Report Shows No Red Light Cam BenefitRed light cameras have been issuing tickets in San Francisco, California for more than a decade, but their impact on safety has been mixed. Earlier this year, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency released its annual report on automated ticketing. While the document claims red-light related collisions throughout San Francisco dropped after photo enforcement began, a closer look at the data shows other engineering factors are at work.
"Red light running collisions have ... (more)
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Legal Experts Suggest Fines & Imprisonment For Viewing ISIS Propaganda OnlineA New York Times article on Sunday cites a number of legal experts and scholars who suggest placing limits on the First Amendment in response to Islamic State propaganda.
The article follows remarks by Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Both have said the government might work with technology companies to shut down internet websites and s... (more)
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A Whistleblower Just Exposed How The Government Spies On Your Cell PhoneThe release of a secret U.S. government catalog of cell phone surveillance devices has revealed the names and abilities of dozens of surveillance tools previously unknown to the public. The catalog shines a light on well-known devices like the Stingray and DRT box, as well as new names like Cellbrite, Yellowstone, Blackfin, Maximus, Stargrazer, and Cyberhawk.
The Intercept reports:
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Error 451: There's Now An HTTP Code For Internet CensorshipIncreasingly, Internet providers are being instructed by courts to block access to websites. This measure is often applied against copyright infringing sites, but not always with a proper explanation. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) just approved a special HTTP status code for these type of legal demands, Error 451.
Domain name blocking has become one of the entertainment industries' go-to methods for reducing online copyright infringement.
Blocking reque... (more)
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VIDEO: Yale Students Eagerly Sign Petition to Repeal the First AmendmentSometimes it's hard not to begin a story with the line "this country is going to Hell in a hand basket".
The safe-spaces-political-correctness cancer is spreading across this country at an alarming rate. It's metastasizing. Soon it's going to infect every inch of the Bill of Rights like termites feasting on a foundation.
The dumbed down, Idiocracy society is real. It's here. Now.
Below is a video that shows the ivy leaguers at Yale not just signin... (more)
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China's 'Social Credit' System Assigns Credit Scores to Citizens Based on Govt LoyaltyNo regime, however ruthless its leaders, vast its ambitions, or extensive its resources, can tyrannize its subjects without their active cooperation. Every police state ultimately requires the public to regiment themselves--and each other. In the age of social media, successful totalitarians will have to crowd-source state coercion -- and China's new "social credit" system, which will encompass that country's entire population in 2020, is pioneering an approach that, if successful, will ... (more)
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Cox Is Liable For Pirating Subscribers, Ordered to Pay $25 MillionInternet provider Cox Communications is responsible for the copyright infringements of its subscribers, a Virginia federal jury has ruled. The ISP is guilty of willful contributory copyright infringement and must pay music publisher BMG $25 million in damages.
Today marks the end of a crucial case that will define how U.S. Internet providers deal with online piracy in the future.<... (more)
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