Free Republic

Mr. Dahl, 65, was surprised in 2022 when the cost of his car insurance jumped by 21 percent. Quotes from other insurance companies were also high. One insurance agent told him his LexisNexis report was a factor. “It felt like a betrayal,” Mr. Dahl said. “They’re taking information that I didn’t realize was going to be shared and screwing with our insurance.” Automakers and data brokers that have partnered to collect detailed driving data from millions of Americans say they have drivers’ permission to do so. But the existence of these partnerships is nearly invisible to drivers, whose consent is...

A nine-year old cheerleader stood alone at a football game as the fathers of her squadmates lifted their daughters onto their shoulders. Addie Rodriguez was alone because her father Abel is undergoing military training in California. “It was truly unfortunate to see your daughter standing out there being the only one without their father, knowing why he’s away. It’s not just an absentee parent. He’s serving our country,” Addie’s mom Alexis Perry-Rodriguez said. Enter San Antonio teenager Matthew Garcia. And what an entrance. Seeing Addie’s situation, Matthew — a senior at Central Catholic High School — vaulted two fences as...

It’s clear that the market is unlikely to solve the problem of climate change on its own. If scientists are right, and there is no reason to think they aren’t, averting climate change will require such large-scale, rapid action, that no single energy technology, new or emerging, could be the solution. Neither could any single non-energy technology, such as video-conferencing as a substitute for travel, solve the problem on its own.

Steve Wynn: I'm 'more scared' about US than China. ... Wynn continues to disparage the White House: "I am stunned at the immaturity of this administration. ... We elected a man as president who had no experience at anything."

Never has your voice been more important and never has your voice mattered more. Your voice is necessary. Your voice is needed — now. Engineers have created a vast array of exciting and pertinent technologies that have revolutionized the way we communicate, work, and play. Yet they have also opened gaping loopholes for tyranny. What’s the latest one? The little black box. On a daily basis, we are discovering the invasions of the federal government into our private lives. They are using the very tools we crave, value, and refuse to relinquish: cell phones, e-mails, Google searches. The government now...

Cameras at petrol stations will automatically stop uninsured or untaxed vehicles from being filled with fuel, under new government plans. Downing Street officials hope the hi-tech system will crack down on the 1.4million motorists who drive without insurance. Automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras are already fitted in thousands of petrol station forecourts. Drivers can only fill their cars with fuel once the camera has captured and logged the vehicle’s number plate.

Dear Principal: In a recent interview with student reporter, Damon Weaver, President Obama announced that on September 8 — the first day of school for many children across America — he will deliver a national address directly to students on the importance of education.........so they can compete in the global economy for good jobs and live rewarding and productive lives as American citizens. This is the first time an American president has spoken directly to the nation's school children about persisting and succeeding in school. We encourage you to use this historic moment to help your students get focused and...

WASHINGTON – Federal officials are routinely asking courts to order cellphone companies to furnish real-time tracking data so they can pinpoint the whereabouts of drug traffickers, fugitives and other criminal suspects, according to judges and industry lawyers. In some cases, judges have granted the requests without requiring the government to demonstrate that there is probable cause to believe that a crime is taking place or that the inquiry will yield evidence of a crime. Privacy advocates fear such a practice may expose average Americans to a new level of government scrutiny of their daily lives.

We've never been under such intense scrutiny as we are today. So how do we evade the snoopers? Here, an 'off-grid' expert offers an insider's guide We live in the most watched-over society in Europe. Exposure, especially in The Observer, has done little to hold the state and private sector in check. Phone records have become police records, as Henry Porter pointed out in this paper last week, and CCTV camera records are now fed into the automatic registration number computer. Credit and store-card records have become marketing records and our email addresses are points of entry for all sorts...

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The European Union's police agency and the U.S. Secret Service agreed on Monday to share more information to beef up the fight against terrorism and organized crime, Europol said. The crime-fighting agencies will share sensitive financial information on individuals and keep an eye on each other's operations through the exchange of personnel. The deal expands an earlier arrangement agreed in 2002 between Europol and the U.S. Department of Justice.

GENEVA, Switzerland -- Assigning itself a Herculean task, the World Health Organization took the first step on Thursday toward becoming the global watchdog over unconventional medicine. The organization, a branch of the United Nations, has long focused on Western medicine but is looking closely at non-Western treatments, because at least 80 percent of the people in the world's poorest countries use them. Few of those countries can regulate their folk healers or share their plant lore -- which may be a miracle cure or a poison. The group takes on the mission as such treatments grow ever more popular in...