Free Republic

An under-the-radar regulatory change during the Biden years quietly expanded what amounts to a federal warehouse of private information tied to nearly every firearms transaction in America. Now, President Trump has the opportunity to reverse that rule — and put an end to yet another facet of the Biden administration’s assault on the Second Amendment and the privacy rights of law-abiding gun owners. Any American citizen who has ever legally purchased a firearm has experience with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Form 4473. As a purchaser, you must fill out personal questions that are often confusingly...

Planning to tie the knot in Spain? It’s highly expensive wherever you wed. But, if you are, you had better take it into account Hacienda (the tax agency). Newlyweds across Spain now face unexpected tax demands as Hacienda intensifies scrutiny on wedding gifts. Authorities now actively remind couples that cash and presents from guests qualify as taxable donations, potentially adding thousands to post-wedding bills. The idea behind this move is to close loopholes in revenue collection with digital transfers becoming more prevalent. Average weddings in Spain exceed €24,000, everything taken into consideration, including wedding meals alone consuming €13,000 to €14,000,...

Large language models aren’t good at lots of stuff, like counting fingers or suggesting pizza recipes. But one thing that “AI” is quite good at is analyzing massive amounts of data and finding possible connections that aren’t immediately obvious. That makes it perfect for unmasking anonymous internet posts, according to a new research paper. Researchers at ETH Zurich and the MATS research fellowship associated with Berkeley ran a program [PDF], collecting data from sources with generally anonymous usernames, like Reddit. By collecting users’ posts across related but distinct movie subreddits, then feeding the LLM data from a Netflix data leak,...

Apple is launching new tools to comply with the growing number of age-verification laws both in the U.S. and abroad. As part of the changes, Apple will block the downloads of apps rated 18+ in Brazil, Australia, and Singapore, while also rolling out other features to comply with laws in Utah and Louisiana in the U.S. The company informed developers on Tuesday that it’s expanding its set of “age assurance” tools, including an updated Declared Age Range API now available for beta testing. These tools allow developers to obtain a user’s age range without gaining access to the user’s personal...

"Age Attestation on Computing Devices" (Colorado State Bill 26-051) would require age verification on all Operating Systems (both Open Source and proprietary), with fines for violations.

EU Europe is increasingly abandoning a civilized approach to dissenting opinions. The raid on the Paris offices of Elon Musk’s company X appears to be just the tip of the iceberg. Today, those who resist are being attacked on multiple levels, while those who submit are largely spared. It is time to increase pressure on Brussels. Elon Musk’s communications platform X has become caught between systemic fronts. On one side stands the American understanding of free speech, which has experienced a political revival under Donald Trump’s new presidency. On the other, an increasingly repressive EU control regime is eroding the...

More than two dozen privacy and advocacy organizations are calling on California Gov. Gavin Newsom to remove a network of covert license plate readers deployed across Southern California that the groups believe feed data into a controversial U.S. Border Patrol predictive domestic intelligence program that scans the country’s roadways for suspicious travel patterns.“We ask that your administration investigate and release the relevant permits, revoke them, and initiate the removal of these devices,” read the letter sent Tuesday by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Imperial Valley Equity and Justice and other nonprofits. An Associated Press investigation published in November revealed that the...

Discord has announced a major change coming to the service as part of its aim to improve teen safety features. Starting in March, all users globally will be required to submit age verification via a face scan or submitted ID, or be given teen-level access restrictions. Age verification across apps and social platforms has been an increased focus of legislative bodies around the world in the last couple years. In response, Discord has announced a major initiative to ensure that only adults see adult-designated content, while teens are restricted to age-appropriate access. To do this, Discord says all users worldwide...

This piece is premised on the book American Stasi, available free at AmericanStasi.com, and at all major booksellers. The book attempts to show that the nations of the West have all deployed East German Stasi-like ground surveillance in their communities, to monitor all the citizens, and make sure none can ever rise high enough in government to see the rampant fraud and abuse. The surveillance is most notable through its vehicular units, which follow established procedures, and which you can even see on Google Streetview, as they perform surveillance on the Google car as it moves through communities. Here we...

Oct 2, 2024 Which company is the premiere surveillance Big tech company that really seeks to know you well for their AI? The answer to this question will often be tainted by the marketing moves of these companies and guaranteed that for the normie, the answer will be wrong. The reason is that people don't understand the motives of each of these companies? Why do they need to know each of us so well? What's in it for them? If you really understand this, you will be surprised at the answer.

The UK government has pledged to introduce a digital ID system for all UK citizens and legal residents by the end of the current Parliament (so no later than 2029). The integration of digital ID into government services, though already under way, has hitherto been largely voluntary. However, it is becoming steadily less optional, as the government has said it will now be required as a precondition for work in the UK, and a version of it (GOV.UK One Login) is already being imposed unilaterally upon company directors throughout the UK. Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister Darren Jones has...

They’re tracking what you do, who you talk to, and where you go. Your every move is being scored—and once the system locks in, there’s no way out. Palantir’s CEO said the quiet part out loud—and no one blinked. He claims his software “single-handedly” stopped the rise of the “far right” in Europe. Read that again. This isn’t a conspiracy theory. It’s called algorithmic electioneering—where unelected tech elites shape political outcomes with code, not votes. Now add shadowbans, blacklists, real-time emotional profiling, AI-driven behavior scoring…. And ask yourself: are you still the one making the decisions? This isn’t just about...

Why is my doctor worried about my mortgage payments? So I found myself wondering as I filled out a questionnaire before a recent primary-care visit. Along with the usual prompts about my health, I encountered a series of questions related to my financial situation. The form asked whether in the last 12 months I was unable to pay my mortgage or rent on time, and if I was “worried that my food would run out before I got the money to buy more.” These questions weren’t an attempt to gauge whether I would pay my medical bill; they were part...

LG Electronics’ Australian operation has declined to disclose the extent of the downturn in its local television business, following comments from its South Korean parent at CES that weak consumer demand — particularly for TVs — was a major factor behind an expected quarterly loss. The company is reportedly set to post a loss of approximately A$169 million for the most recent quarter, traditionally one of the strongest periods for consumer electronics manufacturers. LG has been steadily losing ground to arch rival Samsung in the OLED TV segment and continues to struggle to remain competitive in the LED market. While...

A viral post highlighting biometric surveillance at a Wegmans grocery store in New York City is sparking renewed privacy concerns. "Biometric identifier information collected at this location," a sign attached to the door of a Wegmans reads. "Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. collects, retains, converts, stores or shares customers' biometric identifier information, which may include" facial recognition, eye scans and voiceprints, the sign states. Wegmans confirmed it is collecting the biometric readings, telling Fox News Digital in a statement the "safety of our customers and employees is a top priority." The company went on, "Like many retailers, we use cameras to...

Gary D. Barnett warns that humanity is being taken over through digitisation, digital ID, algorithmic confinement and technocratic incarceration, which will lead to the end of freedom and property. The transformation of mankind involves the intentional fusing of human and machine through neuroscientific nanoscale brain-computer interfacing, with methods including “vaccines,” geoengineering, mRNA platforms and precision medicine. The only solution to stop this technological transhuman invasion, he writes, is through education, exposure and mass non-compliance. (snip) I do not know how many more times I will have to bring up the subject of the AI takeover; digitisation, digital ID, algorithmic confinement...

The Texas attorney general says television companies have become unwelcome visitors in consumers' homes. Ken Paxton announced five separate lawsuits, including two against Chinese companies, alleging that the television companies are secretly spying on Texans by recording what they watch at home. The Texas AG said in a press release that the method through which the companies were conducting their spying is called Automated Content Recognition technology. Labeling it an "uninvited" and "invisible" digital invader, Paxton said that the software is capable of capturing screenshots of a user's TV display every 500 milliseconds. Sony, Samsung, LG, Hisense, and TCL each...

As the Euro-Globalist failing leaders try to whip their countries into an anti-Russia Frenzy, Germany is trying to come out of this process as the country with the largest military and – it appears – the meanest intelligence services. (snip) “Spies will also be allowed to install spyware on computers belonging to enemy suspects and secretly enter their homes. When operating overseas, spies will be allowed to install tracking devices on enemy technology or weaponry – or destroy it altogether.”

Republicans on Capitol Hill who have championed the tech industry’s race to dominate artificial intelligence are confronting a growing political obstacle: voters angry over the soaring energy demands and utility costs tied to the data centers. The politics of data centers are still very much in flux, but GOP politicians may be particularly vulnerable to a voter backlash because of their pro-development views and President Donald Trump’s all-in support for AI — including blocking states from setting their own rules. Some are starting to seek distance from the White House. Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis floated new limits on data...

Over a decade ago, Google showed off a pair of smart spectacles called Google Glass, sparking a major ethical debate over wearables being used to covertly film people without their permission. At the time, the outrage was enshrined by the derogatory neologism “glasshole,” meaning a Google Glass wearer who was accused of having little regard for the privacy of those around them. A seeming eternity later, Meta has attempted to revive the idea with its Ray-Ban Meta glasses. While it’s arguably a significant technological leap over Google’s early forays, the debate has seemingly remained the same. Case in point, as...