Free Republic

If it were up to Larry Ellison, the exorbitantly rich cofounder of software outfit Oracle, all of us will soon be smiling for the camera — constantly. Not for a cheery photograph, but to appease our super-invasive, if not totally omnipresent, algorithmic overseers. As Business Insider reports, the tech centibillionaire glibly predicts that the wonders of AI will bring about a new paradigm of supercharged surveillance, guaranteeing that the proles — excuse us, "citizens" — all behave and stay in line. "We're going to have supervision," Ellison said this week at an Oracle financial analysts meeting, per BI. "Every police...

Governments are pushing the public to switch to smart vehicles to reduce fossil fuel consumption, but there is also a second motive – surveillance. This September, Ford filed a new patent to eavesdrop on riders. They plan to share this information with third-parties to personalize the advertisements riders hear. Ford will also take the driver’s destination into consideration to determine location-specific advertisements and suggestions. The technology will factor in the weather, traffic, and all external sensors to fine tune when and what to market to passengers. Advertisements are perhaps the least ominous use of voice data based on the plans...

As an old congressional investigator, some things really bother me. Dishonesty at the Justice Department is one. Attorney General Merrick Garland is a disgrace – and danger. He opposes textual interpretations of the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments. He resents individual rights, and how they limit government power to suppress rights – which is why they were framed. Now, he disavows another core principle, called “separation of powers.” To be clear, separating powers among those who make our laws, administer them, and interpret them is ancient. It is not a MAGA idea. It goes back to the French...

Tesla CEO compared incoming Recall feature to an episode of Black MirrorNew Recall feature will be coming to Copilot+ PCs from JuneIt takes screenshots of everything you do on-screenSnapshots are analysed by AI on-device so they can be searchedElon Musk has announced plans to disable the feature on his PCPrivacy campaigners have also flagged concernsUK privacy watchdog has launched an investigation into RecallElon Musk has criticised a controversial new AI feature coming to Windows 11 devices this summer. Known as Recall, it takes screenshots of everything on-screen so you can scroll back in time and resume work on anything from...

“This article was originally published by the Texas Observer, a nonprofit investigative news outlet and magazine. Sign up for their weekly newsletter, or follow them on Facebook and X.” (Required for republishing) Everything is bigger in Texas—including state police contracts for surveillance tech. In June, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) signed an acquisition plan for a 5-year, nearly $5.3 million contract for a controversial surveillance tool called Tangles from tech firm PenLink, according to records obtained by the Texas Observer through a public information request. The deal is nearly twice as large as the company’s $2.7 million two-year...

Since the beginning of the digital age, most of the world’s internet data has flowed through massive data centers in Northern Virginia. The area is known as “Data Center Alley” because it’s home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers. Some call the area ‘spy country’ because of the number of data centers used by the Central Intelligence Agency and other intelligence agencies.

Philadelphia has collected personal citizen information for years through a company now instructing Democrat get-out-the-vote foot soldiers.What are your pronouns? Your sex? Your race and sexual orientation? Are you physically or mentally disabled? The Philadelphia Office of Community Empowerment and Opportunity wants to know these to “better serve the residents of Philadelphia.”These “optional demographic questions” are attached to the form you must fill out if you want to take the city’s Civic Engagement Academy Learning Series class titled, “Leading a Community Meeting.” It promises to teach how to “host a successful meeting and manage conflict.” The bottom of the form...

The COVID-19 pandemic is proving to be a powerful driver of change. It is spurring biodigital innovations such as nearly real-time biosurveillance of virus spread and mutations; virus tracking via smartphone; and messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) vaccine development at unprecedented speed. Biodigital convergence, the merging of biological systems and digital technologies, is challenging the way we understand ourselves and the world in which we live.

Democrat Party is filled with radical, extreme, Marxist, communist traitors who want to destroy America. Pure evil. Satan inspired. They are the enemies of good patriotic Americans. They are the real “domestic terrorists.” But my party- the GOP- is a party of weak-willed, feckless, cowards afraid of their own shadow, and sellouts who claim to be Republicans, but really play for the other side.” ... January 6th prisoners- who have become political hostages, enduring cruel and unusual punishment. Jake Lang stands out as one of the most egregious cases in this country’s history. He’s spent almost four years in prison...

WASHINGTON – The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has opened a “leak” investigation into the release of information regarding eight flights on which Air Marshals surveilled former presidential candidate and member of Congress Tulsi Gabbard, Empower Oversight has learned. The move improperly targets Federal Air Marshals (FAMs) who blew the whistle on the wasted resources and abuse of authority in targeting American citizens who pose no threat to fellow passengers.

The National Football League is the latest organization to turn to facial authentication to bolster event security, according to an announcement this week. All 32 NFL stadiums will start using the technology this season, after the league signed a contract with a company that uses facial scans to verify the identity of people entering event venues and other secure spaces. The facial authentication platform, which counts the Cleveland Browns’ owners as investors, will be used to “streamline and secure” entry for thousands of credentialed media, officials, staff and guests so they can easily access restricted areas such as press boxes...

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson launched a brutal attack on the U.S. government during his speech at a recent Bitcoin conference, accusing it of hypocrisy and secrecy. Carlson highlighted the government’s stance on privacy and document classification before dropping the F-bomb over his views. “With no privacy, there’s no freedom,” Carlson stated.

At airports across the U.S., Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents confront flyers as they are boarding flights and ask to search carry-on items. These interactions are supposed to be consensual. But flyers often get the impression that they have no choice but to submit to a search. IJ currently has a class action lawsuit against the DEA and Transportation Security Administration (TSA) over their unconstitutional searches and seizures at U.S. airports. Learn more about IJ's work protecting America’s foundational rights—including the right to be secure from unreasonable searches and seizures: https://ij.org/issues/ijs-project-on-...

Since 2017, self-driving cars owned by Chinese companies have traversed 1.8 million miles of California alone, according to a Fortune analysis of the state's Department of Motor Vehicles data. As part of their basic functionality, these cars capture video of their surroundings and map the state's roads to within two centimeters of precision. Companies transfer that information from the cars to data centers, where they use it to train their self-driving systems. The cars are part of a state program that allows companies developing self-driving technology -- including Google-spinoff Waymo and Amazon-owned Zoox -- to test autonomous vehicles on public...

The Treasury Department banned the maker of spyware used to target government officials, reporters and activists, deploying “first-of-its-kind” sanctions against sellers of commercial spyware. The U.S. government deployed sanctions against Greece-based spyware vendor Intellexa on Tuesday and the company’s leadership after targeting U.S. officials. “Today’s actions represent a tangible step forward in discouraging the misuse of commercial surveillance tools, which increasingly present a security risk to the United States and our citizens,” Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson said. The Treasury Department targeted two individuals and five entities associated with Intellexa for their...

A new national divide is emerging among states over whether to track sales by gun stores Should gun store sales get special credit card tracking? States split on mandating or prohibiting it. Beginning Monday, a California law will require credit card networks like Visa and Mastercard to provide banks with special retail codes that can be assigned to gun stores in order to track their sales. But new laws will do the exact opposite in Georgia, Iowa, Tennessee and Wyoming by banning the use of specific gun shop codes. The conflicting laws highlight what has quietly emerged as one of...

Records reveal that the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has been sharing information from thousands of Americans’ letters and packages with law enforcement over the past decade. This practice, known as the “mail covers program,” involves conveying details from the outside of boxes and envelopes to federal agents and police officers without requiring a court order. Postal inspectors fulfill such requests primarily to aid in finding fugitives or investigating crimes. Notably, 97% of these requests were approved, covering days or weeks of mail sent to or from specific individuals or addresses.

Something very odd happened to me yesterday. I had noticed a mole on my back that concerned me and rather than wait a few weeks for an appointment, I dropped into my dermatologist for him to have a quick look. He gave me a name for it, "Seborrheic Keratoses", and said it benign and was nothing to worry about. He sent me off with a pamphlet about it. I had not done any searches online, for either skin cancer in general or for this specific lesion, not now or ever. I have watched cardio docs on Youtube, but it doesn't...

In Japan, “Johatsu” refers to people who disappear due to pressures like failed marriages, debt, and job loss. They abandon their lives and live anonymously off the grid. Specialized companies, called “night movers,” assist them in vanishing completely Behind the scenes, specialized businesses known as “yonige-ya” facilitate these disappearances. These “fly-by-night shops” provide services to Johatsu, helping them erase their existence. From creating new identities to arranging housing and employment, these discreet agencies operate in the shadows, ensuring their clients vanish without a trace.

Popular smartphone apps used to track people’s location and provide weather reports may hand over driving data to a firm that sells the information to insurance companies for the purposes of setting rates for unsuspecting motorists... apps Life360, MyRadar and Gas Buddy are providing user data to an Allstate-owned company, Arity, which computes the numbers to create a “driving score” that takes into account any risky behavior behind the wheel... That information is then sold to other insurance firms — with user consent — which set rates for their customers ... Life360, which is used by parents to keep track...