Bravo Reps. Valerie Foushee and Greg Casar, and major congrats to @kara-williams.bsky.social, @benwinters.bsky.social, and @fairplayforkids.bsky.social for their work on the model People-First Chatbot Bill! epic.org/people-first...

EPIC@epic.org · 4w ago

Last night, federal lawmakers introduced the People-First Chatbot Act, a framework based on EPIC's model bill, which was crafted to make chatbots safer for everyone and address the harms caused by AI chatbots that were rushed into the public’s hands with little oversight or transparency.

Trans rights are human rights always and forever.

Hmm... www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/our...

Our Open-Plan Office Failed, So We’re Moving to a Towering Panopticon

“The panopticon is absolutely not a fad. It is an idea whose time in the tech world has come.” Feb 21, 2022 9/17/23 9/24/24

mcsweeneys.net

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · last mo.

The next time one of these guys has a new idea will be the first time.

Life presents us with two paths.

BIG PRIVACY WIN: A federal judge has struck down the Trump administration’s unlawful attempt to meddle in elections, finding that “the federal government has knowingly trampled on the privacy rights of American citizens in a manner that threatens the sacred right to vote.”

PRESS RELEASE: Federal Judge Shuts Down Trump-Vance Voter Purge Database

WASHINGTON, D.C. –– A Trump-Vance administration attempt to unlawfully meddle in elections was struck down today, as a federal judge ordered the

eocampaign1.com

Great rundown from CBPP on this, too: www.cbpp.org/blog/house-b...

House Bill to Make Blocking Federal Funds Easier Would Take Away Help People Need to Afford Rising Cost of Basics

Ensuring that federal funding reaches eligible recipients, while preventing and addressing factual instances of fraud, is a critical part of good governance that has typically garnered bipartisan...

cbpp.org

John Davisson@johndavisson.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"This week, the House of Representatives votes on three bills that would permanently formalize the DOGE playbook, risking the privacy and liberty of every American for the sake of unproven fraud prevention methods." epic.org/the-spirit-o...

"This week, the House of Representatives votes on three bills that would permanently formalize the DOGE playbook, risking the privacy and liberty of every American for the sake of unproven fraud prevention methods." epic.org/the-spirit-o...

The Spirit of DOGE Is Alive and Well in the House’s So-Called Fraud Prevention Bills

This week, the House of Representatives votes on three bills that would permanently formalize the DOGE playbook, risking the privacy and liberty of every American for the sake of unproven fraud preven...

epic.org

"This week, the House of Representatives votes on three bills that would permanently formalize the DOGE playbook, risking the privacy and liberty of every American for the sake of unproven fraud prevention methods." epic.org/the-spirit-o...

The Spirit of DOGE Is Alive and Well in the House’s So-Called Fraud Prevention Bills

his week, the House of Representatives votes on three bills that would permanently formalize the DOGE playbook, risking the privacy and liberty of every American for the sake of unproven fraud prevent...

epic.org

How interesting that Meta called @wired.com "dishonest" and then (quietly) removed the face-recognition system it had previously (also quietly) integrated into an app downloaded onto 50 million phones. Dishonest!

Meta Deletes Face-Recognition System From Its Smart Glasses App After WIRED Report

The code WIRED identified is gone from the latest version of Meta AI, the companion app for the company’s smart glasses. Meta won’t say why or whether it’s coming back.

wired.com

Fantastic (if dispiriting) report out from EPIC’s Scholar in Residence @jshermcyber.bsky.social and EPIC’s Caroline Kraczon.

EPIC@epic.org · 3mo ago

NEW: EPIC's latest report details how many major online platforms—from social media to data brokers to dating apps—use manipulative design patterns to make it more difficult for consumer to opt out of the collection, use, transfer, or sale of their personal data. 🧵

“I’m fundamentally an optimist with regard to what we can do with research,” he said. “I’m fundamentally a pessimist with respect to what corporations who are fundamentally beholden to their stockholders do, because they’re always working on short-term appearance.” @johnmarkoff.bsky.social

Peter G. Neumann, Who Warned of Computer Security Risks, Dies at 93

nytimes.com

Local governments across Wisconsin have been ending their agreements with the surveillance company Flock Safety. “If police chiefs are bailing on it, that really shows momentum,” says the mayor of Verona, which ended its Flock contract last year.

Foes of AI Surveillance Get Wins in Wisconsin. But They Fear They're Playing Whack-A-Mole. - Bolts

Privacy activists are celebrating Dane County’s decision to end the use of Flock cameras while also calling for protections that can stop the “revolving door of surveillance companies.”

boltsmag.org

What she said 👇🏻 To put a finer point on it, it took House Republicans more than a year to come up with this barely-reheated, lukewarm garbage. Shameful *and* embarrassing.

Caitriona Fitzgerald@caitrionafitz.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The SECURE Data Act is not a serious effort at tackling the urgent privacy crisis facing this country. It is weaker than many existing state laws (the very state laws that it would wipe off the books with its broad preemption provision). Some examples:

The SECURE Data Act is not a serious effort at tackling the urgent privacy crisis facing this country. It is weaker than many existing state laws (the very state laws that it would wipe off the books with its broad preemption provision). Some examples:

NEW: Privacy and voting rights case filed against state officials by the LWV of Alaska and Alaska Black Caucus. @epic.org joins ACLU of Alaska and @aclu.org as counsel. We're honored to help Alaskans fight for accountability and defend against unlawful abuse of voter data. epic.org/press-releas...

PRESS RELEASE: EPIC and civil rights groups sue Alaska Division of Elections for sharing unredacted voter registration list

epic.org

This bill is dangerous. It does not protect privacy. It lets Big Tech and Telecom do anything they want with your data. And it blows up all state and many federal privacy laws that we already have. Most dangerously, it may nuke all state civil rights laws. Here are some examples: 1/n

House Republicans roll out landmark data privacy push

The proposals would preempt dozens of state data laws and set a federal standard for how tech and finance companies handle their customers’ data.

politico.com

On Monday, EPIC filed an amicus brief arguing that the Virginia city of Norfolk’s use of Flock’s Automated License Plate Reader system creates a warrantless mass surveillance program and constitutes an unreasonable search in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

EPIC files amicus brief arguing city’s use of Flock ALPRs violated Fourth Amendment

Updates

epic.org

Rule on #FISA reauth goes down in flames 197-228. GOP will now try to push a reauth extension to the end of April 2026 on Monday.

Massive win for us. Others had the prelim roll call with the 20 Rs: Burchett, Burlison, Cloud, Clyde, Crane Andy Harris, Mark Harris, Perry, Norman, Massie, Self, Ogles, Davidson, Harshbarger, Miller, Gosar, Bishop, Boebert, Rose, Spartz Ned to cross-ref though: clerk.house.gov/Votes/202612...

Roll Call 124 Roll Call 124, Bill Number: H. Res. 1175, 119th Congress, 2nd Session

VOTE QUESTION: On Agreeing to the Resolution, DESCRIPTION: Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 8035) to amend the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 to extend the authorities of title VII of the Fo...

clerk.house.gov

I sent a classified letter to House and Senate colleagues about a secret interpretation of surveillance law that every American should be concerned about. Representative Massie is right. The Constitution requires EVERY member to vote against a clean reauthorization.

Andrew Ferguson's FTC: all the time in the world to jawbone the digital ad industry into propping up right-wing speech, no time to address the fact that the entire ad ecosystem is built on industrial-scale privacy abuses. The beclowning of the Commission continues. www.ftc.gov/news-events/...

FTC Takes Action to Restore Competition in the Digital Advertising Ecosystem

The Federal Trade Commission, along with a coalition of states, took decisive action today to stop collusion between the nation’s largest advertising agencies that distorted America’s modern public

ftc.gov

“EPIC argues in its comment, which got sign-on from other organizations like CDT, that the new system runs afoul of the Privacy Act’s principles of minimizing data collection, calling the proposed program ‘illegal and reckless.’”

Treasury is creating a database with pandemic aid recipients’ sensitive information

Critics say the scope established in the agency’s systems of record notice “is an astonishing and dramatic departure from prior Treasury practice.”

nextgov.com

Major ruling from the en banc Fourth Circuit in AFSCME v. SSA, which validates the core basis for Article III standing in the many Privacy Act cases against DOGE & other agency database incursions. "DOGE is the nosy janitor." storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Last week, President Trump issued an executive order asserting a radical expansion of federal power over mail-in voting. The order directs DHS to compile lists of citizens over 18 residing in each state—an ominous tactic for which the federal government lacks both legal authority and reliable data.

I’m still in awe over all the dumb fuck law firms, tv networks, and universities that caved to Trump. More or less everyone who has stood up to Trump has won and everyone who didn’t has suffered an endless series of humiliations.

Data brokers should not exist.

The 33 Data Brokers Selling US Data to Foreign Actors, According to California

<p>On March 24, California released an updated registry of data brokers—companies in the business of collecting, inferring, aggregating, and selling people’s data</p>

epic.org

Senators @markey.senate.gov, @merkley.senate.gov, and @wyden.senate.gov are demanding answers on Meta's plans to roll out facial rec in its 'smart' glasses, following a recent report from @nytimes.com and a series of letters by @epic.org calling on regulators to step in: epic.org/senators-dem...

Senators Demand Answers on Meta’s Facial Recognition ‘Smart’ Glasses Plans, Following NYT Report and EPIC Letters

<p>The Senators’ inquiry echoes warnings raised by EPIC in a series of letters to federal and state regulators last month.</p>

epic.org

Happy #SunshineWeek! Sunshine takes many forms. One of them is the system of records notice (SORN)—a dry but powerful set of disclosures that federal agencies must publish before establishing or modifying a system of personal data. They're required by the Privacy Act of 1974. A thread:

CalPrivacy inviting preliminary comments reducing friction in exercise of privacy rights & opt-out preference signals. Submit your comments by April 6. Learn more. cppa.ca.gov/regulations/...

As the FTC holds a workshop today on consumer injuries, EPIC and @newamerica.org’s Open Technology Institute are calling on the Commission “to take a more comprehensive view of consumer harm in the data-driven economy.” 🧵(1/6)

EPIC, OTI Urge FTC Not to Ignore Full Scope of Data-Driven Harms

<p>The comments call on the Commission to broaden both its quantitative and qualitative conceptions of the privacy injuries caused by unlawful data practices to fulfill its consumer protection mandate...

epic.org