Category «Other»

The U.S. as an Authoritarian State: Danger to the Global Rule of Law

Donald J. Trump’s second term as President of the United States has stunned the world. As Catherine Morris documents, commentators increasingly say the U.S. has now crossed the Rubicon into authoritarian territory. Morris addresses the impact on the legal system, legal education, and lawyers, in the United States and in Canada.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Human Rights, Legal Research, United States Law

Trump Is Creating a Deportation Army of Local Cops

Mohamed Al Elew and Wendy Fry’s reporting analyzes federal data that my be a surprise to Floridians about ICE’s 287(g) program. All Florida residents now live in a county where local police will be trained to work on behalf of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to federal data analyzed by The Markup. The training is part of a rapidly expanding federal program to deputize state and local authorities as immigration enforcers, with the number of participating agencies doubling since January, according to the data. There are now over 10 million Americans living in a county with an immigration delegation agreement, The Markup’s review shows.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Legal Research, Privacy

“A republic, if you can keep it” – but can the US keep it? How Trump is dismantling democracy

Christina Pagel has mapped out 69 actions that President Trump has taken in the last twelve weeks to undermine democracy, undermine the rule of law, attack enemies, suppress dissent and control information.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, Government Resources, Legal Research, United States Law

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 19, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Text Message Scams Cost Consumers $470 Million in 2024, FTC Reports; Trump is shifting cybersecurity to the states, but many aren’t prepared; Homeland Security Email Tells a US Citizen to ‘Immediately’ Self-Deport; OpenAI Tightens Access As Evidence Mounts of AI Model Mimicry; and ICE Just Paid Palantir Tens of Millions for ‘Complete Target Analysis of Known Populations.

Subjects: AI, Big Data, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Email, Financial System, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 12, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Biometrics vs. passcodes: What lawyers recommend if you’re worried about warrantless phone searches; DDoS Attacks Now Key Weapons in Geopolitical Conflicts, NETSCOUT Warns; Google Maps doubles down on preventing fake reviews; Large number of US adults view AI as a threat: Report; and Explosive Growth of Non-Human Identities Creating Massive Security Blind Spots.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, April 5, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: What to Know About Trump’s Order to Phase Out Paper Checks; Apple faces $5 billion class action lawsuit over eBooks purchases; Why Encryption Matters for Your Data Backups (And How to Do It Easily); Texas’ AI-Powered Surveillance Arsenal Has Ballooned. Proposed Laws Provide Few Guardrails; and How to recognize and prevent deepfake scams.

Subjects: AI, Cryptocurrency, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Privacy

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 29, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Google Confirms Gmail Upgrade – 3 Billion Users Must Now Decide; What is Signal, the app where Trump officials texted war plans?; Even More Venmo Accounts Tied to Trump Officials in Signal Group Chat Left Data Public; NIST releases finalized guidelines on protecting AI from attacks; Canada – We partner with world-renowned scambusters to create our own fraud-fighting call centre.

Subjects: AI, Civil Liberties, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Encryption, Privacy, Search Engines, Search Strategies, Social Media, Technology Trends

Pete Recommends Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, March 22, 2025

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, finance, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Memo details Trump plan to sabotage the Social Security Administration; Everything You Say To Your Fire TV & Echo Will Be Sent to Amazon Soon; The DNA of organised crime is changing – and so is the threat to Europe; Judge Rips DOGE Dig Into Social Security Records; and Big AI platforms can generate Chrome malware with this technique.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Privacy, Search Engines