FOIA
Police Bodycam Shows Sheriff Hunting for 'Obscene' Books at Library
Body camera footage from Idaho reveals a sheriff hunting for a YA book he could use for a political stunt.
FOIA Forum
Our Third FOIA Forum! 3/6, 2PM EST
We are hosting our third FOIA Forum at the start of March. Join the livestream, file FOIAs with us, get tips, and more.
Reddit: 'We Are in the Early Stages of Monetizing Our User Base'
Reddit's filing with the SEC makes clear that training AI with user posts is a core part of Reddit's new business model.
Courtwatch
Darknet Drug Dealers Arrested After Packages of Meth-Laced Adderall Repeatedly Returned to Sender
'Professional Paper Filing Inc.' was a fictitious name. But the return address went to a real, uninvolved business.
Security
Do Spencer’s Vibrators Have Malware on Them? An Investigation
We tested the vibrator that a Spencer's customer claims almost gave their computer malware.
News
‘What Was She Supposed to Report?:’ Police Report Shows How a High School Deepfake Nightmare Unfolded
An in-depth police report obtained by 404 Media shows how a school, and then the police, investigated a wave of AI-powered “nudify” apps in a high school.
FOIA
What Is the Governor of Iowa Hiding About a Satanic Temple Statue at the Capitol?
Kim Reynolds redacts 27 pages of public documents about the government's response to a Baphomet display at the Iowa Capitol.
Mastodon
Taliban Shuts Down 'queer.af' Domain, Breaking Mastodon Instance
After years in limbo, the Taliban recently began reoperating Afghanistan's .af TLD, which is breaking parts of the internet.
repair
Apple Is Lobbying Against Right to Repair Six Months After Supporting Right to Repair
"It is our belief that the bill’s current language around parts pairing will undermine the security, safety, and privacy of Oregonians by forcing device manufacturers to allow the use of parts of unknown origin in consumer devices."
Stract
This Guy Has Built an Open Source Search Engine as an Alternative to Google in His Spare Time
"I found it very weird that there essentially is no way to browse the web in an open manner. So that's what I am trying to build," the founder of Stract said.
Hacking
The Viral Smart Toothbrush Botnet Story Is Not Real
"FortiGuard Labs has not observed Mirai or other IoT botnets target toothbrushes or similar embedded devices."
Data Brokers
Woman Got Cremation Ads in the Mail After Getting Chemotherapy
"This matter has brought to light the close interplay between data brokers and data analytics firms in the digital marketing landscape.”