Flock
Flock Removes States From National Lookup Tool After ICE and Abortion Searches Revealed
Following 404 Media’s reporting and in light of new legislation, automatic license plate reader (ALPR) company Flock has stopped agencies reaching into cameras in California, Illinois, and Virginia.
AI
Judge Rules Training AI on Authors' Books Is Legal But Pirating Them Is Not
A judge rules that Anthropic's training on copyrighted works without authors' permission was a legal fair use, but that stealing the books in the first place is illegal.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: The Omnipresence Is the Point
This week, we discuss Deadheads and doxxing sites.
AI
Meta Invents New Way to Humiliate Users With Feed of People's Chats With AI
In an industry full of grifters and companies hell-bent on making the internet worse, it is hard to think of a worse actor than Meta, or a worse product that the AI Discover feed.
FOIA
Emails Reveal the Casual Surveillance Alliance Between ICE and Local Police
Police departments in Oregon created an "analyst group" where they casually offer each other assistance with surveillance tools.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Advertising and Aircraft
This week, we discuss advertising, protests, and aircraft.
repair
John Deere Must Face FTC Lawsuit Over Its Tractor Repair Monopoly, Judge Rules
Deere now must face two different major lawsuits over the repairability of its tractors.
DOGE
GitHub is Leaking Trump’s Plans to 'Accelerate' AI Across Government
A new website and API called AI.gov is set to launch on the Fourth of July.
waymo
Waymo Pauses Service in Downtown LA Neighborhood Where They're Getting Lit on Fire
A company spokesperson said it is working with law enforcement to determine when it can move the cars that have been.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Activism and Evangelism
This week, we discuss the phrase "activist journalist," waiting in line for a Switch 2, and teledildonics.
DHS
TSA Working on Haptic Tech To 'Feel' Your Body in Virtual Reality
The tech would "detect the contour of a target (a person and/or an object) at a distance, optionally penetrating through clothing" and transmit it to a haptic feedback glove.
IRS
The IRS Tax Filing Software TurboTax Is Trying to Kill Just Got Open Sourced
Direct File has been open sourced, and its creators have left government to continue working on the "future of tax filing."