Topicsgovernment ethics13 items
After reading the measure, Proposition 40 is a one-time billionaire wealth tax plus a broad billion-dollar net-assets declaration—not the two cartoons in the commercials.
Inspired by oag.ca.gov · California Attorney General
A federal judge ruled the Anthropic blacklisting unlawful. The harder question is what “unlawful” means when consequences arrive before the courts.
Inspired by nytimes.com · The New York Times
A paper on “agentic flooding” shows AI making government services easier to navigate. Friction was the rate limiter; the worst response is rebuilding that burden on purpose.
Inspired by arxiv.org · Chris Schmitz, Lewis Hammond and Alan Chan
The New York Times and Slashdot on Samuel Tunick—GrapheneOS duress at CBP Atlanta, a § 2232(a) felony, and whether using a privacy tool during a disputed search can itself become the crime.
Inspired by m.slashdot.org · Slashdot
Curious Quail’s comparison of Aaron Swartz’s JSTOR prosecution with Meta torrenting LibGen and Anna’s Archive for Llama—the cases are not legally identical; the proportionality is hard to ignore.
Inspired by blog.curiousquail.com · Curious Quail
Littleton, Massachusetts says Flock Safety reactivated license plate cameras the town had deactivated for privacy review—without notice—raising whether municipalities actually control the surveillance systems they pay for.
Inspired by lowellsun.com · The Lowell Sun
Savannah fired four officers and two civilians for personal Flock Safety searches—127 inappropriate queries among ~39,000 this year—showing audit logs catch abuse after the fact, not as access control for nationwide plate data.
Inspired by wtoc.com · WTOC
Houston-area agencies are investigating officers accused of using Flock’s license plate database for personal stalking, while the Institute for Justice has documented at least 28 ALPR misuse cases—showing audit logs do not prevent abuse when nobody reviews them.
Inspired by chron.com · Chron
GrapheneOS responds to prosecution involving its duress-password feature by stating that creating and using the OS is legal and constitutionally protected—arguing privacy tools need funding, legal durability, and a nonprofit structure that can protect contributors when the software becomes inconvenient.
Inspired by x.com · GrapheneOS
404 Media documents show Verona, Wisconsin asked Flock to remove ALPR cameras after the contract ended, then bagged them while waiting—arguing surveillance gear should stop collecting data and leave promptly when a city votes it out.
Inspired by 404media.co · 404 Media
The Guardian covers NoMark and others targeting Flock Safety cameras—arguing the real story is searchable mass vehicle tracking of innocent drivers, and that invasive ALPR networks need warrants, short retention, audits, and public approval before becoming everyday infrastructure.
Inspired by theguardian.com · Jonah Valdez
Zack Whittaker reports federal prosecutors charged an American who allegedly entered a GrapheneOS duress password during a CBP phone search—treating a coercion-protection feature as destruction of property to prevent seizure.
Inspired by techcrunch.com · Zack Whittaker
Truth Social plans to sell banks and trading firms the fastest access to the president’s market-moving posts. Public presidential announcements should not become a premium product that enriches a business tied to the office.
Inspired by nbcnews.com · Deborah Mary Sophia and Saqib Iqbal Ahmed
