Author: Joe from MassPrivateI

World Public Union – by Moritz Nestor

Fortunately, the Swiss National Advisory Commission on Biomedical Ethics (NEK, President: Otfried Höffe) critically commented on the use of the ADHD drug Ritalin in its opinion of 22 November 2011 titled Human enhancement by means of pharmacological agents: The consumption of pharmacological agents altered the child’s behavior without any contribution on his or her part.

That amounted to interference in the child’s freedom and personal rights, because pharmacological agents induced behavioral changes but failed to educate the child on how to achieve these behavioral changes independently. The child was thus deprived of an essential learning experience to act autonomously and emphatically which “considerably curtails children’s freedom and impairs their personality development”, the NEK criticized.   Continue reading “Inventor of ADHD’s Deathbed Confession: “ADHD is a Fictitious Disease””

Tech Crunch – by Alex Wilhelm

Today the National Security Agency (NSA) discussed its program that collects billions of cellphone location records each day. The NSA targets foreign phones but also absorbs data on the phones of American citizens.

“The NSA does not target Americans’ location data by design, but the agency acquires a substantial amount of information on the whereabouts of domestic cellphones ‘incidentally,’” according to the Washington Post, which broke the story concerning program based on documents provided by Edward Snowden.   Continue reading “NSA Claims Collecting Cellphone Location Data Is Legal Under Executive Order — From 1981”

Slash Dot – by Kevin Fogarty

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have passed a milestone on the road to maturity of any new digital technology: they can now be hacked and taken over by strangers while still carrying markers that make it look as if they’re operating under directions from their proper owners.

Convicted hacker Sammy Kamkar announced on his personal blog Dec. 2 that he’d programmed a Parrot AR.Drone 2 WiFi-controlled quadricopter to patrol an area autonomously, searching for other drones, then hack and take over their control software using a battery of tools installed on a Raspberry Pi Kamkar installed on the drone.   Continue reading “Hacker Posts Drone-Hijacking App as Freeware”

MassPrivateI

North Carolina: The Fourth Circuit handed down an interesting Fourth Amendment decision in United States v. Robertson, involving a consent search at a bus shelter.

Several officers converged on the bus shelter to try to figure out if any of the people at the shelter knew of a foot chase involving a gun that had just been reported in the area. Robertson was one of the men sitting at the bus shelter, and he was approached by Officer Welch. Welch asked Robinson, “Do you have anything illegal on you?”, but Robertson remained silent. Welch then waved Robertson toward him and said, “Do you mind if I search you?” Robertson stood up, walked two yards towards Officer Welch, turned around, and raised his hands above his head. Welch interpreted that as consent, and conducted a search. The search recovered a firearm, and that led to charges for illegal firearms possession.   Continue reading “Court ruling: Police searches at bus shelters are a violation of 4th. Amendment”

MassPrivateI

iOS 7 and Google Now in Android keep track of users’ locations to help the smartphone makers provide personalized information through their location-based services, like Siri. But the details they track go further than just knowing that you went to Best Buy on Saturday to check out other phones—their maps actually log in how long you were at each location.    Continue reading “How to stop your smartphone from secretly spying on your every movement”

MassPrivateI

The National Security Agency is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with U.S. intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals — and map their relationships — in ways that would have been previously unimaginable.

The records feed a vast database that stores information about the locations of at least hundreds of millions of devices, according to the officials and the documents, which were provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. New projects created to analyze that data have provided the intelligence community with what amounts to a mass surveillance tool.   Continue reading “NSA is tracking 5 billion cellphone calls everyday”

Tom’s Guide – by Marshall Honorof

With little more than a week left until the PlayStation 4 launches in North America, Sony has updated the device’s Software Usage Terms. Those who preordered the machine are in for a few nasty surprises: By using the system, you are giving Sony permission to spy on you through the PlayStation Network (PSN), and game publishers permission to control the content you buy.

The information comes by way of Sony itself, which outlines the upcoming console’s restrictions in sections dealing with reporting and resale.   Continue reading “PS4 Can Spy On You and Prevent Used Game Sales”

MassPrivateI

Just because a person can see the outside of your home on a public street doesn’t mean you’ve surrendered all your privacy expectations in the home. However, that seemingly obvious concept is being put to the test in a federal criminal case in Washington state, which involves the constitutionality of using a camera mounted on a pole outside a house to allow the police to watch the home for almost a month. Senior District Court Judge Edward Shea invited EFF to submit an amicus brief in the case and Monday we filed our brief, arguing prolonged warrantless video surveillance violates the Fourth Amendment.    Continue reading “Video surveillance of a home for a month without a warrant violates 4th. Amendment”

MassPrivateI

Federal prosecutors routinely threaten extraordinarily severe prison sentences to coerce drug defendants into waiving their right to trial and pleading guilty, Human Rights Watch said in a report.

In the rare cases in which defendants insist on going to trial, prosecutors make good on their threats. Federal drug offenders convicted after trial receive sentences on average three times as long as those who accept a plea bargain, according to new statistics developed by Human Rights Watch.   Continue reading “Human Rights Watch report: Drug defendants are being ‘forced’ to plead guilty”

MassPrivateI

The federal government’s (DHS/TSA) main terrorist watch list has grown to at least 700,000 people, with little scrutiny over how the determinations are made or the impact on those marked with the terrorist label.

“If you’ve done the paperwork correctly, then you can effectively enter someone onto the watch list,” said Anya Bernstein, an associate professor at the SUNY Buffalo Law School and author of “The Hidden Costs of Terrorist Watch Lists,” published by the Buffalo Law Review in May. “There’s no indication that agencies undertake any kind of regular retrospective review to assess how good they are at predicting the conduct they’re targeting.”   Continue reading “Over 850,000 people on terror watch list and it’s growing”

MassPrivateI

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is being sued over its refusal to publicly disclose a $2 million non-prosecution agreement prosecutors reached with a Houston-based tree services company that employed undocumented workers.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of Texas issued a news release in May 2012 revealing the deal between prosecutors and ABC Professional Tree Services Inc. The company agreed to forfeit $2 million in revenue that flowed from the use of undocumented workers between 2006 and 2011, DOJ officials said.   Continue reading “Non-prosecution agreements a mockery of our justice system”

MassPrivateI

There have been numerous, recent examples of this threat nationally and internationally, including the active shooter incident this month at the Garden State Plaza Mall in Paramus, NJ which garnered national attention. The persistent nature of this threat and the expectation that it will continue to rank as the most likely scenario public safety officials will have to contend with in the foreseeable future,highlights the need for law enforcement and private sector security personnel to share information and best practices to better prevent and respond to similar, future incidents. (Mall security is spying on us & encouraging citizens to spy on us while sharing their paranoia with police.)   Continue reading “DHS to retail malls: You could be a mass murder/terrorist if you take pictures in a mall”

MassPrivateI

TX – Eighteen months ago, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper making a routine traffic stop of two men driving on a highway northeast of Houston noticed both were chewing on a wad of green leaves. His subsequent search of the car launched a yearlong investigation involving local, state and national law enforcement agencies that has so far resulted in more than a half-dozen arrests in the Houston area.   Continue reading “WTF? Police arresting anyone chewing olive-shaped leaves known as khat”

MassPrivateI

The second highest in Ohio decided on Wednesday that police have no business searching a motorist during a routine traffic stop for being too polite. The Court of Appeals suppressed the evidence that allowed police to seize a .40 caliber Sig Sauer and a small bag of marijuana from Joshua A. Fontaine at 2:27 am on December 12, 2012.

On that day, Ohio State Highway patrolman Jared Haslar was running a speed trap on Pearl Road in Strongsville, where the speed limit is 35 MPH. Patrolman Haslar claims his radar gun clocked Fontaine at 45 MPH, so he pulled him over. In the course of the stop, Fontaine cheerfully handed over his license, proof of insurance, and registration. This caused the officer to suspect criminal activity.   Continue reading “Court throws out conviction of a man who was searched because he was too polite”

Live Science – by Bahar Gholipour

White wine, beer and Brussels sprouts can be major sources of the toxic metal arsenic in people’s diets, according to a new study.

Researchers analyzed the diets of 852 people in New Hampshire, and the levels of arsenic in their toenails, which show long-term exposure to the chemical.   Continue reading “White Wine and Beer Important Sources of Arsenic”

MassPrivateI

New York – The NYPD wants business owners to help solve crime in one Harlem precinct by turning their security cameras to the street.

NYPD Precinct Cmdr. Rodney Harrison has asked local businesses to help the NYPD by turning their security cameras outward in an attempt to capture crime and assist police in capturing criminals. The program has been dubbed “Grid Search.”   Continue reading “Police tell businesses to turn their security cameras toward streets and spy on citizens”