Author: Joe from MassPrivateI

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

In case you were wondering, the evolution of the “smart” product (read: a product that invades your privacy and sells the ensuing data) hasn’t skipped the automobile industry. And of course, this means your car will soon be collecting data on you.

A new report by Reuters notes that at CES in Las Vegas this year, start up companies are going to be looking to demonstrate to automakers how their technology gathers data on drivers – all for enhanced safety purposes. Sure.   Continue reading “Cars Will Soon Be Monitoring Their Drivers And Selling The Data They Collect”

MassPrivateI

The U.S. Border Patrol (CBP) and the TSA claim they need to secretly spy on everyone’s social media accounts so they can understand a person’s relationship with their friends, family and the government.

According to a DHS report published last month, nothing can stop the Border Patrol or the TSA from secretly spying on everyone’s social media accounts.   Continue reading “Border Patrol and the TSA allowed to secretly spy on everyone’s social media accounts”

Miami New Times

Florida law prohibits police departments from using drones to surveil citizens. So Miami Beach cops instead got a small blimp.

On December 28, MBPD flew a tiny, helium-filled dirigible, or “tethered aerostat,” over an Orange Bowl-related party called the Capital One Beach Bash. A camera attached to the balloon monitored the moves of 15,000 patrons, according to a letter City Manager Jimmy Morales sent to the city’s commission on January 3.   Continue reading “Miami Beach Police Using Surveillance Blimp in Possible Violation of Florida’s Police-Drone Ban”

AZ Family – by Catherine Mejia

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) — Phoenix police investigators are testing DNA samples from men who work at a Phoenix nursing facility in response to a vegetative patient giving birth there last week.

Hacienda HealthCare confirmed the search warrant for DNA samples Tuesday evening.  Continue reading “Phoenix PD obtain DNA samples from Hacienda HealthCare staff week after vegetative patient gives birth”

IONTB – by Steven Hirschfield

A patrol deputy has resigned after he admittedly mailed a toy bomb to a Sheriff’s Office lieutenant as a joke causing an evacuation at the Sheriff’s Administration Building.

The incident occurred at about 3 p.m. on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 at the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office Administration Building located at 10750 Ulmerton Road.   Continue reading “Pinellas Deputy Resigned After Mailing A Toy Bomb To Agency Lieutenant”

WBEZ 91.5

Sandra Botello moved to Chicago five years ago for what she called “the opportunities.”

Now 41, she and her children had been evicted from her home in Idaho when her landlord’s property was foreclosed.   Continue reading “Chicago Seized And Sold Nearly 50,000 Cars Over Tickets Since 2011, Sticking Owners With Debt”

WTHR 13

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WTHR) — Two South Carolina state representatives are preparing to introduce a school safety proposal as the General Assembly will be back in session Jan. 8.

Democratic Reps. Wendy Brawley and Ivory Thigpen would like to see South Carolina put a 7 percent fee on all gun purchases that will go toward paying to have a school resource officer at every public school in the state.   Continue reading “South Carolina lawmakers propose 7 percent fee on gun purchases to fund school resource officers”

USA Today

WASHINGTON – Serious misconduct by senior federal prison officials is “largely tolerated or ignored altogether” as the agency fostered a culture in which some were shielded from discipline or even commended for their service by colleagues, according to a new congressional review.

“For high-ranking officers, bad behavior is ignored or covered up on a regular basis, and certain officials who should be investigated can avoid discipline,” House investigators concluded in a nine-page report for the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.  Continue reading “Congressional report: Misconduct by federal prison leaders ‘ignored’ and ‘covered up’ on a regular basis”

New York Times – by Natasha Singer

A police officer on the late shift in an Ohio town recently received an unusual call from Facebook.

Earlier that day, a local woman wrote a Facebook post saying she was walking home and intended to kill herself when she got there, according to a police report on the case. Facebook called to warn the Police Department about the suicide threat.   Continue reading “In Screening for Suicide Risk, Facebook Takes On Tricky Public Health Role”

Reason – by Jacob Sullum

As of Tuesday, adults younger than 21 are no longer allowed to buy semi-automatic rifles in Washington, thanks to a ballot initiative approved by 59 percent of that state’s voters last November. The initiative, I-1639, officially targets “semiautomatic assault rifles,” but its definition of that term is so broad that it renders the assault part superfluous, except for tendentious rhetorical purposes.   Continue reading “Washington Redefines All Semi-Automatic Rifles As ‘Assault Weapons’”

Reason – by Scott Shackford

Yet again, a cop has invoked a law intended to shield the privacy of crime victims to keep his name from being released after he killed a suspect.

At the end of November, a Pennington County sheriff’s deputy shot and killed Matthew John Lorenzen, 19, of Rapid City, South Dakota. According to police reports, Lorenzen led deputies on a chase and allegedly shot at them. Lorenzen then rolled his SUV into a ditch and, according to the sheriff’s department, exited his vehicle holding the weapon, which prompted the deputy to shoot him.   Continue reading “Are We About to See a Wave of Police Using ‘Victim’s Rights’ Laws to Keep Conduct Secret?”

The Guardian – by Jamie Fullerton

Vietnam has introduced a new cybersecurity law, which criminalises criticising the government online and forces internet providers to give authorities’ user data when requested, sparking claims of a “totalitarian” crackdown on dissent.

The law, which mirrors China’s draconian internet rules, came into effect on 1 January and forces internet providers to censor content deemed “toxic” by the ruling communist government. Vietnam’s ministry of public security said it will tackle “hostile and reactionary forces”, but human rights groups said it was authorities’ latest method of silencing free speech.   Continue reading “Vietnam criticised for ‘totalitarian’ law banning online criticism of government”

Dayton Daily News

NEW VIENNA — A former New Vienna police chief accused of misusing donations for a police K-9 was indicted by a Clinton County grand jury.

Clinton Brown was indicted Dec. 18 on theft in office, a fourth-degree felony, according to the Ohio Auditor’s Office.   Continue reading “Former New Vienna police chief indicted for misusing K-9 donations”

WTNH 4 News

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (WTNH) – Connecticut state law is making flu shots for Pre-K students between the ages of 2 and 4 mandatory. Kids have until Monday to get the vaccine or they won’t be able to go back to school.

To protect you and your kids from the flu, the city of New Haven wll hold a flu clinic at the Health Department building on 54 Meadow street from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.     Continue reading “Connecticut law states mandatory flu shot for Pre-K students before the new year”

NPR

In 1983, Utah was the first state to lower its blood alcohol limit from 0.10 to 0.08 for impaired driving. It would take nearly two decades for every state to follow suit, but as they did, the nation’s rate of alcohol-related traffic deaths dropped 10 percent. Now, Utah is pioneering the move to lower it once again.

Beginning Dec. 30 — yes, the day before New Year’s Eve — Utahns will have to be extra careful about drinking and driving. On Sunday, the state’s blood alcohol content limit will drop from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent, marking the strictest DUI law in the country.   Continue reading “Utah First In The Nation To Lower Its DUI Limit To .05 Percent”