Privacy Experts, Senators Demand Investigation of Amazon’s Child Data Collection Practices
May 12th, 2019Via: The Intercept:
Last year, a coalition of privacy advocates and child psychologists warned against putting an Amazon Alexa speaker anywhere near your child on the fairly reasonable grounds that developing minds shouldn’t befriend always-on surveillance devices, no matter how cute the packaging. Now, a group of privacy researchers, attorneys, and U.S. senators are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Amazon’s alleged violations of COPPA, a law protecting the littlest users of all.
COPPA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, regulates how companies can collect and use data on users who might have trouble spelling “privacy,” let alone understand it enough to consent to relinquishing it. COPPA is the reason why so many sites, like Facebook, simply don’t allow children under 13 to sign up. Amazon, on the other hand, decided to court children for its data collection business, releasing the Amazon Echo Dot Kids Edition, an always-listening “smart speaker” that retains all of the functions of its adult counterpart, but tucks them inside a candy-colored shell. The kiddo speaker also adds child-specific features, like the ability to have Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa read your child a story in her disembodied robo-voice, or play child-geared content from sources like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.
A new complaint drafted by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, the consumer privacy group Center for Digital Democracy, and Georgetown University’s Institute for Public Representation says that Amazon is committing a litany of COPPA violations through the Echo Dot Kids Edition, and calls on the FTC to investigate.
Amazon’s COPPA violations, according to the complaint, include failure to provide parental notice and obtain parental consent for online services related to the kids’ Echo Dot, failure to tell parents that they have a right to review personal information submitted by their child, and failure to provide parents a way to delete such information or opt out of its collection.
Bitcoin’s First $1,000 Weekend Since 2017 Marks Nine-Month High
May 12th, 2019Via: Bloomberg:
Bitcoin surged more than $1,000 this weekend to the highest level since August, as cryptocurrencies extended their rebound from a slump last month amid the New York attorney general’s investigation of a key part of the market.
Bitcoin rose as much as 6.9% to $7,445, before trading at $7,323.86 as of 2:15 p.m. Hong Kong time on Sunday, according to Bitstamp. That compares with $6,290.24 at Friday’s close.
Mexico Wants to Decriminalize All Drugs and Negotiate With the U.S. to Do the Same
May 11th, 2019And wreck the CIA’s illicit drug running business? I don’t think so.
Imagine the whinging you’d hear from the militarized cop industrial complex.
Also, what would become of the private prison industry?
Oh no no no, Mexico, let’s not go there.
Via: Newsweek:
Mexico’s president released a new plan last week that called for radical reform to the nation’s drug laws and negotiating with the United States to take similar steps.
The plan put forward by the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, often referred to by his initials as AMLO, calls for decriminalizing illegal drugs and transferring funding for combating the illicit substances to pay for treatment programs instead. It points to the failure of the decades-long international war on drugs, and calls for negotiating with the international community, and specifically the U.S., to ensure the new strategy’s success.
“The ‘war on drugs’ has escalated the public health problem posed by currently banned substances to a public safety crisis,” the policy proposal, which came as part of AMLO’s National Development Plan for 2019-2024, read. Mexico’s current “prohibitionist strategy is unsustainable,” it argued.
Dentists in Oregon Are Vaccinators Now
May 9th, 2019Via: The Vaccine Reaction:
Governor Kate Brown of Oregon signed a bill on May 6, 2019 that will allow dentists in that state to administer vaccinations. House Bill 2220, which passed Oregon’s House of Representatives on Mar. 28, 2019 and Senate on Apr. 25, will make it possible for dentists to give vaccines, including MMR, HPV and annual flu shots, to their patients during dental checkups.
Jeff Bezos Planning Blue Origin Moon Missions
May 9th, 2019Via: Reuters:
Billionaire entrepreneur Jeff Bezos, the founder of rocket company Blue Origin, will unveil plans on Thursday for missions to the moon tailored to the U.S. government’s renewed push to establish a lunar outpost in just five years, people familiar with the matter said.
1,000 Guns Found in Bel-Air Mansion Linked to Getty Family
May 9th, 2019Very, very strange.
Read this for background: The curious case of Cynthia Beck’s abandoned Malibu and Bel Air mansions
And now…
Via: Los Angeles Times:
A 57-year-old man identified in court records as the longtime companion of Los Angeles real estate mogul Cynthia Beck was arrested Wednesday after authorities seized more than 1,000 guns from a home in Holmby Hills.
Girard Saenz was taken into custody on suspicion of unlawful transportation and of giving, lending or selling an assault weapon. He is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail, according to the Los Angeles Police Department and court records.
Authorities discovered the cache of weapons while serving a search warrant at the home in the 100 block of North Beverly Glen Boulevard at 4 a.m. Wednesday as part of a joint LAPD and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigation, said Officer Mike Lopez, an LAPD spokesman.
Police launched the probe after they received an anonymous tip about a person manufacturing and selling guns at the home, Lopez said.
The ATF said in a statement that its agents searched the home after discovering an individual was illegally selling firearms outside the scope of the federal license the person possesses.
The Bel-Air mansion was described as a hoarder’s paradise. Court records show the property is owned by Cynthia Beck, who has three daughters with J. Paul Getty’s son Gordon Getty. Beck bought the property in January 2001, but it remains unclear what, if any, connection she has to Wednesday’s events. Beck could not be reached for comment.
Public records show Beck and Saenz together own several pieces of property in Los Angeles and an office building in San Francisco.
IBM: Use AI to Identify Vaccine-Hesitant Parents
May 8th, 2019Mmm hmm.
Via: IEEE:
Growing skepticism toward vaccines has sparked a flareup of measles outbreaks affecting New York City neighborhoods, cruise ships, international airports and even Google’s Mountain View headquarters. To help family physicians reach out to vaccine-hesitant parents, data scientists have shown how computer models can predict the likelihood that an individual child’s parents will not get him or her vaccinated.
Since 2016, the world has witnessed a resurgence in measles cases and deaths as more people choose not to vaccinate their children—a decision that is often influenced by misinformation spread online through social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. By identifying families at greatest risk of not getting vaccinated, computer models could enable health officials and physicians to talk with parents at the stage when they remain undecided about vaccines.
“The reason why this could be useful is that, while it’s very hard to persuade someone once they’ve made up their mind, it might be easier if we know early enough and approach them in a friendly manner explaining why it’s important that their children be vaccinated,” says Tin Oreskovic, a data scientist at IBM’s Chief Analytics Office.
Nearly One in Two Americans Takes Prescription Drugs
May 8th, 2019Via: Bloomberg:
Americans are good at popping pills. About 46 percent of the U.S. population used one or more prescription drugs in the past 30 days, according to a survey from the National Center for Health Statistics. With almost half the U.S. population taking drugs, it may be surprising that this figure is a slight improvement from 10 years prior.
Japan Leads the Way in Child Health: No Compulsory Vaccines. Banned Measles Mumps Rubella (MMR) Vaccine
May 5th, 2019As the ghastly Washington Post runs an opinion piece recommending arrests, fines and isolation for people who don’t vaccinate their children…
Via: Global Research:
The U.S. has the very highest infant mortality rate of all industrialized developed countries, with more American children dying at birth and in their first year than in any other comparable nation—and more than half of those who survive develop at least one chronic illness.
American children would be better served if these officials—before imposing questionable and draconian measures—studied child health outcomes in Japan. With a population of 127 million, Japan has the healthiest children and the very highest “healthy life expectancy” in the world—and the least vaccinated children of any developed country. The U.S., in contrast, has the developed world’s most aggressive vaccination schedule in number and timing, starting at pregnancy, at birth and in the first two years of life. Does this make U.S. children healthier? The clear answer is no. The U.S. has the very highest infant mortality rate of all industrialized countries, with more American children dying at birth and in their first year than in any other comparable nation—and more than half of those who survive develop at least one chronic illness. Analysis of real-world infant mortality and health results shows that U.S. vaccine policy does not add up to a win for American children.
Computer Chips Based on Biological Neurons May Help Simulate Larger and More-Complex Brain Models
May 5th, 2019Via: The Scientist:
Neuromorphic chips’ ability to perform complex computational tasks while consuming very little power has caught the attention of the tech industry. The potential commercial applications of neuromorphic chips include power-efficient supercomputers, low-power sensors, and self-learning robots. But biologists have a different application in mind: building a fully functioning replica of the human brain.
