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Tag: privacy

AP Photo/Patrick Semansky

Americans Are Aggressively Pro-Government Spying

We’ve known for years that most Americans support the National Security Agency’s mass surveillance apparatus. Poll after poll shows that about roughly 53 percent of Americans think the government should prioritize investigating terrorism over privacy.

Breitbart California in Sacramento (Joel Pollak / Breitbart News)

Ethics Bills to Tackle ‘Zero’ Transparency in Sacramento

The California state legislature, which has relatively free rein to conduct much of its business without being scrutinized by the public, may soon have to face rules demanding greater transparency. Unlike other agencies of the state government, the Associated Press notes, which fall under the narrow umbrella of the California Public Records Act, the legislature has been constrained by the more lenient Legislative Open Records Act, which permits many of its actions to be shrouded in secrecy.

Tim Cook, Apple Watch (Associated Press)

Apple’s Watch Will Save Thousands of Lives, But Privacy Is An Issue

Apple unveiled its highly anticipated health-tracking Watch today, along with a breakthrough initiative to vastly increase the research resources of the global medical community. With a new app, ResearchKit, millions of Apple users can now offer crucial data on their daily habits to approved medical researchers.

An Alexandria Police Department squad car is seen outfitted with a license plate scanner mounted to the trunk, Tuesday, July 16, 2013, in Alexandria, Va. Local police departments across the country have amassed millions of digital records on the location and movements of vehicles with a license plate using automated scanners. Affixed to police cars, bridges or buildings, the scanners capture images of passing or parked vehicles and note their location, dumping that information into police databases. Departments keep the records for weeks or even years. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Police Departments Quietly Equipped with Device That Lets Them See Through Walls

Modern police have radar guns that allow them to see through the walls of houses, and they’ve been using them for the past two years without telling the public. In fact, they still haven’t formally announced the technology. If no one has briefed him yet, I would like to volunteer to be the guy who tells Senator Rand Paul about the drone that can see through walls.

AP Photo/Jeff Chiu

Open Offices: Collectivist Theory Ruins Industrial Design

Writing at the Washington Post, Lindsey Kaufman pens a witty critique of a trend that sounds absolutely horrifying: the rise of the “Open Office.” I haven’t experienced such a work environment personally, but I’m not sure my good humor would survive it as well as Kaufman’s has.