Big Brother is Watching You

[O Really]

https://www.zdnet.com/article/signal-un ... ut-people/

"In the search warrant, Santa Clara Police sought to get the name, street address, telephone number, and email address of a specific Signal user. ...

"Signal unveils how far US law enforcement will go to get information about people"

Hasn't law enforcement always made or tried to make use of all the information they could get? Even if that was just looking for and talking to potential witnesses or searching cabins? If technology changes, is it reasonable to expect that police won't use what they can? Is asking Signal for that information really any different from asking a retail store for information on the customer who bought the axe and duct tape? We've all participated in creating a world with minimal privacy and likely the genie isn't going back into the bottle.

[O Really]

When I drive the most I do is call up a map on my cell phone. No voice prompting or other distraction. If I miss a turn, it's all on me. But usually not a problem.

I find a voice prompt less distracting that having to actually look at the map. But I don't usually have to drive and navigate at the same time - navigation is Lady O's job.

What's unfortunate is that maps on phones have pretty much put Garmin out of business, yet none have an app that's anywhere near as easy to use as even the old (early 20's) standalone Garmin I used to have.

[Ulysses]

My approach is usually just a paper map, consulted prior to departure, with exits and turns noted as needed.

It worked fine before cell phones and Garmin.

Still works fine today.

[Vrede too]

Inspector general says post office surveillance program exceeded legal authority

An inspector general probe into the U.S. Postal Service surveillance program, known as iCOP, concluded that the agency did not have the legal authority to conduct the sweeping intelligence collection and surveillance of American protesters and others between 2018 and 2021....

“We determined that certain proactive searches iCOP conducted using an open-source intelligence tool from February to April 2021 exceeded the Postal Inspection Service’s law enforcement authority,” the March 25, 2022, inspector general report stated.

“Furthermore, we could not corroborate whether other work analysts completed from October 2018 through June 2021 was legally authorized.”

The audit of the program was prompted by Yahoo News’ reporting that revealed the existence of the secret program, as well as its use of facial recognition software and other sophisticated technology and software to compile and disseminate reports on Americans’ online speech and movements. A March 16, 2021, iCOP intelligence bulletin on American protesters was widely circulated by the Department of Homeland Security to state, local and federal law enforcement agencies nationwide.

Yahoo News’ reporting on the program prompted outrage from lawmakers and constitutional experts, who questioned whether the post office had the legal authority to target and collect information on U.S. citizens not suspected of any crime and with no connection to the post office.

Lock them up.

In April 2021, Yahoo News revealed the existence of the iCOP surveillance, which used analysts to trawl the internet looking for “inflammatory” posts about nationwide Black Lives Matter protests. A series of follow-up reports revealed further details about the program, which had been operating without the oversight or even the knowledge of Congress.

Of course it's racist.

... The inspector general made a series of recommendations, including a complete review and overhaul of the program and the analyst division under which it operates. Postal Service leadership responded to each recommendation, objecting to most of the report’s conclusions and arguing that it has the authority to conduct wide-ranging surveillance and intelligence collection on U.S. citizens — without needing a nexus to the post office. It agreed to review some of its policies after the completion of the internal review recommended by the inspector general.

“We strongly disagree with the overarching conclusion that the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (Inspection Service) exceeded its legal authority and conducted improper intelligence searches,” the Postal Inspection Service wrote in response to the recommendations and findings of the inspector general audit. The response was included in the report.

Maloney, the Oversight Committee chair, said: "I fully support the Inspector General’s recommendation that Postal Service management perform a full review of the Analytics Team’s responsibilities, activities, and procedures, and I look forward to reviewing its result.”

In other words, the same folks that are hostile to the IG's report will now be tasked with a "review" of their own illegal abuses of Americans and there will be no other consequences.

[Vrede too]

Beyond immigration: ICE's massive surveillance system has info on most Americans, report says

Your information could end up in the hands of Immigration and Customs Enforcement when you apply for a driver’s license, drive on the roads or sign up for utilities, a new report has found.

ICE has built a surveillance infrastructure that gives the agency access to data on most people living in the U.S. and has gone well beyond its immigration enforcement duties to become a broader domestic surveillance agency, according to an investigation released by Georgetown Law's Center on Privacy & Technology.

"Surveillance through the Department of Homeland Security is much broader than people realize. It is truly a dragnet," said Dan Bateyko, co-author of the report, called “American Dragnet: Data-Driven Deportation in the 21st Century.” ...

Totalitarian bastards. How much of the massive increases in supposed immigration funding has really been for spying on Americans?

[Vrede too]

A Dad Took Photos of His Naked Toddler (with a penile infection) for the Doctor. Google Flagged Him as a Criminal.

10 years of consequences.

This is what corporate fascism looks like, and 'Do be Evil' Google is the internet Gestapo.

[O Really]

This is also what happens when somebody ignores many years of people getting more and more easily offended and being more and more willing to bring charges for what once would have been considered innocent baby pics. Letting a pic of your toddler in the bath or playing naked with a hose in the yard get on the internet is dangerous. Putting up a toddler dick pic is guaranteed to be trouble. Give the guy a pass for being more interested in getting his kid medical help than thinking about internet security, but still.

[Vrede too]

This is also what happens when somebody ignores many years of people getting more and more easily offended and being more and more willing to bring charges for what once would have been considered innocent baby pics. Letting a pic of your toddler in the bath or playing naked with a hose in the yard get on the internet is dangerous. Putting up a toddler dick pic is guaranteed to be trouble. Give the guy a pass for being more interested in getting his kid medical help than thinking about internet security, but still.

Even if one can understand Google's initial action, it's inability or unwillingness to immediately fix things is inexcusable.

[O Really]

Even if one can understand Google's initial action, it's inability or unwillingness to immediately fix things is inexcusable.

Yeah, I totally agree they should have a working review/fix procedure.
Still, none of us here would find it a reasonable thing to do to post baby genitals. And especially when you know your pics are being backed up forever on the cloud? And especially information/image unencrypted?

[Vrede too]

Even if one can understand Google's initial action, it's inability or unwillingness to immediately fix things is inexcusable.

Yeah, I totally agree they should have a working review/fix procedure.
Still, none of us here would find it a reasonable thing to do to post baby genitals. And especially when you know your pics are being backed up forever on the cloud? And especially information/image unencrypted?

It's not like it was a public post. Maybe MDs need a method for secure transmission, or at least something that Google can verify before freaking out. This guy suffered tangible damage for pursuing his child's health, he's due compensation.

[O Really]

A lot of Dr.'s offices don't accept patient email, and some accept email through their encrypted system or through a secure patient portal. The problem here seems to be the Google cloud backup. It's like back in the day if you took a pic of your kid's genitals and took the film to a photo stand. If or you had the pic on your laptop and took it in for repair.

Still, you're right - Google should be able/willing to fix it promptly. Maybe he'll round up some others with similar stories and sue Google while publicizing the injustice widely.

[Vrede too]

https://www.zdnet.com/article/signal-un ... ut-people/

"In the search warrant, Santa Clara Police sought to get the name, street address, telephone number, and email address of a specific Signal user. ...

"Signal unveils how far US law enforcement will go to get information about people"

Hasn't law enforcement always made or tried to make use of all the information they could get? Even if that was just looking for and talking to potential witnesses or searching cabins? If technology changes, is it reasonable to expect that police won't use what they can? Is asking Signal for that information really any different from asking a retail store for information on the customer who bought the axe and duct tape? We've all participated in creating a world with minimal privacy and likely the genie isn't going back into the bottle.

Santa Clara Police had a search warrant in this case, but with other LEO e-searches:

Montana’s proposed digital privacy amendment, explained
Constitutional Amendment 48 asks voters to change the Montana Constitution to explicitly require a warrant before state and local governments access private electronic data and communications.

... At the national level, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that police must obtain a warrant to search a suspect’s cell phone during an arrest, and in 2018 that police need a warrant to search cell phone tracking data.

Bogner said his constitutional amendment follows a lead set by Michigan, where voters passed the essentially identical Proposal 2 in 2020. Missouri voters approved similar language in 2014....

YES 82%
NO 18%
Precincts Reporting 69.38%

[Vrede too]

Girl Scout mom kicked out of Rockettes show after being detected using facial recognition technology

Lawyer Kelly Conlon was denied entry to a performance of the "Christmas Spectacular" show with the Rockettes at Radio City Music Hall in New York City after facial recognition technology spotted her in the lobby.

Conlon spoke to NBC New York about being booted from the venue due to the law firm where she works, which she said was “mortifying.”

... Conlon works for a New Jersey based law firm called Davis, Saperstein and Solomon. For years, her firm has been involved in a personal injury litigation against a restaurant venue MSG Entertainment owns. MSG operates Radio City Music Hall and produces the annual holiday musical with the Rockettes....

Conlon, who does not practice law in New York and is not actively working on any cases involving MSG, said she was not able to see the performance with the Girl Scout troop. She left the lobby and waited for her daughter outside....

Sam Davis, a partner at Conlon’s firm, also addressed the situation in an interview with NBC New York.

“This whole scheme is a pretext for doing collective punishment on adversaries who would dare sue MSG in their multi-billion dollar network,” he said.

He revealed his plan to challenge the entertainment company’s license with the State Liquor Authority.

Davis explained, “The liquor license that MSG got requires them to admit members of the public, unless there are people who would be disruptive who constitute a security threat.”

He continued, “Taking a mother, separating a mother from her daughter and Girl Scouts she was watching over — and to do it under the pretext of protecting any disclosure of litigation information — is absolutely absurd. The fact they’re using facial recognition to do this is frightening. It’s un-American to do this.” ...

Hey MSG, . Maybe ERs that care about personal injury should kick your execs and lawyers to the curb. Where will this end?

[O Really]

What's more offensive - that they choose not to allow members of law firms that are suing them, or that they use facial recognition to screen people? I think MSG is just being petty assholes, but who knows what a personal injury attorney might see inside their building in the course of watching Rockettes? Wires across aisles? Seats with sharp stuff protruding? Crowding? Exits blocked? Metal-tipped shoes flying off of flung feet?

[Vrede too]

What's more offensive - that they choose not to allow members of law firms that are suing them, or that they use facial recognition to screen people?

Yes.

I think MSG is just being petty assholes, but who knows what a personal injury attorney might see inside their building in the course of watching Rockettes? Wires across aisles? Seats with sharp stuff protruding? Crowding? Exits blocked? Metal-tipped shoes flying off of flung feet?

You think MSG should expand its ban to all personal injury attorneys?

[O Really]

What's more offensive - that they choose not to allow members of law firms that are suing them, or that they use facial recognition to screen people?

Yes.

I think MSG is just being petty assholes, but who knows what a personal injury attorney might see inside their building in the course of watching Rockettes? Wires across aisles? Seats with sharp stuff protruding? Crowding? Exits blocked? Metal-tipped shoes flying off of flung feet?

You think MSG should expand its ban to all personal injury attorneys?

Again, I don't agree with the policy and think they're petty assholes. But personal injury attorneys in general don't go around looking for hazards, they look for victims. Thus the term "ambulance chaser." But if a firm is already suing them, claiming among other things that they're negligent in this and that, and if that firm has been involved in multiple lawsuits, then you might - out of excess caution or spite - not want their lawyers snooping around your facilities. Booting out some "Girl Scout mom" from a public show, however, definitely does not have good optics.

[GoCubsGo]

NBC New York reported that Radio City Music Hall displays signs warning attendees that the venue uses “a variety of security measures, including facial recognition which uses Biometric Identifier Information” in order to “ensure safety.”

MSG Entertainment confirmed in a statement to NBC New York that Conlon and other attorneys at her firm are banned from the theater.

“MSG instituted a straightforward policy that precludes attorneys pursuing active litigation against the Company from attending events at our venues until that litigation has been resolved,” a spokesperson for MSG said in the statement. “While we understand this policy is disappointing to some, we cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently adverse environment.”

The spokesperson said, “All impacted attorneys were notified of the policy, including Davis, Saperstein and Salomon, which was notified twice.”

Who owns MSG?

[O Really]

Who owns MSG?

James L. Dolan (71.1% voting, 21.6% economic) Silver Lake Partners (≈10%)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_L._Dolan

Dolan rarely speaks with members of the media and communicates to the press through released statements or in interviews with MSG Network. In 2000, Dolan instituted media training for all Garden employees who might deal with the press and instituted an ironclad rule against team personnel criticizing others in the organization via the media.[45] Under Dolan's watch MSG implemented controversial media policies limiting access to players. Some of these measures included prohibiting reporters and Knicks' beat writers from interviewing players without an MSG public relations official present, forbidding one-on-one interviews, and excommunicating writers who write articles critical of the organization. The policies also forbid the MSG Network from being critical of the Knicks and the Rangers, regardless of their performance. Such measures were not standard practice for other NBA teams.[46] In addition, the Knicks did not make their medical staff available to the press.[47] In 2004, longtime broadcaster Marv Albert's contract was not renewed by MSG Network, allegedly because of his criticism of the Knicks' play

[Vrede too]

James L. Dolan (71.1% voting, 21.6% economic) Silver Lake Partners (≈10%)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_L._Dolan

Sounds like he went to the same team ownership school as Snyder.

EDIT: Great minds . . . (I was looking for a pic of them together)

Couch Slouch: No one does the ownership thing worse than Daniel Snyder and James Dolan

Just before the turn of the century, two monsters of a new millennium were unleashed on the unsuspecting sporting communities of New York and Washington. Twenty years later, two franchises – the NBA Knicks and the NFL R*dsk*ns – have fallen from proud to pathetic, laying in waste in a rubble-filled puddle of dysfunction and defeat.

Today we bring you an overdue comparison of the presumptive worst owners in professional sports, the Knicks’ James Dolan and the R*dsk*ns’ Daniel Snyder:

... Team Records. Under Dolan, the Knicks have the worst record in the NBA in the 21st century, winning exactly one playoff series (2013) and missing the postseason the past six years. Under Snyder, the R*dsk*ns are 142-190-1, with a grand total of two playoff victories (1999, 2005 seasons).

Coaches. Dolan has had 13 head coaches in 20 seasons, including Herb Williams twice; he fired David Fizdale this month. Snyder has only had nine coaches in 20 seasons; he fired Jay Gruden in October, asking him to report to the R*dsk*ns facility at 5 a.m. to be told of his dismissal. (At least he beat traffic.)

... Business Hiccups. Dolan reportedly lost $250 million for Cablevision when he bought the failing Wiz electronics chain, which ended up in liquidation. Snyder seized control of Six Flags, taking it into bankruptcy four years later. Apparently, integrated circuitry and theme parks ain’t in these guys’ wheelhouse.

Customer Relations: After a fan yelled at Dolan to “sell the team” following a home loss in March, Dolan banned him from Madison Square Garden for life; he has attempted to bar individuals several times from Knicks games. Snyder once banned fan signs from FedEx Field (largely to eliminate embarrassing, critical messages), once disallowed pedestrian traffic into FedEx Field (largely to prevent fans from parking at a nearby mall to avoid stadium parking fees) and sued season-ticket holders who back out of long-term contracts (largely to extract more money from the serfs).

... Hobbies. Dolan is the frontman and guitarist for the blues-inspired rock band JD & The Straight Shot. Snyder is the owner of a $180 million superyacht that includes an IMAX theater, a basketball court and a helipad; it can accommodate several hundred passengers, coincidentally about the same number of people attending R*dsk*ns home games this season.

Temperament. They both have a bad temperament.

Conclusion: Who Is Worse? With cooperation from the Johns Hopkins Advanced Physics Laboratory and ESPN Stats & Info, we created a complex analytical model to deconstruct the two owners. And the results? Remarkably, the numbers indicate that, if Dolan and Snyder swapped franchises over the last two decades, the Knicks and the R*dsk*ns would still have the exact same records over that span.

[Vrede too]

I also found this, with selected excerpts:

20 worst owners in sports history: James Dolan's spot is safe

Congratulations to Knicks owner James Dolan, for not only reminding the world why his team has stayed in the headlines for every reason besides winning basketball games, but for solidifying his place on the list of worst sports owners of all time.

Yes, all time, not just currently....

The competition is fierce, but here is a list of the 20 worst ever, and where Dolan fits in. Also, keep an eye out for a former owner who's reprising his act in a much larger field today.

... Donald Trump, Generals, USFL

The current occupant of the White House earns his berth on this list by wrecking an entire sports league in the 1980s, pretty much on his own, a rare feat. As owner of the team in the biggest market, Trump foolishly pushed a plan to move from spring to fall to compete with the NFL. Even more foolish: the antitrust suit the USFL won, but lost — they were awarded $3 in damages. Shockingly, to this day, he has taken zero responsibility for the grandiose failure.

Dean Spanos, Chargers, NFL

Added his family’s name to sports infamy with years of transparently disingenuous negotiations with the city of San Diego, a one-sided voter referendum on a new stadium to replace the crumbling old one, then a move to Los Angeles that even L.A. fans don’t want.

... Charles Comiskey, White Sox, MLB

He not only stood out for his cheapness in an era when no owner was compelled or motivated to pay players fairly, he stood out so much he inspired his players to tank a World Series.

Of course, Comiskey was considered a titan of the sport — and fans of that day, the early 1900s, took his side against the players, establishing a trend that lives on to this day.

... George Preston Marshall, Washington, NFL

As unlovable as the team’s current owner has made himself, Dan Snyder has nothing on the vile legacy of its founder. Marshall is the one who named the team "Redskins," who apparently invented a fable about whom it was named for and who came up with a fight song that included a line about "scalping" and managed to have "Dixie" as part of its melody. (Both were deleted in later years.)

He also fought for decades to keep black players out of the NFL, culminating in them being the last team to sign one … in 1962, 16 years after the league was re-integrated.

Dan Snyder, Washington, NFL ...

George Steinbrenner, Yankees, MLB ...

... Marge Schott, Reds, MLB

Essentially the Donald Sterling of baseball; her multiple suspensions in the 1990s for numerous heinous comments about blacks (including her own players), Jews, Asians and Nazis were pointed out as precedent when the NBA banned Sterling two decades later. Her mismanagement of the Reds themselves became a footnote. She finally sold the team in 1999.

James Dolan, Knicks, NBA ...

...