The FBI Is Undercounting Firearm Self-Defense Incidents
"A couple million times a year, people use guns defensively," says economist and author John Lott.
Data Collection
Courts Close the Loophole Letting the Feds Search Your Phone at the Border
Customs and Border Protection insists that it can search electronics without a warrant. A federal judge just said it can't.
Here's How the CIA Plans To Use Your Ad Tracking Data
The intelligence community is admitting that info from data brokers is sensitive but isn’t accepting hard limits on how to use it.
Black People Overwhelmingly Want To Maintain—or Increase—Police Presence. They Also Want Better Police.
The dominant media narrative has obscured much of the nuance here.
Murder Rates Are Plummeting. What Should We Make of It?
In data from over 200 cities, homicides are down a little over 19 percent when compared to a similar time frame in 2023.
New Privacy Rights Act Exempts Government and Gives More Power to the FTC
An interview with Consumer Choice Center Deputy Director Yaël Ossowski.
The Bad Science Behind Jonathan Haidt's Call to Regulate Social Media
Only 22 of the 476 studies in The Anxious Generation contain data on either heavy social media use or serious mental issues among adolescents, and none have data on both.
Most Americans Aren't Buying Biden's Misleading Narrative That the Economy Is Getting Better
The question of how best to measure inflation has no single and straightforward answer, but most people know that the president's economic claims aren't true.
The Spy in Your Pocket
Byron Tau's Means of Control documents how the private sector helps government agencies keep tabs on American citizens.
Government Is Snooping on Your Phone
Many apps collect data that is then accessed by outside entities. Should you care?
NSA Purchases Internet Metadata To Spy on You Without a Warrant
A new letter from Sen. Ron Wyden (D–Ore.) reveals that the agency admitted the practice nearly three years ago but would not allow him to reveal it.
New Zealand Keeps Doxxing Registered Gun Owners
The events expose an underappreciated downside to government registries: In addition to civil liberties concerns, so much information in a concentrated database is a potential privacy nightmare.
Massachusetts Considers Ban on Sale of Phone Location Data
Abortion and privacy activists join over concerns that cell phones track our movements.
Biden's Flip-Flop on Warrantless Surveillance
Plus: Montanans challenge ban on drag story hour, Arizona approves birth control without a prescription, and more...
European Union Fines Meta $1.3 Billion Because of NSA Spying Programs
The record penalty seems to be based less on the Facebook parent company's lax data practices than the U.S. intelligence community's data-collection programs.
CDC Inflated Data About Teen Girls and Sexual Assault
Plus: Lack of independence could cause childhood mental health issues, Biden follows Trump playbook on TikTok, and more...
The Feds Are Buying Their Way Around the 4th Amendment
Government agencies have paid to access huge amounts of Americans' data.
If We Can't Abolish the No-Fly List, Can We at Least Keep It Safe?
Reviewing and improving the federal government’s data security and digital defenses should be a priority.
How Can Businesses Comply With Virginia's Proposal To Protect Children's Data? The Bill Doesn't Say.
Virginia’s children’s privacy proposal leaves businesses wondering how they can comply.
Apple Announces Stronger Data Encryption, to the Dismay of FBI Snoops
Photos and information you store on iCloud will be safer from hackers, spies, and the government.
Senate Investigation Finds Justice Department Undercounted Prison and Jail Deaths Last Year by Nearly 1,000
The report says the inaccuracies "deprived Congress and the American public of information about who is dying in custody and why."
The Federal Trade Commission vs. the Internet
Data collection is not the same as surveillance.
Homeland Security Is Buying Its Way Around the Fourth Amendment
Plus: The Respect for Marriage Act, the Farm Workforce Modernization Act, and more...
Should Women Delete Their Period Tracker Apps in the Wake of Dobbs?
Grappling with surveillance implications of Roe being overturned
Trade Associations, Chamber of Commerce Warn of Danger in Data Privacy Bill
Plus: Purity politics, the end of the "millennial consumer subsidy," an unhappy outcome for folks seeking to free Happy the elephant, and more...
One Year Later, No One Has Been Punished for the IRS Leak of Billionaires' Tax Data
The IRS isn’t just a powerful federal agency, it’s a weapon against the public.
Biden Has His Eye on Bitcoin
The president's anticipated executive order stopped short of feared regulations but suggests federal unease with uncontrolled development.
Smile! The IRS Wants You To Send Selfies to a Facial Recognition Company
Plus: What the U.S. should do about Ukraine, America’s geriatric music market, and more…
The Family Firm
Context, tradeoffs, and preferences matter—both in parenting and outside of it.
55 Percent of Police Killings Are Misclassified as Other Causes of Death
Plus: Christian flag case coming to SCOTUS, Merck pill could treat COVID-19, a reversal on migrant expulsions, and more...
Cuomo Replacement Kathy Hochul Says New York's Real COVID Death Toll Is 12,000 Higher Than Cuomo Claimed
Hochul’s office reports that some 55,400 people have died of the coronavirus in New York, much higher than the 43,400 claimed by Cuomo, who left office Monday.
China's New Data Privacy Law Doesn't Protect People Against the Biggest Threat: The Government
The law just addresses use of individuals' data by private companies, carving out exceptions for government harvesting of data.
Lawmakers Look To Stop the Feds From Secretly Buying Your Private Data
A 2018 Supreme Court decision was supposed to protect your location data from federal snooping. That’s not what happened.
The Massive SolarWinds Hack Won't Stop the Feds from Wanting All Your Data
Government surveillance doesn't just violate privacy rights; it’s a major security risk.
Not All COVID-19 Tracking Apps Respect Privacy, But Some Pass the Test
New apps can work as surveillance techniques for the government. They can also serve as anonymous health tools for people hoping to return to normal life.
Public and Private Sectors Clash on Contact Tracing
Apple and Google’s API promises to put privacy first. State health authorities have other ideas.
Before You Use Our GPS Travel Data To Formulate Coronavirus Policy, Make Sure You Understand the Data
Confusing travel distance with actual human mingling is no way to create smart policy.
Trump and Comey Are United Against Encrypted Communications
Don’t worry—America’s ruling factions still disagree over who should be in charge of the snooping.
Pentagon Memo Warns Against Identification Risks of Consumer Genetic Testing
That horse has left the barn.
Are California's New Data Privacy Controls Even Legal?
A new paper raises constitutional questions about expansive state-level regulations that reach beyond their borders.
Do We Need a World Data Organization?
Democratic presidential hopeful Andrew Yang thinks so.
Judge Rules Feds Need Reasonable Suspicion Before Searching Tech Devices at the Border
Fourth Amendment protections against warrantless searches are reduced when entering the country, but they’re not completely erased.
'Data Portability' Bill Would Risk User Privacy and Crush Social Media Startups
Plus: Court says scraping social media profiles is not hacking, and more...
What 'Rights' Do We Have When We're Talking About Our Private Online Data?
Defining terms is tricky, particularly when governments with bad track records on privacy want to call the shots.
The Same FBI That Wants To Destroy Encryption Is Still Illegally Snooping on Americans
Years after surveillance reforms, federal personnel can’t seem to comply with the Fourth Amendment.
Did You Download an App that Connects to Your Rifle Scope? If So, the Justice Department Wants to Know Who You Are.
Feds go fishing for private data in order to track down illegal exporters.
Now Microsoft Supports an American GDPR. Which Tech Giant Wouldn't?
Government-mandated privacy regulations will allow the most powerful companies to game it to their advantage.
