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“They’re adding these code snippets and adding these functionalities and they think they’re getting a nifty analytics tool and a way to hone the targeting of their advertisements,” [EPIC’s John Davisson] said. “Meanwhile, the company is exposing itself to liability and putting the users at risk of significant privacy harm.”
Read the full article here.
Are you in need of a spacious dog crate for your extra large pooch? Look no further! The xxlarge dog crate is the perfect solution for your furry friend.
A XXL dog crate is typically 48 inches in length, 30 inches in width, and 33 inches in height. It is designed for dogs weighing over 90 pounds. The size of the crate may vary depending on the manufacturer and the specific model. It is always a good idea to check the dimensions of the crate before purchasing it to ensure that it is the right size for your dog.
A dog crate should be large enough for your dog to stand up, turn around, and lay down comfortably. It should not be too big, as this can make your dog feel insecure and overwhelmed. Ideally, a dog crate should be only slightly larger than your dog so that they have enough room to move around, but still feel safe and secure.
It is not recommended to keep a dog in a crate for extended periods of time. Dogs are social animals and they need interaction and stimulation. A crate can be a useful training tool, but it should never be used as a replacement for regular exercise, socialization, and human interaction.
As a general rule, a dog should not be kept in a crate for more than 4-6 hours at a time. If you need to leave your dog in the crate for longer than that, make sure to provide them with plenty of toys and chew treats to keep them entertained, and take them out for regular potty breaks and exercise. It is also a good idea to check on your dog periodically to make sure they are comfortable and not experiencing any distress.
Remember, a crate should be used as a temporary solution, not as a permanent living arrangement for your dog. Your dog’s well-being and happiness should always be your top priority.
It is possible for two dogs to share a big crate, but it is not always a good idea. Dogs are social animals and they may enjoy the company of another dog, but they also need their own space and territory. If the crate is too small, the dogs may feel cramped and uncomfortable, which can lead to conflict and potential aggression.
Before deciding to put two dogs in a big crate, it is important to consider their individual temperaments and personalities. If the dogs get along well and have a history of sharing space without any problems, then a big crate may be a suitable option. However, if the dogs are not used to being together or have a tendency to be aggressive towards each other, it is best to keep them in separate crates to prevent any potential conflicts.
Ultimately, the decision to put two dogs in a big crate should…
John Davisson, director of litigation and senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told the Washington Post, “It’s dangerous for any firm to collect this kind of … data about our browsing habits, but given that Twitter has a spotty privacy and data security history, it’s particularly alarming for Twitter to have that information.”
Read the full article here.
The European energy lobbying group 2000WATTS.org proposes that 2,000 watts is the amount of power that would be available to humans if each one of the 7.9 billion people on the planet had access to the same amount. Their concern is that our power resources are dwindling.
Whether you agree or disagree with their assumptions, it is interesting to consider how much power our frequently used appliances require. When I lived in a city, I never thought about this. I just flipped switches and paid utility bills. However, with so many parts of the country suffering power outages, I imagine that more people are now wondering, “If the power goes out, what do I do?” What could I run with a generator of this or that size? How much fuel would that require?”
Here in remote Alaska, we built our own power supply so we are alert to power hogs and power sippers that we decided to buy or do without. And since the generator we use as a backup to our solar panels and wind turbine is a Honda 2000 (producing 2,000 watts), we know how much our various appliances and tools require and which ones we can or cannot use simultaneously without tripping a circuit breaker.
A fabulous resource for prudent people adding up their power usage in order to determine an appropriately sized backup generator is Generatorist. It identifies the power draw of appliances ranging from full house A/C units to a night light, as well as commercial equipment and RV gizmos. It also lists products you can buy to measure the current draw of each appliance in your home. We have one, called a Kill A Watt.
Additionally, homeowners will find that many, but not all, machines list their amp, volt, and watt requirements in a plaque on the back or bottom.
The power hogs in any home are appliances that create heat and move water.
Therefore, at our off-grid home, we do not have any of the following electric appliances:
See Generatorist for more examples.
Instead, I hand wash dishes, line dry laundry (I love that fresh scent), cook on a propane stove/oven with a manual pilot light ignition, heat the main cabin with wood and warm the guest cabin with a propane heater. We open and close windows and curtains to impact interior temperatures. And we have an outhouse, not a flushing toilet, so no power draw there.
We also lack many gizmos that I think are rather unnecessary, like electric can openers, bread makers, and televisions.
A few high-wattage power tools are important here because we have found no convenient alternative. Most of these function for short duration, and…
Butchering at home can be a rewarding and cost-effective way to source and prepare your own meat. However, it’s important to understand the proper techniques and safety measures to ensure a successful and sanitary process. Here are some tips to help you with butchering at home:
Butchering your own meat animals can be emotional, but also a very rewarding experience. It can seem like a very overwhelming task but with the right equipment and…
On December 5, EPIC and Public Justice filed an amicus brief in Martinez v. ZoomInfo Technologies, Inc., urging the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm that plaintiffs can sue companies that violate people’s right to control how and when their identities are used to sell goods.
The case involves a plaintiff, Ms. Kim Martinez, who is suing the people-search site ZoomInfo for using her personal information without her consent to sell subscriptions to its site. Ms. Martinez argues that ZoomInfo committed the common law tort of misappropriation and violated her California statutory right of publicity, which is based on the common law tort. Recent Supreme Court cases TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez and Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins have made it harder for some plaintiffs to establish “standing” or the ability to bring a suit in court. These cases direct courts to look at whether the harm caused by the violation of a person’s right has a “close relationship” with a harm traditionally recognized by courts. The Supreme Court explicitly stated that the privacy torts, of which misappropriation is one, cause harms that confer standing. Despite that language, ZoomInfo argues that Ms. Martinez does not have standing to bring a lawsuit because, even if the company did violate the law, it did not harm Ms. Martinez in any way. The question in the appeal is what Ms. Martinez must allege to establish that she has been harmed.
Arguing in favor of Ms. Martinez, EPIC and Public Justice submitted an amicus brief explaining that plaintiffs who properly allege that a defendant has misappropriated their identity, either under the common law or a statute, have established standing because their privacy rights have been violated. EPIC noted that the Supreme Court specifically highlighted privacy torts as being ones that establish standing to sue. EPIC explained the history of the misappropriation tort and the harms it protects against, showing why Ms. Martinez did enough to establish standing.
EPIC regularly files amicus briefs in cases concerning individuals’ ability to establish standing so that they may sue in court.
Proper storage of animal feed is essential for maintaining its quality and ensuring it is safe for your animals to eat. Here are some tips for storing animal feed:
Do you already have your own an animal feed storage system? Let us know in the comments.
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The Federal Reserve is sowing the seeds for its central bank digital currency (CBDC). It may seem that the purpose of a CBDC is to facilitate transactions and enhance economic activity, but CBDCs are mainly about more government control over individuals. If a CBDC were implemented, the central bank would have access to all transactions in addition to being capable of freezing accounts.
It may seem dystopian—something that only totalitarian governments would do—but there have been recent cases of asset freezing in Canada and Brazil. Moreover, a CBDC would give the government the power to determine how much a person can spend, establish expiration dates for deposits, and even penalize people who saved money.
The war on cash is also a reason why governments want to implement CBDCs. The end of cash would mean less privacy for individuals and would allow central banks to maintain a monetary policy of negative interest rates with greater ease (since individuals would be unable to withdraw money commercial banks to avoid losses).
Once the CBDC arrives, instead of a deposit being a commercial bank’s liability, a deposit would be the central bank’s liability.
In 2020, China launched a digital yuan pilot program. As mentioned by Seeking Alpha, China wants to implement a CBDC because “this would give [the government] a remarkable amount of information about what consumers are spending their money on.”
The government could easily track digital payments with a CBDC. Bloomberg noted in an article published when the digital yuan pilot program was launched that the digital currency “offers China’s authorities a degree of control never possible with cash.” A CBDC could allow the Chinese government to monitor mobile app purchases (which accounted for about 16 percent of the country’s gross domestic product in 2020) more closely. Bloomberg describes how much control a CBDC could give Chinese authorities:
The PBOC [People’s Bank of China] has also indicated that it could put limits on the sizes of some transactions, or even require an appointment to make large ones. Some observers wonder whether payments could be linked to the emerging social-credit system, wherein citizens with exemplary behavior are “whitelisted” for privileges, while those with criminal and other infractions find themselves left out.
(Details on China’s social credit system can be found here.)
The Chinese government is waging war on cash. And they are not alone. In 2017, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published a document offering suggestions to governments—even in the face of strong public opposition—on how to move toward a cashless society. Governments and central bankers claim that the shift to a cashless society will help prevent crime and increase convenience for ordinary people. But the real motivation behind the war on cash is more government control over the individual.
And the US is getting ready to establish its own CBDC (or something similar). The first step was taken in August, when the Fed announced FedNow. FedNow will be an instant payment system and is scheduled to be launched between May and July 2023.
FedNow is practically…
On November 22, EPIC and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed an amicus brief in Peter Maldini v. Marriott International, Inc., urging the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm that plaintiffs can sue companies that negligently allow hackers to steal customers’ sensitive personal data.
In 2018, Marriott announced that its customers were the victims of one of the largest data breaches in history. Hackers made off with millions of customers’ names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, payment-card information, and in some cases, passport information, room preferences, and travel destinations. Marriott’s data security practices before the breach were weak, and the company knew it. Marriott’s own employees described its security practices as the “cumulative effect” of “having a couple of shots of tequila . . . every night for years,” making Marriott “vulnerable to [a] weak defense in the court of law in case of a breach.”
Plaintiffs sued Marriott, alleging that the company’s negligence led to the data breach and harmed the plaintiffs. But Marriott and its co-defendant Accenture claim that the court must throw out the plaintiffs’ claims because they have not established that the defendants’ conduct harmed the plaintiffs in any real way. They essentially argue that the plaintiffs’ alleged privacy harm is not real, so each plaintiff must prove a specific amount of economic harm from having their personal information stolen.
Recent Supreme Court cases TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez and Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins have made it harder for some plaintiffs to establish “standing” or the ability to bring a suit in court. These cases direct courts to look at whether the harm caused by the violation of a person’s right has a “close relationship” with a harm traditionally recognized by courts. The Supreme Court explicitly stated that the privacy torts cause harms that confer standing.
Arguing in favor of the plaintiffs, EPIC and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, with help from Morgan and Morgan, submitted an amicus brief explaining that plaintiffs who properly allege that a defendant’s negligence harmed their privacy have established standing because their privacy rights have been violated. EPIC and the EFF noted that the Supreme Court specifically highlighted privacy torts as being ones that establish standing to sue. EPIC and EFF also described the harms that data breaches cause.
See the EFF’s Deeplinks blog for more analysis. EPIC regularly submits amicus briefs in cases involving standing and consumer protection issues.
Consumer advocacy groups are renewing their call for the House of Representatives to vote this month on a sweeping privacy bill that would outlaw a common form of online ad targeting.
“The time is now to pass a comprehensive federal privacy law,” 23 organizations including the Center for Democracy & Technology, Electronic Privacy Information Center and Public Knowledge say in a letter sent Friday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California).
Read the full article here.
