Author: Jeff Cassman

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, launched a far-reaching legal attack on the Federal Trade Commission’s authority to enforce consumer protection laws Wednesday in an attempt to evade proposed restrictions on the company’s collection and use of personal data.

In May, the FTC announced its intent to impose significant new limits on the personal data practices of Meta, including a ban on monetizing the data of minors and constraints on the company’s use of facial recognition technology. The proposed action, which would modify an existing FTC order against Meta resulting from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, is based on findings that Meta “failed to fully comply with the order, misled parents about their ability to control with whom their children communicated through its Messenger Kids app, and misrepresented the access it provided some app developers to private user data.”

On Wednesday, Meta filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to preemptively halt the FTC’s proceeding, arguing that the Commission’s structure and enforcement procedures—which are firmly grounded in decades of federal law and agency practice—violate a laundry list of constitutional provisions. Meta is seeking a preliminary injunction staying the FTC’s action based on the company’s novel reading of the Constitution. Earlier this week, a separate legal challenge by Meta to the FTC’s enforcement action was rejected by a federal judge.

“It seems there’s no legal theory, however far-fetched, that Meta won’t deploy to avoid a full accounting of its harmful data practices,” EPIC Director of Litigation John Davisson said in a statement. “The reason is clear. A hearing before the FTC will confirm that Meta continues to mishandle personal data and put the privacy and safety of minors at risk, despite multiple orders not to do so. The changes FTC is proposing to Meta’s exploitative business model can’t come soon enough. We hope the court will reject Meta’s latest attempt to run out the clock, as another federal court did just this week.”

EPIC has long fought to protect the privacy of social media users, particularly users of Facebook and Meta. In 2009, EPIC and coalition partners brought an FTC complaint concerning Facebook’s privacy settings that led to the Commission’s first consent decree with Facebook. EPIC filed numerous FTC complaints targeting Facebook’s abusive data practices in the years after and challenged the inadequacy of the Commission’s 2019 consent decree in federal court. EPIC has also advocated for heightened privacy protections for minors. Recently, EPIC submitted comments to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to provide recommendations for improving youth mental health, safety and privacy online.

We’ve completed the judging for Round 109 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest.  The judging was particularly difficult for this round, because there were so many great articles. Round 108 began on August 1st and ended on September 30, 2023. (The contest is run in rounds that each last two months.) The prize-winning writers for Round 108 are:

First Prize

First Prize goes to SaraSue, for: Homesteading – A Cautionary Tale, posted on November 10-11-12, 2023. See: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. She will receive the following prizes:

1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
4. A $250 gift certificate good for any product from Sunflower Ammo,
5. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
6. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize

Second Prize goes to J.M. for Alternative and Improvised Weapons, posted in six parts from November 14th to 19th, 2023.  See: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6.

1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level TrAlternative and Improvised Weapons – Part 6, by J.M.aining, that has a combined retail value of $679
2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC,
4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize

Third Prize goes to Michael X, for: 12 Basic Actions To Make It Through the First 12 Weeks of TEOTWAWKI, posted on October 24-25, 2023. See: Part 1 and Part 2. He will receive the following prizes:

1. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive…

EPIC joined Public Citizen and a coalition of civil society organizations this week in expressing support for the goals of the CFPB’s proposed Personal Financial Data Rights Rule. The rulemaking aims to enhance consumer privacy and data security and promote competition in the financial services industry. 

The proposed rule would strengthen necessary privacy protections for consumers by restricting financial services entities and third parties’ ability to collect, use, retain, and share personal information. The rule would also expand data security requirements, which would better protect against data breaches in the financial services industry. The rule would also promote competition among financial services providers by enabling consumers to switch service providers without risk of losing their transaction history or automatic bill pay arrangements.  

EPIC routinely calls on the CFPB to strengthen protections for consumers by filing comments. Before the CFPB released the Personal Financial Data Rights proposed rule, EPIC filed a comment in response to the CFPB’s Small Business Advisory Review Panel for Required Rulemaking on Personal Financial Data Rights. EPIC also recently filed a comment in response to the CFPB’s Small Business Advisory Review Panel for Consumer Reporting Rulemaking supporting the CFPB’s proposed rule to expand the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s coverage over data brokers. EPIC is eager to continue engaging with the CFPB.  

On December 1st, 1913, the world’s first moving assembly line debuted, used in manufacturing Model Ts at a Ford factory in Highland Park, Michigan; the innovation was the idea of owner Henry Ford, and it revolutionized the auto industry.

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Today is the birthday of gun designer Charles Cashman Kelsey, Jr., of DEVEL firearms fame. He was born December 1,1935.  He was murdered in Texas under mysterious circumstances in April, 2003.

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This is also the birthday of novelist Rex Stout (1886–1975). Rex Stout was the brother of Ruth Stout, the gardener who wrote about no-till, year-round mulching, organic gardening in her book Gardening Without Work: For the Aging, the Busy, and the Indolent.

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SurvivalBlog Writing Contest

Today we present another entry for Round 110 of the SurvivalBlog non-fiction writing contest. The prizes for this round include:

First Prize:

1. The photovoltaic power specialists at Quantum Harvest LLC  are providing a store-wide 10% off coupon. Depending on the model chosen, this could be worth more than $2000.
2. A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate. This can be used for any of their one, two, or three-day course (a $1,095 value),
3. Two cases of Mountain House freeze-dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
4. American Gunsmithing Institute (AGI) is providing a $300 certificate good towards any of their DVD training courses.
5. Two sets of The Civil Defense Manual, (in two volumes) — a $193 value — kindly donated by the author, Jack Lawson.

Second Prize:

1. A SIRT STIC AR-15/M4 Laser Training Package, courtesy of Next Level Training, that has a combined retail value of $679
2. Two 1,000-foot spools of full mil-spec U.S.-made 750 paracord (in-stock colors only) from www.TOUGHGRID.com (a $240 value).
3. Two Super Survival Pack seed collections, a $150 value, courtesy of Seed for Security, LLC.
4. Montana Survival Seed is providing a $225 gift code for any items on its website, including organic non-GMO seeds, fossils, 1812-1964 US silver, jewelry, botany books, and Montana beeswax.
5. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun. There is no paperwork required for delivery of pre-1899 guns into most states, making them the last bastion of firearms purchasing privacy!

Third Prize:

1. A $300 gift certificate from Good2Goco.com, good for any of their products: Home freeze dryers, pressure canners, Country Living grain mills, Emergency Essentials foods, and much more.
2. Three sets each of made-in-USA regular and wide-mouth reusable canning lids. (This is a total of 300 lids and 600 gaskets.) This prize is courtesy of Harvest Guard (a $270 value)
3. A Royal Berkey water filter, courtesy of Directive 21 (a $275 value),
4. A transferable $150 FRN purchase credit from Elk Creek Company, toward the purchase of any pre-1899 antique gun.

…

Today, Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and John Kennedy (R-LA) introduced the Traveler Privacy Protection Act, which would prohibit the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) from using facial recognition. The TSA has been testing the use of facial recognition at various airports over the past few years and despite warnings of the dangers of implementing facial recognition technology, TSA plans to push the technology out to hundreds of airports. EPIC Senior Counsel, Jeramie Scott, has explained why TSA’s plans to implement facial recognition in airports across the country is so dangerous.

EPIC has previously urged on Congress to suspend TSA’s use of facial recognition and in comments to the TSA, insisted the agency halt the deployment of facial recognition programs. Earlier this year, EPIC supported Senators’ call for TSA to stop the use of facial recognition.

Jeramie Scott, EPIC Senior Counsel & Director of the Project on Surveillance Oversight, released the following statement on the Traveler Privacy Protection Act:

“The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) applauds the introduction of the Traveler Privacy Protection Act and its prohibition on TSA’s use of facial recognition technology. The privacy risks and discriminatory impact of facial recognition are real, and the government’s use of our faces as IDs poses a serious threat to our democracy. The TSA should not be allowed to unilaterally subject millions of travelers to this dangerous technology,” said Jeramie Scott, Senior Counsel and Director of EPIC’s Project on Surveillance Oversight.

But privacy advocate John Davisson, director of litigation at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, notes that California’s privacy law specifically directs the state privacy agency to issue regulations regarding automated decision-making. 

He adds that a rule requiring companies to allow opt-outs would still allow publishers to serve targeted ads to consumers. 

“The industry talks about how consumers want targeted advertising,” he says, adding that an opt-out requirement “calls them on their bluff.” 

Read more here.

[The Domestic Revolution: How the Introduction of Coal into Victorian Homes Changed Everything, by Ruth Goodman, Liveright Publishing Corporation; 2020. xxi + 330 pp.]

The subtitle of Ruth Goodman’s book The Domestic Revolution doesn’t come close to describing what this book is really about. Yes, this book tells us a lot about coal and how it affected Victorian domestic life. But this book is really about how what we eat and how we prepare food has been closely tied to economic, industrial, and technological changes over 400 years of history. 

Moreover, this book will provide some valuable perspective for anyone who thinks he or she spends a lot of time “slaving” over a hot stove. Whatever time we spend cooking and cleaning in the twenty-first century is nothing compared to the time, effort, expense, and planning that was needed to prepare meals for one’s family in centuries past. Coal made it all easier, even if meal prep remained generally arduous throughout the nineteenth century. 

Goodman’s overall purpose in writing this book, she tells us, is to correct an error historians and social critics have made. The problem, she writes, is that “the influence of fuel on food has been overlooked.” That is, the food we eat and the way we prepare it is not a product of mere tastes in fashion. Rather, our dining customs and cuisine are also largely a product of “economic and technical pressures” that have been tied to transitions from wood-burning kitchens to coal-burning ones. She writes: “A new fuel [i.e., coal] had driven the development of a whole new way of cooking and a radically different diet. A menu based upon boiling and baking, with a side order of toast, was the cuisine that accompanied industrialization; cause and effect were intricately linked in a fossil fuel-burning age.”

Coal didn’t just heat the food, either. Coal—and the industrialization it fueled—also gave rise to new methods of preparation. As industrialization drove up real incomes and drove down the cost of manufacturing, iron implements became more affordable and far more common. Even working-class households increasingly could afford once-scarce items like iron grates for cooking. By the nineteenth century, ordinary people could even afford cast-iron ranges. Such luxuries were exceedingly rare before the age of coal, as was the convenience that came with coal-cooking and iron implements. 

Goodman explains how prior to the age of coal, food preparation relied primarily on the burning of wood. This had many implications for both domestic life and the economy overall. In terms of life at home, preparing food with wood was more labor intensive than preparing food with coal. Wood fires are less consistent (in terms of temperature) and require more fuel more often than coal fires. Women who did the cooking—it was mostly women, of course—had to also be skilled in how different species of wood burned differently, and which types of fuel were most economical. 

The implications for the larger economy were significant as well. Goodman observes that wood production…

The AI literacy piece in schools is crucial, said Suzanne Bernstein, law fellow at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a nonprofit research center that advocates for stronger privacy standards.  

Students and teachers need to understand what to look for in AI products, to a degree that allows them to ask more questions and do more research if AI-produced materials don’t seem accurate, she said.   

While there still needs to be more regulatory action from the government in the AI space, having industry guidelines is a good first step, she said.  

“There should be a responsibility on companies to protect the safety and security of students online…especially when it comes to AI and the collection, retention, and use of data,” she said.   

“But these tools, when used responsibly, can be a tremendous help for all kinds of learners at different levels.”  

Read more here.

EPIC and a coalition of privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights groups urged key lawmakers including the Majority and Minority Leaders of both the House and Senate, to not allow any reauthorization of FISA Section 702 to be slipped into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in conference. In the letter, the coalition of more than thirty groups emphasized that bypassing the judiciary committees’ process of reforming FISA “by slipping an extension of the law into the defense authorization bill during conference would demonstrate a blatant disregard for the civil liberties and civil rights of the American people.”

EPIC and a bipartisan coalition of privacy, civil liberties, and civil rights groups have launched a campaign to significantly reform Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and related surveillance authorities. Members of this coalition recently urged Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to refrain from including any short-term reauthorization of FISA Section 702 in the continuing resolution or any other “must-pass” legislation.