Federal Bureau of Intimidation: The War on Political Freedom
“In so many of the little places of everyday life in which life is lived out, somehow democracy doesn’t exist.
Topic
Surveillance
A collection of 188 articles
China: Xinjiang Official Figures Reveal Higher Prisoner Count
(New York) – The Chinese government has used its justice system to sentence and imprison an estimated half-million people during the brutal crackdown in Xinjiang, Human Rights Watch said today.
China: New Evidence of Mass DNA Collection in Tibet
(New York) – Chinese authorities are significantly increasing policing, including arbitrary collection of DNA from residents in many towns and villages throughout the Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), Human Rights Watch said today.
The available information indicates that people cannot decline providing their DNA and that police do not need credible evidence
The Horrendous Damage of Censorship
There has always been a hunger for new discoveries and revelations of the truth, but often, in the past, it took great effort to get past the “agenda”—there has always been one.
Think of the Daniel Ellsberg exposure of The Pentagon Papers as well as many pieces coming out
Moscow to expand “safe & convenient” biometric payment system
“Pay by biometrics.” Don’t tell me what to do.
Your Still-Very-Stranded-In-Tbilisi Correspondent mused at the end of June that the West’s never-ending barrage of sanctions might disrupt digital cattle-tagging efforts in Russia.
This is probably true in “backwards” regions that can’t boast a single Smart or Safe
Spies Like Us: The Assange Indictment
The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia indictment of Julian Assange is a curious document.
Chinese Tech Giant Huawei Admits Trump-Era Policies Hurt Profits
Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei reportedly circulated a memo last month asking employees of the gigantic telecom company to “speak freely” and volunteer their ideas for helping the company adjust to a law passed during the Trump administration that largely banned Huawei from U.S. markets.
The South China Morning Post
To the Police State, We’re All Criminals Until We Prove Otherwise
“In a closed society where everybody’s guilty, the only crime is getting caught.”Hunter S.
This Week in the New Normal #34
Our successor to This Week in the Guardian, This Week in the New Normal is our weekly chart of the progress of autocracy, authoritarianism and economic restructuring around the world.
1. The extreme right weaponising the outdoors
Fresh from weaponising memes in 2021, the classics in 2018 and irony in
Davos reveals building blocks for “green” social credit system
This morning, on one of the WEF’s live-streamed panels, Alibaba Holdings President J.
This Week in the New Normal #31
Our successor to This Week in the Guardian, This Week in the New Normal is our weekly chart of the progress of autocracy, authoritarianism and economic restructuring around the world.
1.Google Health researching surveillance and AI
This week it was reported that Google Health (which is apparently a thing)
You’ve Been Flagged as a Threat: Predictive AI Technology Puts a Target on Your Back
Audio Version New Feature!
“The government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem and very often makes the problem worse.”
Milton Friedman
You’ve been flagged as a threat. Before long, every household in America will be similarly flagged and assigned a threat score.
Without having
90% of nations planning Central Bank Digital Currency
A new report from the Bank of International Settlements estimates that up to 90% of national central banks are at least in the planning stages for launching a central bank digital currency (CBDC):
new report
Nine out of 10 central banks are exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), and more
Why You Should Stop Using Google As Your Favorite Search Engine
To stop using google search is really a matter of social responsibility, freedom of information and a contribution to a steady and collective monopoly dismantling process.
Ukraine crisis accelerating rise of Central Bank Digital Currencies
A joint project between the Central Bank of Canada and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will be researching the possibility of an entirely digital Canadian dollar, it was announced yesterday.
The digital dollar would be a state-issued cryptocurrency, or “central bank digital currency” (CBDC). (For more detail on CBDCs and