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The Defender’s Big Brother NewsWatch brings you the latest headlines related to governments’ abuse of power, including attacks on democracy, civil liberties and use of mass surveillance. The views expressed in the excerpts from other news sources do not necessarily reflect the views of The Defender.
FEBRUARY 6, 2025
DOGE Broadens Sweep of Federal Agencies, Gains Access to Health Payment Systems
Representatives of billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency fanned out across several agencies Wednesday, sending representatives to the Atlanta headquarters of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and meeting with the Labor Department, seeking access to sensitive data.
The moves came on the heels of the DOGE team gaining access to sensitive health payment systems at the Department of Health and Human Services. As federal workers braced for possible layoffs after a Thursday deadline that has led to at least 40,000 employees taking a buyout, DOGE staffers met with agencies facing sweeping cuts in a project that has gutted whole programs and given Musk’s team broad access to private data.
In a little more than two weeks, the Trump megadonor — acting as a “special government employee” while still running the companies that have made him the richest man in the world — has probed all over for cuts and begun enacting some, helping to effectively shut down the U.S. Agency for International Development and suggesting that other departments could be next.
American Family Field to Get Biometric Gates With MLB Go-Ahead Entry
American Family Field, home to Major League Baseball’s Milwaukee Brewers, is getting MLB’s biometric Go-Ahead Entry system at its Home Plate West and Third Base gates this season, according to a release from the league.
The facial authentication system for entry will be opt-in, and most entrances will continue traditional ticketing processes. But the team says it could add more biometric gates if the first two are popular enough. The Brewers make nine MLB teams who have deployed the selfe- and numerical token-based facial biometrics system at their home stadiums. The proprietary tech debuted at Philadelphia’s Citizens Park in 2023, and is now in use at venues for the Houston Astros, San Francisco Giants, Washington Nationals, Tampa Bay Rays, Cincinnati Reds, Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins.
NEC provides the biometric components of the Go-Ahead Entry system. Prior to launching Go-Ahead Entry, MLB ran facial recognition and biometric ticketing pilots with Clear. While the current program appears headed for widespread deployment across the league’s ballparks, and has proven to make entry up to 68% faster for fans, it has not been without critics who associate facial recognition tech with privacy risks.
Illinois Mayor Rescinds Controversial COVID-19 Vaccination Mandate
The Illinois Labor Relations Board has twice ruled that the city violated employees’ collective bargaining rights by failing to bargain collectively before imposing the mandate and placing employees who defied it on “non-disciplinary, no-pay status” before moving to fire them.
Mayor Brandon Johnson has rescinded a pandemic-era requirement that city employees be vaccinated against COVID-19, fueling demands for back pay to those who defied the mandate.
Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara led the charge against the vaccine mandate, unilaterally imposed in 2021 by then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Catanzara encouraged rank-and-file officers to resist the mandate and ignore the demand to report their vaccination status on the city’s data portal.
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‘Pathetic Fart’ of a Bill That Bans Kids From Social Media Moves Forward
A bipartisan bill that would ban anyone under the age of 13 from using social media and punish schools that fail to block social media platforms cleared an initial hurdle on Wednesday.
The Senate Commerce Committee approved the Kids Off Social Media Act, or KOSMA, which has been championed by senators Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas), despite widespread opposition from all ends of the political spectrum and powerful tech lobbying groups.
Fight for the Future, a nonprofit that advocates for free expression online, described the bill as a “pathetic fart.”
Payments and Identity Converging in Digital Wallets
Digital wallets tend to be designed primarily for digital IDs or online payments, but as the applications are related, applying wallets designed for one use to the other is a growing trend. The trend has some observers excited over the prospect that the advantages each capability provides to the other will spur the kind of adoption and scaling that digital wallet advocates have long been seeking.
A white paper published by the EUDI Wallet Consortium in late-2024 outlines the complexity of extending digital identity wallets to payments. Digital wallets can provide “a new defensive line against exploding payment fraud,” make customer authentication easier and more trusted, and enable the delegation of payments to other people, or soon, AI agents, Customer Futures argues.
“Undoubtedly, the digital identity wallet will become a pivotal part of our daily activities, reshaping how we manage payments and interact online,” the post says. “While our exploration has focused on the European Union’s progress and regulatory framework, it serves primarily as an illustrative case. Similar digital identity advancements are unfolding across the globe.”
The Defender Staff
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