09-12-2023 California on the Cusp of Landmark Legislation for VC Funding and Diversity

Oregon U.S. Senator Ron Wyden received word from the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol that it would no longer purchase the smartphone location data of people in the U.S. CBP uses the data to track movements of undocumented immigrants. CBP isn’t the only agency buying your location data.

From a report in the Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF):

“The vendor we know the most about is Venntel, a subsidiary of the commercial agency Gravy Analytics.

Its current and former clients in the US government include, at a minimum, the IRS, the DHS and its subsidiaries ICE and and CBP, the DEA, and the FBI.”

News Briefs

Civil Rights Org Set to Open Research Center on Tech

On Thursday the Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights (LCCHR) with launch the Center for Civil Rights and Technology, designed to explore the effects of technology on the spread of hate. Leaders in civil rights and tech will advise the center as it tracks AI-centric legislation and regulations and publishes research papers about generative AI. (Axios)

Senator Wyden and other lawmakers are looking to codify 4th Amendment rights to protect location data. (404 Media)

TikTok Is Digging in Your Pockets with New Online Shopping Portal (Reuters)

Python Retains #1 Spot on IEEE Top Programming Languages of 2023 (IEEE Spectrum)

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