Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror

Submission + - Pentagon Wants to Predict Anti-Trump Protests Using Social Media Surveillance

Submitted by Alice Marshall
Alice Marshall writes: A series of research projects, patent filings, and policy changes indicate that the Pentagon wants to use social media surveillance to quell domestic insurrection and rebellion.

The United States government is accelerating efforts to monitor social media to preempt major anti-government protests in the US, according to scientific research, official government documents, and patent filings reviewed by Motherboard. The social media posts of American citizens who don’t like President Donald Trump are the focus of the latest US military-funded research. The research, funded by the US Army and co-authored by a researcher based at the West Point Military Academy, is part of a wider effort by the Trump administration to consolidate the US military’s role and influence on domestic intelligence.

Submission + - Government Spyware Vendor Left Customer, Victim Data Online for Everyone to See (vice.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Germany-based spyware startup Wolf Intelligence left its own data, including surveillance target’s information, passports scans of its founder and family, and recordings of meetings , in an open server and public Google Drive folder.

Submission + - Prank Calls Brought ICE Hotline To a Standstill, Internal Emails Show (theverge.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: When ICE launched an immigration crime hotline last year, the Trump administration pitched it as a way to provide resources to victims, but activists saw something else: an attack on the immigrant community. The hotline was part of the Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) Office, an outfit established in February 2017. When the office first launched a line for its services the following April, protestors flooded the hotline to call in pranks and slow down response times. The plan picked up even more steam as the protestors shared the hotline number online, encouraging others to call in with fake tips.

According to internal emails and documents obtained by The Verge under the Freedom of Information Act, prank calls fully upended the system, leaving operators unable to answer more than 98 percent of incoming calls during the protest as the media relations team attempted to contain the narrative. In reports and emails produced in the first days of operation, ICE officials described an “overwhelming” amount of calls. The day after the launch, the office received more than 16,400. Of those, only a little more than 2,100 were placed into a queue, and only 260 answered. Callers in the queue waited as long as 79 minutes to reach an operator. An official noted that, should the rate of calls continue, they would need an additional 400 operators to field the hotline.

Submission + - 100 years ago, influenza killed as many as 50mil people. Could it happen again? (usatoday.com) 3

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: One hundred years ago, death came with astonishing speed and horrifying agony.

Some influenza patients admitted to a Boston hospital in the morning of October 1918 would be dead by the evening, their bodies turning blue from lack of oxygen. Hospitals reported an average 100 deaths a day, overwhelming morgues.

Up to 500 million people – about one-third of the world’s population – became infected with the influenza virus, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. As many as 50 million died, or one out of every 30 human beings on the planet, killing more American troops than those that died on World War I battlefields.

The intensity and speed with which it struck were almost unimaginable, the worst global pandemic in modern history.

"A global influenza pandemic is No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 on our list of the most-feared public health crises," according to Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.

Submission + - Amazon's Aggressive Anti-Union Tactics Revealed In Leaked Video (gizmodo.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Amazon, the country’s second-largest employer, has so far remained immune to any attempts by U.S. workers to form a union. With rumblings of employee organization at Whole Foods—which Amazon bought for $13.7 billion last year—a 45-minute union-busting training video produced by the company was sent to Team Leaders of the grocery chain last week, according to sources with knowledge of the store’s activities. Recordings of that video, obtained by Gizmodo, provide valuable insight into the company’s thinking and tactics. Each of the video’s six sections, which the narrator states are “specifically designed to give you the tools that you need for success when it comes to labor organizing,” take place in an animated simulacrum of a Fulfillment Center. The video’s narrators are clad in the reflective vests typical of the real-world setting. “We are not anti-union, but we are not neutral either,” the video states, drawing a distinction that would likely be largely academic to potential organizers.

To expound on what non-neutrality might look like, the video adds in plain language (emphasis ours): “We do not believe unions are in the best interest of our customers, our shareholders, or most importantly, our associates. Our business model is built upon speed, innovation, and customer obsession—things that are generally not associated with union. When we lose sight of those critical focus areas we jeopardize everyone’s job security: yours, mine, and the associates’.” Throughout, the video claims Amazon prefers a “direct management” structure where employees can bring grievances to their bosses individually, rather than union representation. However, a number of warehouse workers have expressed to Gizmodo in past reporting that they believed voicing their concerns led to retaliatory scrutiny or firing.

Slashdot Top Deals

Torque is cheap.

Close