Judge Rules Blanket Search of Cell Tower Data Unconstitutional

This article was produced in collaboration with Court Watch, an independent outlet that unearths overlooked court records. Subscribe to them here. A judge in Nevada has ruled that “tower dumps”—the law enforcement practice of grabbing vast troves of private personal data from cell towers—is unconstitutional. The judge also ruled that the cops could, this one time, still…

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‘Save Our Signs’ Wants to Save the Real History of National Parks Before Trump Erases It

Data preservationists and archivists have been working tirelessly since the election of President Donald Trump to save websites, data, and public information that’s being removed by the administration for promoting or even mentioning diversity. The administration is now targeting National Parks signs that educate visitors about anything other than “beauty” and “grandeur,” and demanding they…

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Reddit’s AI Suggests Users Try Heroin

Reddit’s conversational AI product, Reddit Answers, suggested users who are interested in pain management try heroin and kratom, showing yet another extreme example of dangerous advice provided by a chatbot, even one that’s trained on Reddit’s highly coveted trove of user-generated data.  The AI-generated answers were flagged by a user on a subreddit for Reddit…

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