Motherboard: Homeland Security Uses AI Tool to Analyze Social Media of U.S. Citizens and Refugees. “Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is using a tool called Babel X that can link a person’s Social Security number to their social media posts and location data, according to an internal CBP document obtained by Motherboard.”
Techdirt: Missouri Governor Still Expects Journalists To Be Prosecuted For Showing How His Admin Leaked Teacher Social Security Numbers. “Missouri Governor Mike Parson is nothing if not consistent in his desire to stifle free speech. As you’ll recall, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch discovered that the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) website was programming in such an incompetent fashion that it would reveal, to anyone who knew where to look, the social security numbers of every teacher and administrator in the system (including those no longer employed there).”
ProPublica: Scammers Are Using Fake Job Ads to Steal People’s Identities. “From Facebook to LinkedIn to Indeed, ads are popping up that promise well-paying jobs — if applicants provide their Social Security numbers and other details up front. Scammers then use the information to apply for unemployment benefits.”
I feel compelled to comment that I find this reprehensible, disgusting, and disqualifying. Missouri Independent: Missouri governor vows criminal prosecution of reporter who found flaw in state website. “On Tuesday, a reporter with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch alerted the state that Social Security numbers of school teachers and administrators were vulnerable to public exposure due to flaws on a website maintained by Missouri’s department of education. The newspaper agreed to hold off publishing any story while the department fixed the problem and protected the private information of teachers around the state. But by Thursday, Gov. Mike Parson was labeling the Post-Dispatch reporter a ‘hacker’ and vowing to seek criminal prosecution.”
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Missouri teachers’ Social Security numbers at risk on state agency’s website. “The Social Security numbers of school teachers, administrators and counselors across Missouri were vulnerable to public exposure due to flaws on a website maintained by the state’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. The Post-Dispatch discovered the vulnerability in a web application that allowed the public to search teacher certifications and credentials. The department removed the affected pages from its website Tuesday after being notified of the problem by the Post-Dispatch.”
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