Katherine Long

Exclusive: Neon takes down app after exposing users' phone numbers, call recordings, and transcripts Call recording app Neon was one of the top-ranked iPhone apps, but was pulled offline after a security bug allowed any logged-in user to access the call recordings and transcripts of any other user.

that was fast and totally unforseeable techcrunch.com/2025/09/25/v...

the weather in the mid atlantic today feels like someone took a 20 minute shower in a windowless bathroom and forgot to turn on the exhaust fan

A Troubled Man, His Chatbot and a Murder-Suicide in Old Greenwich “Erik, you’re not crazy.” ChatGPT fueled a 56-year-old tech industry veteran’s paranoia, encouraging his suspicions that his mother was plotting against him.

WSJ: ChatGPT fueled a 56-year-old tech industry veteran’s paranoia, encouraging his suspicions that his mother was plotting against him.... On Aug. 5, Greenwich police discovered that Soelberg killed his mother and himself in the $2.7 million Dutch colonial-style home where they lived together.

Federal agents arrest firefighters working on WA wildfire Federal agents showed up northeast of Lake Cushman to check identification of crew members fighting Washington's largest active wildfire.

Federal agents arrest firefighters working on WA wildfire

A lone ranger patrols 900 miles of trails in WA’s ‘Disneyland.’ It’s getting disgusting The lack of a ranger presence has prompted a call for an emergency restriction that limits access to the Enchantments — before problems cause irreparable harm.

Close the gate to The Enchantments! Without sufficient rangers, every weekend more and more of this incredible place is being destroyed. Great article by @seattletimes-rss.bsky.social Gregory Scruggs.
www.seattletimes.com/life/outdoor...

The Mystery of the L.A. Mansion Filled With Surrogate Children A couple with ties to China say they wanted a big family. Surrogates who carried the children say they were deceived.

New w/ @benfoldy.bsky.social and Sara Randazzo: The case that's upending America's surrogacy industry. A mother says all 22 kids are hers. Women who gave birth to the children say they were tricked. Now, an FBI investigation, and a mansion filled with surrogate children. www.wsj.com/us-news/los-...

Exclusive | Judges Weigh Taking Control of Their Own Security Amid Threats U.S. marshals, sworn to protect federal judges, ultimately answer to President Trump, who has ramped up criticism of the judiciary.

NEW: Amid rising tensions between the Trump administration and the judiciary, some federal judges are beginning to discuss the idea of managing their own armed security force.

w/ James Fanelli and C. Ryan Barber.
www.wsj.com/us-news/law/...

Exclusive | U.S. Orders Intelligence Agencies to Step Up Spying on Greenland The push underscores the seriousness of President Trump’s intent to acquire the island from Denmark.

New: The U.S. is stepping up its intelligence-gathering efforts regarding Greenland, drawing America’s spying apparatus into President Trump’s campaign to take over the island.

www.wsj.com/world/greenl...

Exclusive | Hegseth Brought His Wife to Sensitive Meetings With Foreign Military Officials The defense secretary’s handling of sensitive information is under criticism after he shared details about a strike on Houthi militants in a group chat on a widely used app.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brought his wife, a former Fox News producer, to two meetings with foreign military counterparts where sensitive information was discussed, according to multiple people who were present or had knowledge of the discussions.
www.wsj.com/politics/nat...

We found a DOGE guy at NASA because his Google Calendar was public DOGE staffer Riley Sennott's Google Calendar wasn't private, exposing his interactions with DOGE and firms like Tesla and Palantir.

New: I found a doge staffer whose google calendar was public, including an onboarding event with the GSA that included the names of other DOGE staff on the invite

www.businessinsider.com/doge-nasa-go...

I briefly deactivated my X and Bluesky accounts on the advice of our security team. Back now. Still reporting.

I hope Alan is doing well! I think of him often!

This is a good time to note that I started at the Wall Street Journal last week! If you work with or around DOGE, I'd love to speak with you. My email address is katherine.long@wsj.com and I'm on Signal at longka.38. Use a non-work device to contact me.

DOGE Staffer Resigns Over Racist Posts A staffer for Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency whose access to U.S. Treasury payment systems was approved by a federal judge on Thursday has links to a deleted social-media account that...

I linked DOGE staffer Marko Elez to a deleted X account that advocated repealing the Civil Rights Act, backed a “eugenic immigration policy,” and wrote, “You could not pay me to marry outside of my ethnicity."

He just resigned. www.wsj.com/tech/doge-st...

Quick career update: Today was my last day at Business Insider. I'll be starting at the Wall Street Journal later this month. See you all at my new byline soon!

FTC opened investigation into commercial phone-tracking firm Venntel The FTC hired Notre Dame technology and ethics professor Kirsten E. Martin as an expert witness for 18 months regarding Venntel and Gravy Analytics.

I can't see the FTC messing up like this again, but if it does, well, we'll be watching for it.

Major h/t to Jack Poulson, who used this same technique to find an FTC investigation into the location-tracking data broker Venntel. jackpoulson.substack.com/p/ftc-opened...

When we asked the FTC about these contracts, it wiped the company names from the public portal.

But when I FOIA'd for the scope of work statement for the Publishing.com contract, it showed clearly that the FTC had opened an investigation into the company.

Typically, the public-facing descriptions of those contracts are bland: They just say things like "EXPERT WITNESS."

What we found was that an FTC employee appears to have screwed up and put the name of some companies under investigation in public-facing contract descriptions.

During the course of an investigation, agencies sometimes hire expert witnesses. Those contracts are recorded in contracting databases like usaspending.gov and the Federal Procurement Data Service.

The feds opened an investigation into a side-hustle company helping pump out AI-generated books, records reveal Publishing.com's claims about passive income from AI-generated Amazon books have drawn complaints about undisclosed fees and aggressive sales tactics.

Here's how @thenewsham.bsky.social and I used public records to confirm the existence of an FTC investigation!

Law enforcement agencies are very private about investigations. Records pertaining to investigations are exempt from FOIA. But we found a back door.
www.businessinsider.com/publishing-d...

At risk of repeating myself: The Luddites weren’t against technology. They were against getting put out of work by a technology that did a version of their job faster but worse, in the service of increasing profits for their bosses.

The Eighth Amendment is meant to protect against prisoner abuse. Less than 1% of cases succeed. The Eighth Amendment is meant to protect prisoners against abuse. BI has found that Supreme Court decisions and federal laws have obliterated it.

This week at @businessinsider.com we launched a deep dive into the 8th Amendment, our nation's foundational protection against "cruel and unusual punishments."

In analyzing nearly 1,500 cases, we found prisoners win less than 1% of the time. www.businessinsider.com/eighth-amend...

Amelia Bedelia

Millennials' refusal to talk to each other on actual live phone calls is leading to a golden age of lawsuit discovery.

From the popculturechat community on Reddit: Hi! We’re the Business Insider reporters who revealed how Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Alice in Chains, Marshmello, and other celebrity musicians spent federal ... Explore this post and more from the popculturechat community

In ONE HOUR, we'll be answering questions about our stories on how wealthy artists used COVID money to pay for private jets, designer clothes, and multi-million dollar bonuses for themselves. Join in! www.reddit.com/r/popculture...

From the popculturechat community on Reddit: Hi! We’re the Business Insider reporters who revealed how Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Alice in Chains, Marshmello, and other celebrity musicians spent federal ... Explore this post and more from the popculturechat community

Meet me and @thenewsham.bsky.social on Reddit for an AMA about our Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Alice in Chains story.

www.reddit.com/r/popculture...

"...Scott Dachroeden, a guitar tech and tour photographer who had worked with [Alice In Chains] for years, received a cancer diagnosis in late 2022. The band, which records show did not spend grant money on benefits like health insurance, circulated a GoFundMe"

Members of AIC took $3.4 million.

Should I have called him Mr. F Baby?

I did not know this!

Assuming makes a defamation case out of you and me