Cobun Zweifel-Keegan

US tech stocks hit by concerns over future of AI boom Warning from OpenAI’s Sam Altman and MIT paper puncture Wall Street’s enthusiasm

Finally looks like the AI bubble is reaching its limit. Most AI companies are not profitable, and according to a new MIT report, 95% of companies investing in generative AI are getting zero returns on all that money. www.ft.com/content/3391...

Great news Minnesota: today, we have more rights than we did yesterday. Today, July 31, the Consumer Data Privacy Act (MCDPA) goes into effect to safeguard your personal data and your right to privacy.

To learn more and get started, visit privacymn.com.

looks to me that FTC and Meta are having settlement discussions to end case over FTC's attempt to unilaterally modify the Facebook privacy consent order

cc @jason_kint

Beautifully written and fascinating column by @cobun.bsky.social on how coded language has been used to preserve privacy in queer history #Pride

iapp.org/news/a/a-vie...

Age assurance practices of 50 online services used by children Age assurance refers to approaches for determining the age of online users, and as a result, ensuring that children are offered safe and age-appropriate experiences. Governments, technology companies ...

@cobun.bsky.social reported that the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee marked up and advanced COPPA 2.0 today. Clarisse Girot published an OECD's report on age assurance practices of 50 online services used by children (www.oecd.org/en/publicati...).

Red alert for the big bill blocking state tech laws!

There’s a new draft of the AI moratorium and it’s WORSE. The exceptions narrowed so “generally applicable” laws only survive if they do not create an “undue OR disproportionate burden” on AI. This creates huge uncertainty for which laws survive.

They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.

"What does a human slowly going insane look like to a corporation?... It looks like an additional monthly user."

The latest from @kashhill.bsky.social, on patterns of magical thinking among some chatbot users, is essential reading.

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/13/t...

Cobun and Eric in front of a Sasquatch at the international cryptozoology museum.

We can finally settle the debate: "crypto" means cryptozoology!

Greetings from Portland, Maine with @nullset.bsky.social

Update: the Trump administration has proposed cutting the National Park System by $900 million, about one third of its budget.

As @cobun.bsky.social has written before, the data security rule is a narrow but significant departure from the U.S.'s historically inviolable approach to the free flow of data. See iapp.org/news/a/a-vie...

And save your energy for the next night when everyone will be gathered at the LGBTQ + Allies After Party for a Cause www.lgbtqprivacy.org

2025 Spring Fling CDT is pleased to announce our 2025 Spring Fling, a celebration during IAPP’s Global Privacy Summit. Join us on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, 8:00–10:30 PM at Dirty Habit in Washington, D.C.—you won’t want...

Next week, are you in town for the Meta antitrust trial, the Google Search Remedy trial, or the IAPP privacy conference?

Lucky you, all the DC tech policy peeps will be gathered Tues eve at CDT Spring Fling - join us!

cdt.org/event/2025-s...

"Librarians warned us" is 🔥🔥🔥

A tricky thing about modern society is that no one has any idea when they don’t die.

Like, the number of lives saved by controlling air pollution in America is probably over 200,000 per year, but the number of people who think their life was saved by controlling air pollution is zero.

This is a great video in the tariffs impacts on a small business. Grounded, direct, and informative.

Amazon Said to Make a Bid to Buy TikTok in the U.S.

Bezos take the wheel
www.nytimes.com/2025/04/02/b...

Opinion | RFK Jr. Is Already Vindicating His Critics Shrinking HHS makes sense, but giving power to antivaccine crusader David Geier doesn’t.

Wall Street Journal editorial board:

"Our worst fears about Mr. Kennedy are coming true..."

www.wsj.com/opinion/rfk-...

Facial Recognition Company Clearview Attempted to Buy Social Security Numbers and Mugshots for its Database Clearview AI spent nearly a million dollars in a bid to purchase “690 million arrest records and 390 million arrest photos” from all 50 states, court records reveal.

Facial recognition company Clearview attempted to buy Social Security numbers and mugshots for its database.

🔗 www.404media.co/facial-recog...

Social Security numbers and other private information unmasked in JFK files The data belongs to more than 200 former congressional staffers and others with connections to decades-old investigations.

Social Security numbers and other private information of more than 200 former congressional staffers and others were made public Tuesday in unredacted files related to the assassination of JFK. Many of these people are still alive and therefore now vulnerable to privacy theft and doxing

Earlier today, I announced an effort to reform the Privacy Act, the 51-year-old law that protects Americans’ privacy from government abuse.

But I’ll need your help. We’re going to protect our privacy, together.

Let me explain why this effort is so important.

I was pondering this too. But he was voted out of committee, and nowadays they only need a simple majority to confirm. So any real friction would have to be from Rs.

I never use baby talk with the dog. He's not a baby, I talk to him like an adult, with full sentences. If he ever learns to talk I don't want him sounding like a baby, that would be so weird and uncomfortable

DHS terminated a council that oversaw key cyber discussions with companies CIPAC provided legal cover to discuss sensitive threat information and cyber planning.

1 big thing: Cyber council's demise shakes public-private sector trust www.axios.com/2025/03/18/c... #axiosfutureofcybersecurity

Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.  Purpose.

Trump is eliminating Wilson Center, a stellar US foreign policy study establishment. Along with it goes the Kennan Institute - one of the best Russia study institutions.
I was fortunate to be a Kennan Fellow in 2017.
Such a loss

Press release: California Privacy Protection Agency names Tom Kemp as Executive Director (March 14, 2025)

Congrats,Tom! Looking forward to seeing the next chapter for the CPPA!
@tomkemp00.bsky.social

Another insightful edition of Privacy Papers for Policymakers is underway. Thanks for bringing us together, @futureofprivacy.bsky.social!

NEWS: A federal judge has ordered the urgent release of DOGE records, citing the office's "unprecedented" power and "unusual secrecy."


Judge Cooper wants "rolling" productions of records to begin within weeks. Details TK

ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show...

Gwynne Wilcox, a member of the National Labor Relations Board, arrived at headquarters on Monday to a crowd of supporters after being reinstated by a federal judge.

Attorney General Bonta Announces Investigative Sweep of Location Data Industry, Compliance with California Consumer Privacy Act Location data can be used to track people’s precise movements — without them realizing OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced an ongoing investigative sweep into the location ...

Attorney General Bonta Announces Investigative Sweep of Location Data Industry, Compliance with California Consumer Privacy Act | State of California - Department of Justice - Office of the Attorney General oag.ca.gov/news/press-r...

U.S. Senators Ed Markey and Bill Cassidy have reintroduced the Children and Teens' Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA 2.0).