The Yolo County Chapter of the ACLU invites you to:

 "Habeas Data: Privacy Vs. the Rise of Surveillance Tech" – A Book talk by Author, Cyrus Farivar

This talk is part of the Yolo ACLU's ongoing exploration of how communications technologies also become surveillance technologies that can affect us all.  

Join us on July 18th, from 7-8:30 pm at the Davis Branch of the Yolo County Library in the Blanchard room.  

This event is free, refreshments will be served, and the book will be available for purchase. 

Show me the data!  Until the 21st century, nearly all our activities were private by default, and public only through effort; today anything in digital space has the potential (and likelihood) to remain somewhere online forever.  That means all the technologies that have made our lives easier, faster, better, more efficient have also simultaneously made it easier for others to keep an eye on our activities as well.  In 10 crucial legal cases, "Habeas Data" explores the tools of surveillance that exist today, how they work, and what the implications are for the future of privacy.

The Yolo County ACLU has addressed this issue with its proposed city ordinance to make purchases and use of surveillance technologies by the Davis Police Department both public and transparent.  That proposed ordinance is still being considered by the Davis City Council.  

Cyrus Farivar is a Senior Tech Policy Reporter at Ars Technica, as well as an author and radio producer.

His second book, Habeas Data, about the legal cases over the last 50 years that have had an outsized impact on surveillance and privacy law in America, was published May 8, 2018 from Melville House.  

In 2017, Cyrus Farivar and Joe Mullin won the Technology Reporting award from the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter for their August 2016 story: “Stealing bitcoins with badges: How Silk Road’s dirty cops got caught.”  Cyrus’ first book, The Internet of Elsewhere—about the history and effects of the Internet on different countries around the world, including Senegal, Iran, Estonia and South Korea—was published in April 2011.  From 2010 until 2012, Cyrus was the Sci-Tech Editor and host of “Spectrum” at Deutsche Welle English, Germany’s international broadcaster. He has also reported for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, National Public Radio, Public Radio International, The Economist, Wired, The New York Times and many others.  He is based in Oakland, California.

Wikipedia link about the phrase "Habeas Data": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_data .

The City of Davis has been named the Safest City in the US for Cycling. The report was released by ADT, a home security company, on June 3rd.

6 of the top 10 Cities are located in California, but Los Angeles is rated as the least safe city in the country for cyclists.

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The Anonymous IRS 13909 complaint against the Vanguard Non-profit was given to the Davisite by the Flatlander. The Flatlander received them anonymously through the US Post.  The IRS submission contained 14 pages of supporting evidence as referenced in the cover letter. and the postings contained on the pages seem to generally support the allegations on the 13909 form. All 14 pages are available for download below.

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Good news today….. Scott Pruitt is out as head of the Environmental Protection Agency.  Not only were his/Trump's policies harmful to the environment, but he basically is a crook.  Guess he is getting out of town shortly before an indictment.

It is good riddance and now time to clean up the mess he has made and put the EPA back on the smart bi-partisan path of the past.  Don't forget, the EPA was started by a Republican president… Richard Nixon.  And a lot of important environmental legislation was signed by that same President after lead ins by others.

A healthy environment helps create a healthy population…… and although that seems obvious, to some people it is not.

John

The Davisite received the below IRS form 13909 Complaints against the Davis Vanguard. They were given to the Davisite  by The Flatlander who received an anonymous envelope in its PO box containing the forms and other documents which appear to have been filled with the IRS. 

The anonymous complaint and cover letter are below.

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By Sadie Fulton

The most memorable moment of the entire tour was looking at the child’s eyes through the glass. He looked nervous, curious and resentful all at once.

We weren’t allowed to meet the children, so this is all the contact I had with them. One young teenage boy staring out at me from his bedroom. All the kids were locked in their rooms, presumably, to allow us to tour what was basically their living room.

This teen boy that had presumably traveled thousands of miles to be locked away in Yolo County was in a cell in what the warden referred to as a “pod,” which is really a somewhat nice cell block. We were shown two of three “pods”, on the tour of the Yolo County Juvenile Detention Facility, which is under contract with the controversial Federal Office of  Refugee Resettlement (ORR). Each “pod” had a seating area, some colorful chairs that looked like a plush sofa except that it was made of plastic and had no cushions. They had a huge mural on the wall.

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The Davis Vanguard is alleged to have participated in a political campaign in violation of it's non-profit status. A form 13909 Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Complaint against the Davis Vanguard was given to the Davisite by The Flatlander. The Flatlander received an anonymous envelope in its PO box containing the forms and other documents which appear to have been filled with the IRS.

The complaint is anonymously filed and the cover letter CC's The Sacramento Bee, The Davis Enterprise, The Daily Democrat, and The Flatlander.

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By Tom Owczarzak

I woke up this morning to fireworks.

And it got me thinking about my complicated relationship with my country. Big national holiday and all that.

I have never been able to fully understand how I feel about it all. Partly because I just learned too much in college that I was not able to ignore. When the image got cracked by knowledge but was never really replaced.

And that made me think of my equally complicated relationship to religion – which feels the same.

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This is a link from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research…… where this study is described.  Seems like a good piece of applied public health research.  https://healthpolicy.ucla.edu/newsroom/press-releases/pages/details.aspx?NewsID=297

The City of Los Angeles wants its residents to be healthy.  Imagine that!

John

PS  I am wondering if the developers at NISHI would consider making that development "smoke free"?  The UC Davis campus is…. how about off campus student housing?