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After hurricanes Florence and Matthew, a NC home rebuilding program left hundreds of families waiting 7+ years to return home. For those awaiting the state’s help after Helene, similar problems — like rigid rules and not enough staff — are already surfacing. W/ @theassemblync.bsky.social

What's Certbot? It's EFF's free, open source tool for automatically using Let’s Encrypt certificates on millions of domains across the web. It's also part of a growing number of EFF technology projects designed to protect your freedom online. Help support this work today! eff.org/support-cer...

Trump’s Truth Social post blasting the Gordie Howe bridge echoed misleading claims made by a competing bridge company. Hours before Trump posted, its billionaire owner met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, @nytimes.com reported.

It’s Black History Month — the perfect time to press play on shows that highlight the voices, histories, and cultures shaping our communities. See what’s on our watchlist! 📺

Discord ha decidido implementar sistemas de verificación de edad obligatorios. Lo preocupante es que esta medida llega tras una importante brecha de seguridad que expuso datos de los usuarios. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

Happy Valentine’s Day from Common Cause 💝

Republican state attorneys general pressured the agency that advises the U.S. Supreme Court and federal judges on scientific and technical matters to withdraw all of its content on climate change from an authoritative reference manual. By @abrahm.bsky.social

Wikipedia exists because millions of people can write and share knowledge without the platform facing liability for every edit. www.eff.org/pages/inter...

With Encrypt It Already, we’re pushing on tech companies to deliver stronger privacy protections to their users by enabling and expanding the use of end-to-end encryption across their products or services. www.encryptitalready.org

NEW: How a Planned Disney World Vacation Turned Into Four Months in Immigration Detention 9-year-old Maria Antonia begged her mom to take her to the park’s annual Halloween celebration. But as soon as she arrived at Miami International Airport, everything started going wrong.

For @propublica.org’s weekly newsletter, @micarosenberg.bsky.social wrote about speaking with a 9 year old who was in immigration detention for four months. She was supposed to go to Disney World. Instead immigration agents put her on a plane to Dilley, Texas. www.propublica.org/article/ice-...

I met Maria Antonia inside Dilley in mid-Jan where she had been detained for four months. She told me she was on her way to Disney World when immigration agents intercepted and interrogated her in the airport and sent her and her mom to detention www.propublica.org/article/ice-...

Dr. Kirk Moore did not deny giving fake COVID-19 vaccine cards and throwing out vaccine doses. “All that stuff is true,” he told @sltrib.com and ProPublica. He also repeatedly made the unfounded claim that the vaccines were “bioweapons.” (Published Dec. 2025)

ProPublica is hiring! Join our team: * Data Reporter: grnh.se/t9m4zaoh6us * Audience Writer: grnh.se/cie29dxy6us * Visuals Editor: grnh.se/cie29dxy6us * Business Reporters: grnh.se/6uxr327r6us

A federal court has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from transferring inmates with commuted death sentences to a prison known for harsh conditions. More on the case: bit.ly/4kx9TC2

Pulling off a heist isn’t much like the movies at all. The film industry would have you believe that thieves have a boundless technological toolkit, but in reality, the main barrier to entry is usually a literal barrier to entry, like a door.

Jim O’Neill serves as both the deputy health secretary for the US and acting director of the CDC. In an exclusive interview with MIT Technology Review, he discusses vaccine schedules, dietary guidance... and being a longevity enthusiast: www.technologyreview.com/2026/02/13/1...

Well then www.theverge.com/news/878447/...

Much of the dietary advice on social media and promoted by the MAHA movement is best taken with a grain of salt.

NEW: In a drastic reversal, Trump has gone from embracing “the opportunity to build even more bridges” with Canada in 2017 to threatening to stop the opening of the Gordie Howe bridge until Canada “treats the U.S. with … Fairness and Respect.” By @annaleighclark.bsky.social

Not so long ago, President Trump’s ambassador to Canada lifted a ceremonial shovel at the groundbreaking of the Gordie Howe bridge. Things have changed. My new @propublica.org story:

I am so excited too!! Noami Klein is my hero. I will be fangirling hard.

Check out the newest inquiry from the Data Workers' Inquiry and find more at data-workers.org 👇

This video on the rise of Russ Vought is based on scores of interviews, thousands of pages of emails and dozens of hours of videos and recordings of private briefings given by Vought, most of which have not been previously reported.

“I don't think there's a reliable way to get hold of a human,” EFF’s Corynne McSherry told First Coast News. “All of the companies, for the most part, are highly automated. And they're that way on purpose.” www.firstcoastnews.com/article/new...

Did you know you can listen to EFFector? Each issue has its own audio companion featuring EFF's lawyers, activists, and technologists! This time, EFF's F. Mario Trujillo explains how Homeland Security's lawless subpoenas differ from court orders. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

CDT’s Bowman: "Treating these privacy violations as a bureaucratic hiccup ignores the reality that these errors can lead to detention, family separation, identity theft, and lasting harm to people who followed the law by filing their taxes."

"The disclosure of thousands of confidential records unfortunately shows precisely why strict legal firewalls exist and have—until now—been treated as an important guardrail. Our tax system depends on trust, particularly in the govt, & failure to safeguard sensitive info eviscerates that trust.”

CDT’s Bowman: “Once taxpayer data is opened to immigration enforcement, mistakes are inevitable and the consequences fall on innocent people.”

“Tom Bowman, policy counsel for CDT, said in a statement shared with Newsweek: ‘This privacy failure is a stark reminder of why safeguards for sensitive data are so critical. The improper sharing of taxpayer data is unsafe, unlawful, & subject to serious criminal penalties.”

A federal court has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from transferring inmates with commuted death sentences to a prison known for harsh conditions. More on the case: bit.ly/4kx9TC2

Oklahoma officials found signs of oil&gas pollution in Tammy Boarman's drinking water, which left sores in her mouth and corroded appliances. In the end, the state closed her case, with basic questions left unanswered @readfrontier.bsky.social+@propublica.org www.readfrontier.org/stories/salt...

CDT’s Crawford: “And since it’s up to each company to set the rules for how health data is collected, used, shared, and stored, inadequate data protections and policies can put sensitive health information in real danger.”

“That distinction means ‘that a number of companies not bound by HIPAA’s privacy protections will be collecting, sharing, and using peoples’ health data,’ Crawford said in a statement to CyberScoop.”

“....which according to HHS applies to health plans, clearinghouses, health care providers and business associates who transfer Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI).”

To read all the interventions, visit ainowinstitute.org/publications...

Tonight! Moderated by D&S’s @mwoluchem.bsky.social, this conversation will feature legal and built environment experts Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, Sebastián Díaz Howard-Allman, Gillian Graber, and Marina Otero Verzier.

The family’s water was undrinkable: It corroded taps. It withered plants. Their ice maker expelled clumps of salt. Why? For 2 yrs, Oklahoma oil regulators delayed basic tests that could help them find out. Read @nickbowlin.bsky.social latest for @propublica.org + @readfrontier.bsky.social!

It is also critical to remember in this debate that immigrants commit crimes at lower rates than people born in the US, and communities with high concentrations of immigrants have lower rates of crime. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

Learn more about the initiative launched this week: knightcolumbia.org/content/new-...

And if you're outside the UK, you can watch us on YouTube too! www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn_W...

Bumping this up because Senator Lankford also used incorrect numbers. To repeat: based on ICE’s own data, 60% of those arrested and detained have NO criminal history, and only 5% have a conviction for a violent offense.

NEW: Oklahoma regulators discovered strong signs of oil pollution, including high levels of salt and toxic metals, in one family’s drinking water. But for two years, they repeatedly delayed basic tests to find the culprit — then closed the case. With @readfrontier.bsky.social

Some children in Dilley were so distraught they cut themselves or talked about suicide, parents told ProPublica. They said kids lost their appetites after finding worms and mold on their food, had trouble sleeping, and were constantly sick.

After a college student finally found a treatment that worked for his ulcerative colitis, UnitedHealthcare decided it wouldn’t pay for the costly drugs. His fight to get coverage exposed the insurer’s hidden procedures for rejecting claims. (Published Feb. 2023)

Civilians have had apparent seizures. One had his eyes roll back. Another had ribs broken. “I felt like I was going to pass out and die,” said a 16-year-old citizen put in a chokehold. The government won’t say if any agents have been punished.

Learn more: www.commoncause.org/articles/the...

Without Section 230, platforms would face enormous pressure to remove honest user reviews of businesses. www.eff.org/pages/inter...

Don’t be fooled by Ring’s latest attempt to make mass surveillance and real-time identification the new norm in our neighborhoods. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

NEW: Colorado Marijuana Regulators Consider Major Changes to How Labs Test for Contaminants Critics say the current method of allowing manufacturers to choose the samples they send to labs is vulnerable to abuse and allows contaminated products to reach dispensaries.

We're excited to be back at @socallinuxexpo.bsky.social in a few weeks! If you're attending the event, be sure to stop by and say hi 👋 www.eff.org/event/eff-s...

Typhoon Halong’s destruction in Kipnuk, Alaska, adds an exclamation point to long-simmering fears about the future of coastal villages facing climate change. Which town will be wiped away next? Should their former homes be rebuilt? With @adn.com

One expert estimates Louisiana’s prison population will nearly double in six years because of the state’s changes to parole. It costs $37K a year to house an inmate compared with $2.2K a year for parole supervision. With @veritenews.org

Level up your next campaign and share the word about digital rights with your friends! EFF's dice set will look great doing both. shop.eff.org/products/li...

Where you can find us at the Summit: 🚨Can’t Miss February 20! CDT CEO @alexreevegivens.bsky.social takes the main stage to speak at a panel hosted by IAPP on Trust and Safety as Engines for Growth and Innovation at 4:30pm IST, Room 18, Bharat Mandapam.

“Unfortunately, because Congress is not taking any steps to rein ICE officers in, there really is no option other than states protecting their constituents’ rights," said Joanna Schwartz, a law professor at UCLA.

Electric vehicles could be economically competitive in Africa sooner than expected. Just 1% of new cars sold across the continent in 2025 were electric, but a new analysis finds that with solar off-grid charging, EVs could be cheaper to own than gas vehicles by 2040.

ICYMI: We @propublica.org set up a tracker for immigration-related habeas cases, which means it tracks the number of suits filed by immigrants claiming they are detained illegally. The number has hit historic highs. We'll update it regularly with new data. projects.propublica.org/habeas-track...

I wrote about Trump’s ideological deportation policies and their implications for free speech, including on university campuses. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

With @propublica.org | NC created a new housing recovery program to avoid the delays and cost overruns that plagued rebuilding efforts after hurricanes Florence and Matthew. The Assembly and ProPublica have found that similar problems are starting to surface. www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

NEW: Roughly 5,000 North Carolina homeowners affected by Hurricane Helene are awaiting help from the state. But records show problems like rigid rules and insufficient staffing, which occurred in a previous rebuilding program, are starting to surface.

Since Trump returned to office, the Education Department’s civil rights office has not resolved a single racial harassment investigation. It sends a message that “people impacted by racial discrimination ... don’t matter,” one attorney said. (Published Dec. 2025)

I am always happy to talk to my original hometown paper, the @startribune.com. I was interviewed for this thoughtful piece on the record breaking donations big Minnesota companies made to the president’s inauguration and how their political spending is changing. www.startribune.com/target-lobby...

“Email correspondence obtained by ProPublica shows that government officials were alerted to the presence of PFAS in pants used by wildland firefighters as early as 2021.” Via @abestreep.bsky.social

Four months after the raid, federal prosecutors have not filed criminal charges against anyone who was arrested. Nearly all of the immigrants have already been deported. We’ve interviewed 15 immigrants detained that night; all denied gang membership.

Long-time EFF board member David Farber's voice will be greatly missed. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

What's more, as English speakers we don't feel the language barrier pains that others do. This is a very big deal for much of the world!

Perhaps people having the ability to understand the language anywhere in the world offsets an exam proctoring challenge that will take months to overcome

Ring has announced a new “Search Party” feature that could eventually bring mass biometric surveillance to our streets. It’s on by default. Shut it off. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

Their conversation explores where EU and U.S. approaches align, where they diverge, and what these choices mean for the future of child safety online. Listen to the full episode on your favorite podcast platform. Full episode: cdt.org/insights/tec...

In the latest Tech Talks with Europe, CDT Europe’s David Klotsonis & CDT US’ Aliya Bhatia unpack transatlantic debates on minors’ safety — from platform design & recommender systems to the risks + trade-offs of age assurance. cdt.org/insights/tec...

My first byline for a news app at @propublica.org, and it still manages to be kind of about Texas (as in, guess the top state!).

President Trump’s tariffs cost the average American household $1,000 in 2025 — and costs are set to rise even higher in 2026. He’s making life more expensive for everyday Americans while his family gets richer. That’s not leadership. That’s a scam.

Police often won’t question other agencies’ access to their automated license plate readers, EFF’s @maassive.bsky.social told @the74.bsky.social. “You know how maybe your grandparents approve every friend request they get on Facebook? It’s like that. It’s always been like that.”

We’re back with a new Speaking Freely Interview! Learn about developments in press freedom across the globe from Professor Yazan Badran, here: www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...

CDT’s Jake Laperruque in the NY Sun: “ICE shouldn’t be able to use Americans’ tax dollars to buy their way around judicial approval and warrant rules."

How can you say that such a study is necessarily misguided without reading it? What if the paper addressed the sampling, latent assumptions, fair comparison, etc. points you make here, would it still have to be misguided?

"Ireland is creating a scheme that will give artists a weekly income in the hope of reducing their need for alternative work and boosting their creativity."

Read the letters referenced by Rep. James Walkinshaw here:

straight from @propublica.org's story www.propublica.org/article/life...

“They’ve known about this. They’ve known about other threats to health and well-being yet they have chosen to not be proactive and share the information with employees. It seems it’s only when they’re forced to provide information that we find out about it.” New story from @abestreep.bsky.social

To read the first 5 interventions, visit ainowinstitute.org/publications...

Lyons is incorrect: it is not a crime to “skip a Notice to Appear,” whatever that means.

Lyons’ claim that 60% of people in detention have a pending or final criminal charge is false. The number is exactly backwards. Approximately 60% of people in ICE custody have NO conviction or even a pending charge. And only 5% have a conviction for a violent crime.

SWALWELL: You said you wanted to see a deportation process that was 'like Amazon Prime but with human beings.' How many times has Amazon Prime shot a mom 3 times in the face? LYONS: None SWALWELL: How many times has Amazon Prime shot a nurse 10 times in the back? LYONS: None

Lyons and Scott: all agents are trained on “less lethal” weapons use like tasers

Lyons: says curriculum is the same but timeline is shorter, there is pre-employment training, and “on the job”training. Scott: no change to CBP training except is now doing quarterly training re protestor interactions.

Lyons’ assertion that 200,0000 kids were lost is false. They were released to custody of family or other sponsors who were vetted. But they were not put in deportation proceedings so ICE couldn’t easily deport them.

Black History Month is the perfect moment to slow down and dig into stories that honor Black voices, history, and culture. Check out what’s on our reading list. 📚

USCIS Director Edlow is next and suggests he is working in American’s interest, but makes no mention of the American businesses and families who are being broken up by denial of visas and reopening of previously-approved status.

My team @propublica.org is hiring. We're looking for a data reporter itching to do ambitious, impactful investigations that uncover abuses of power and betrayals of the public trust. Maybe that's you? grnh.se/iunysgl96us

"The administration has been quick to investigate those who were shot"--yet those claims have repeatedly unraveled in court. Meanwhile, "there are only two cases in which civil rights or criminal investigations into the officers’ conduct have been announced." www.nytimes.com/2026/02/10/u...

Thank you for leading us, @kristianvsf.bsky.social!

49 years ago today The Clash begin recording their debut album at CBS Studios in London with producer Micky Foote. The album was recorded over three weekend sessions. 📸 Caroline Coon #punk #punks #punkrock #theclash #history #punkrockhistory #otd

Important thread 👇

Clickable link to the working paper here: osf.io/preprints/ps...

🗓️ On Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 4 p.m. ET, join our reporters for a virtual discussion about the dismantling of USAID. RSVP and submit a question for our panelists: events.propublica.org/USAID

“There was zero plan, except causing pain,” said one U.N. official about the Trump administration’s decision to stop funding the group with no notice or communication. “And that is not forgivable.” (Published Dec. 2025)

I hope you spend some time with this story today. It's incredibly important and a small window into what's happening behind the federal government's detention center doors. www.propublica.org/article/life...

This morning at @propublica.org, we published a pair of stories about the children held at the immigrant detention center for families in Dilley, Texas. www.propublica.org/article/life...