HELENA, Mont. (AP) — An initiative to ask voters if they want to protect the right to a pre-viability abortion in Montana’s constitution has enough signatures to appear on the November ballot, supporters said Friday. County election officials have verified 74,186 voter signatures, more than the 60,359 needed for the constitutional initiative to go before […]

Elections Canada is suggesting possible changes to protect the political nomination process from foreign meddling, including barring non-citizens from helping choose candidates, requiring parties to publish contest rules and explicitly outlawing practices such as voting more than once. The federal elections agency outlines the proposed moves in a discussion guide intended to help chief electoral […]

Show Notes for Saturday July 20th. Writing: Shaun Fisk  | Production: Patrick Farnsworth  | Music: Breakmaster Cylinder You can support these efforts by subscribing or donating.   Show Notes: One Tech Tip: Protecting yourself against SIM swapping https://fipa.bc.ca/one-tech-tip-protecting-yourself-against-sim-swapping/ What’s worse than thieves hacking into your bank account? When they steal your phone number, too https://fipa.bc.ca/whats-worse-than-thieves-hacking-into-your-bank-account-when-they-steal-your-phone-number-too ‘Data of nearly all AT&T customers downloaded from a […]

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas isn’t enforcing a new law requiring abortion providers to ask patients why they want to terminate their pregnancies, as a legal challenge against that rule and other older requirements makes its way through the courts. Attorneys for the state and for providers challenging the new law along with other requirements […]

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission did not allow the public enough access to information about COVID-19 vaccine purchase agreements it secured with pharmaceutical companies during the pandemic, the EU general court said Wednesday.  The decision came a day ahead of a vote at the European Parliament at which European Commission President Ursula von der […]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California school district involved in an ongoing legal battle with the state over the district’s gender-identity policy sued Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom Tuesday over a new law banning districts from requiring that parents be notified of their child’s gender identification change. The Chino Valley Unified School District and a […]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California became the first U.S. state to bar school districts from requiring staff to notify parents of their child’s gender identification change under a law signed Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The law bans school rules requiring teachers and other staff to disclose a student’s gender identity or sexual orientation to […]

The data of nearly all customers of the telecommunications giant AT&T was downloaded from a third-party platform in a security breach, the company said Friday, as cyberattacks against businesses, schools and health systems continue to spread globally.  The breach, which took place in April of this year but mostly involved data from 2022, hit AT&T’s […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — One Monday morning in May, I woke up and grabbed my cell phone to read the news and scroll through memes. But it was out of cell service. I couldn’t make calls or texts.  That, though, turned out to be the least of my problems.  Using my home Wi-Fi connection, I checked […]

NEW YORK (AP) — SIM-swapping is a growing form of identity theft that goes beyond hacking into an email or social media account. In this case, the thieves take over your phone number. Any calls or texts go to them, not to you.  Any protections consumers enabled to secure access to their financial accounts, such […]

Show Notes for Saturday July 13th. Writing: Shaun Fisk  | Production: Patrick Farnsworth  | Music: Breakmaster Cylinder You can support these efforts by subscribing or donating.   Show Notes: Exclusive: National Indigenous Tourism to cut funding for provincial groups  Matteo Cimellaro – Canada’s National Observer  Foreign Visitors want to experience indigenous tourism, but federal supports lacking.  NRA’s ex-CFO agreed to 10-year not-for-profit ban, still […]

LONDON (AP) — The European Union said Friday that blue checkmarks from Elon Musk’s X are deceptive and that the online platform falls short on transparency and accountability requirements, the first charges against a tech company since the bloc’s new social media regulations took effect.  The European Commission outlined the preliminary findings from its investigation […]