Georgia’s largest county is still repairing damage inflicted on its government a month ago by hackers who shut down office phone lines, left clerks unable to issue vehicle registrations or marriage licenses and threatened to publicly release sensitive data they claimed to have stolen unless officials paid ransom. The ransomware syndicate LockBit took credit for […]

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas judge on Friday temporarily blocked state Attorney General Ken Paxton from forcing an LGBTQ+ advocacy group to hand over information about transgender children receiving gender-affirming medical care. The ruling came just one day after PFLAG National went to court to try to stop Paxton’s office from getting the information. […]

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Three Montana laws restricting abortion access are unconstitutional, including a ban on abortions beyond 20 weeks of gestation, a state judge said in granting a motion for summary judgment filed by Planned Parenthood of Montana. The 20-week ban and the two other laws passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature in 2021 — […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — Citing potential national security risks, the Biden administration says it will investigate Chinese-made “smart cars” that can gather sensitive information about Americans driving them.  The probe could lead to new regulations aimed at preventing China from using sophisticated technology in electric vehicles and other so-called connected vehicles to track drivers and their […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is signing an executive order aimed at better protecting Americans’ personal data on everything from biometrics and health records to finances and geolocation from foreign adversaries like China and Russia.  The move allows the Department of Justice and other federal agencies to take steps to prevent the large-scale transfer […]

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Hundreds of medical professionals in West Virginia have signed a letter condemning a bill advancing in the House of Delegates that would bar transgender youth at risk for suicide from accessing medical interventions such as hormone therapy. The bill before the full House would completely ban minors’ access to hormone therapy […]

NEW YORK (AP) — The longtime head of the National Rifle Association, Wayne LaPierre, misspent millions of dollars of the organization’s money, using the funds to pay for an extravagant lifestyle that included exotic getaways and trips on private planes and superyachts, a New York jury determined Friday. The jury found LaPierre, 74, must repay […]

The owners of Pornhub say blocking access to Canadians is among options they’re considering as they try to persuade parliamentarians to reject an approach for age verification outlined in a controversial Senate bill.  “We’ve taken different options in different jurisdictions,” said Solomon Friedman, a partner and vice-president of compliance at Ethical Capital Partners, which owns […]

Some state governments and federal regulators were already moving to keep individuals’ reproductive health information private when a U.S. senator’s report last week offered a new jolt, describing how cellphone location data was used to send millions of anti-abortion ads to people who visited Planned Parenthood offices. Federal law bars medical providers from sharing health […]

The U.S. Census Bureau is thinking about how to ask about sex. People have opinions. Dozens of health officials, civil rights groups, individuals and businesses have weighed in about how the statistical agency should ask about sexual orientation and gender identity for the first time on its most comprehensive survey of American life.  An Associated […]

President Joe Biden’s campaign is embracing TikTok to court younger voters ahead of the presidential elections, but U.S. adults have mixed views about whether the video-sharing app should even operate in the country.  A new poll by The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds a three-way split when it comes to […]

HOUSTON (AP) — A judge on Friday rejected Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton ’s attempts to throw out felony securities fraud charges that have shadowed the Republican for nearly a decade.  The decision by state District Judge Andrea Beall, an elected Democrat, keeps Paxton on track for an April 15 trial on charges that he […]