FTC Says It Won’t Enforce COPPA Against Proper Use of Age Verification Tools
The Federal Trade Commission issued a policy statement saying it will not pursue enforcement actions against websites that use age‑verification tools, provided they follow strict safeguards. The exemption applies only when age data is used solely for verification, is not retained, and is disclosed only to parties that maintain confidentiality. Companies must give clear notice to parents and children, employ reasonable security measures, and ensure the verification method is reasonably accurate. The FTC also announced a forthcoming review of the COPPA rule to address age verification more comprehensively.
The Diminished State of Defense IT Acquisition and How to Fix It
The Department of Defense’s IT acquisition continues to miss cost, schedule and performance goals, with GAO reporting over 80% failure rates for large federal IT projects. Over‑engineered requirements, legacy‑focused acquisition processes, an under‑trained workforce, and contractor conflicts of interest keep...
Set and Enforce Clear Lines for Police Biometrics, UK Commissioner Tells Policymakers
UK Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner William Webster has submitted a 16‑page response to the Home Office’s consultation on a new legal framework for police use of facial recognition and other biometric technologies. He urges lawmakers to define “serious harm,”...
Air Force Research Lab Seeks More National Approach for Innovation
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) issued a sources‑sought notice inviting industry, investors, and academia to help design a national research network that speeds dual‑use technology development for the Air Force and Space Force. The request for information (RFI) expands...
Feds Extend a Telehealth Rule that Could Help Save More People From Opioid Overdoses
The DEA and HHS have extended the pandemic‑era telehealth rule that lets providers prescribe buprenorphine for opioid use disorder without an in‑person visit, now allowing up to six months of remote treatment. Effective Jan. 1, the rule also eliminates record‑keeping requirements...
Using LLMs to Enhance Democracy
The paper by Seth Lazar and Lorenzo Manuali evaluates whether large language models (LLMs) can improve democratic deliberation. It examines LLM‑driven summarization, opinion aggregation, and preference prediction, finding mixed outcomes. While AI tools can make political texts more accessible, they...
The Day Europe’s Data Stops Flowing
Europe’s digital economy is increasingly dependent on a complex data infrastructure that remains vulnerable to prolonged outages. The authors model how a systemic failure could evolve from brief inconveniences to widespread power loss, overwhelmed emergency services, and financial disruption within...
Center for Regulatory Ingenuity
The FAS Center for Regulatory Ingenuity (CRI) is launching a transpartisan effort to modernize stagnant government institutions, beginning with climate policy. It creates high‑trust brainstorming environments and a "network of networks" to help policymakers update outdated laws for the clean‑technology...
MEPs Ask Where EU Billions for Africa Came From
MEPs have pressed the European Commission to clarify how the Global Gateway initiative raised its claimed €306 billion in financing. They highlight a stark gap between the €150 billion projected for Africa and the under €10 billion actually earmarked as EU guarantees. The...
Canada’s AI Minister Blames OpenAI for ‘Failure’ After Mass Shooting
Canada’s AI minister warned OpenAI after the company did not report a ChatGPT user who later carried out a mass shooting in British Columbia. The government said it will regulate AI chatbots unless firms demonstrate robust safeguards. Ministers met with...
US IT Budget Wasted on Maintenance, Not Innovation
The US spends $100B annually on IT, and nearly 80% of that goes to maintenance instead of building new things. @cognition is ushering in an era of software abundance to the public sector 🇺🇸
FBI Conducts Market Research Into NIR Iris Biometric Cameras
The FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services division has issued a Request for Information seeking near‑infrared iris cameras that can capture both eyes in a single enrollment. The RFI covers fixed devices for booking stations and mobile units for field use,...
Five Stages to Secure Military Operational Technology Using Zero Trust and Risk Operations Centers
The Pentagon released an OT‑specific zero‑trust roadmap, the “fan chart,” outlining 84 baseline and 21 advanced activities to protect military operational technology. The guidance emphasizes asset visibility, risk‑operations centers, network segmentation, passive monitoring, and AI‑driven automation. Agencies are urged to...
Solar Company to Install Microgrid at Roanoke High Schools
Roanoke City Public Schools will install a solar‑powered microgrid with battery storage at Patrick Henry and William Fleming high schools, funded by a $450,000 state grant and $2.1 million from Secure Solar Futures. The $2.55 million project, the first public‑school solar microgrid...
Cal OES to Seek NG911 Bids Soon, Wants LA-Area PSAPs Done in 2028
California’s Office of Emergency Services will issue a statewide NG911 request for proposals within months, aiming to upgrade all Los Angeles‑area public‑safety answering points (PSAPs) before the 2028 Olympics and complete migration of roughly 450 PSAPs by mid‑2030. The new approach...
PXL Vision Integrates Deepfake Detection Technique From Research with Idiap
PXL Vision, Idiap Research Institute and Innosuisse have released a deepfake detector integrated into the PXL Ident platform. The tool, developed under the ROSALIND project, targets face‑swapping, reenactment and fully synthetic identities in ID documents. A companion Idiap paper benchmarks...
Aid Workers Face Expulsion From Gaza. They Hope EU Privacy Laws Can Save Them.
Humanitarian NGOs operating in Gaza face an imminent deadline to hand over detailed staff and donor data to Israeli authorities or lose access to the territories. The December‑issued registration rules, set to take effect as early as Sunday, affect about...
DHS Wants More than Biometrics in US-EU Data Sharing Agreement
The United States and the European Union are negotiating the Enhanced Border Security Partnership (EBSP), which would grant visa‑free travel to EU citizens in exchange for access to European biometric databases. The latest draft does not explicitly prohibit the use...
NASA Seeks IBM Partner to Manage Agency's Software Portfolio
NASA has issued a request for information (RFI) to find an IBM Platinum Partner that will manage its extensive software portfolio. The agency intends to establish a five‑year blanket purchase agreement covering licenses, subscription support, expert lab services, and remote...
UnsolicitedBooker Targets Telecoms in Central Asia with New Backdoors
The China‑aligned threat group UnsolicitedBooker has begun targeting telecommunications providers in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The campaign employs two custom backdoors, LuciDoor and MarsSnake, delivered through phishing emails that embed malicious Office macros and loaders such as LuciLoad. These implants can...
MEPs Rally Behind Ex-Commissioner Breton After US Sanctions
EU members of the European Parliament rallied behind former commissioner Thierry Breton after the United States imposed visa restrictions on him for his role in shaping the Digital Services Act. Breton, who oversaw the DSA and other digital regulations, used...
Georgia Tech Researchers Highlight Vulnerabilities in Threat Intelligence Sharing
Georgia Tech researchers have uncovered critical weaknesses in the global threat‑intelligence supply chain, highlighting how inconsistent data quality and limited sharing impede rapid response. Their study, presented at the NDSS Symposium, found that while 67% of vendors sandbox suspicious binaries,...
The First-in-the-Nation TikTik Ban that Wasn’t
A Montana federal judge dismissed the state’s TikTok ban on Feb. 20, 2026 after the law’s trigger clause was satisfied by ByteDance selling a majority stake to non‑Chinese investors. The sale, completed on Jan. 23, 2026, left ByteDance with a...
PowerSchool, Chicago Public Schools to Settle Student Data Privacy Lawsuit for $17 Million
PowerSchool and Chicago Public Schools have agreed to a $17.25 million settlement to resolve a class‑action lawsuit accusing the ed‑tech firm of covertly recording student communications. The fund will be divided among more than 10 million potential class members and obligates PowerSchool...
New UAC-0050 Social Engineering Campaign Discovered
Russia‑linked threat group UAC‑0550, also known as DaVinci Group, launched a sophisticated social‑engineering campaign against a European financial institution that supports Ukraine. The attackers sent legal‑themed phishing emails from a counterfeit Ukrainian judicial domain, directing victims to download a ZIP...
Colo. FD Launches Community Paramedic Program to Curb Repeat 911 Calls
The Grand Junction Fire Department has launched a Community Paramedic Program aimed at curbing repeat 911 calls by providing in‑home follow‑up for high‑utilization patients with chronic illnesses. Designated paramedics will visit residents within 24‑48 hours of an emergency call to...
A Remedy for Medicine Procurement: How Brazil Is Improving Decision-Making in a $75 Billion Market Using Open Data and AI
Brazil spends roughly US$75 billion annually on medicines through its universal health system, but fragmented procurement across 5,000 municipalities creates price volatility and opaque documentation. A coalition of government agencies and civil‑society groups launched the Medicamentos Transparentes platform, which consolidates purchase...
Is Claude Out of the War Business? W/ Amos Toh
In this brief episode, host explores the controversial use of Anthropic's Claude AI model in the alleged Venezuelan invasion, discussing legal and ethical concerns around its deployment in military operations. Guest Amos Toh, a researcher at the Brennan Center, explains...
USPS Tests Picture Proof of Delivery Capability
The U.S. Postal Service is field‑testing a new camera feature on its Mobile Delivery Device app that captures photos of delivered packages. The pilot runs in Phoenix, New York City, Dallas and Fargo, but images are not yet available to customers....
Eyeball Recognition, Surveillance Towers Part of $40 Million Immigration Awards for Local Florida Police
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his cabinet approved more than $40 million in state immigration grants for local law‑enforcement agencies. The funding will finance biometric iris scanners, AI‑enabled body cameras, license‑plate readers, surveillance towers and other detention‑related equipment. Six counties submitted...
NGOs Want Ex-Meta MEP Removed From EU Digital Rules Relaxation
European Parliament MEP Aura Salla, a former Meta EU public‑policy director, was appointed lead legislator on the Digital Omnibus proposal. NGOs and transparency watchdogs are demanding her removal, citing a conflict of interest given her 2020‑2023 tenure at Meta. Salla,...
Chat Control Is in the Final Stretch – but It Could Be a Marathon, Not a Sprint
The EU Council, led by Denmark, has rejected mandatory scanning of private messages and added safeguards for encrypted communications in the contentious CSA Regulation. While the Council now proposes a voluntary detection framework, the European Parliament still backs limited mandatory...
SEPTA Launches CBTC Rail Signalling Upgrade on Media Sharon Hill Line
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) has placed a new Communications‑Based Train Control (CBTC) system into revenue service on its Media–Sharon Hill line, the last interurban trolley network in the U.S. The upgrade, delivered by Hitachi Rail, covers 11.9 miles between...
Broadband Grant Deadlines
Federal broadband grants from programs such as CAF II, RDOF, ReConnect, the Capital Projects Fund, ARPA, and NTIA face hard completion deadlines, many of which fall on December 31, 2026. The federal government has signaled no appetite for extensions, meaning...
Budget 2026: Govt Ups Digital Efforts to Root Out Payroll Fraud
South Africa’s 2026 budget earmarks R285.3 million to modernise the government payroll system and curb ghost‑worker fraud. An additional R98.9 million will fund a national e‑procurement platform under the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer. The Treasury has identified 4,323 high‑risk employees...
Budget 2026: SA Connect Phase Two ‘Comes to an End’
South Africa’s flagship broadband initiative, SA Connect, will complete its second phase in the 2025/26 fiscal year, according to the National Treasury’s Budget Review. Phase two delivered connectivity to 6,343 government facilities and installed 32,055 community Wi‑Fi hotspots, reaching an...
Budget 2026: Godongwana Talks up AI, Data Infrastructure
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana used the 2026 budget launch to declare data and artificial intelligence infrastructure as critical as electricity, ports and transport. He announced plans to expand data‑centre capacity, citing 55 existing facilities and R50 billion of investment expected over...
DSIT Offers £174k for AI and Emerging Tech DG
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is hiring a Director General for emerging technology and artificial intelligence with a salary up to £174,000. The role will steer the UK’s strategy, investment and regulation across AI, quantum computing, semiconductors,...
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'Richter Scale' Model Measures Magnitude of OT Cyber Incidents
The Operational Technology Incident (OTI) Impact Score, unveiled at the S4x26 conference, offers a Richter‑scale‑style metric for gauging OT cyber‑attack consequences. It combines severity, reach, and duration into a single figure, with assessments delivered via an online portal within 12...
Touchless TSA Cuts Wait to Under a Minute
I was expecting a mess at the airport with TSA but with touchless I got through in 1 minute with 3 people ahead of me. Nice job @TSA.
Romanian National Pleads Guilty to Selling Access to Networks of Oregon State Government Office
Romanian national Catalin Dragomir pleaded guilty to selling unauthorized access to an Oregon state government computer network and to aggravated identity theft. He provided buyers with personal data samples and sold access to multiple U.S. victims, causing at least $250,000...
IoT Devices Make Municipal Infrastructure an Easy Target for Cyberattackers
Municipalities are rapidly deploying IoT and OT devices for smart‑city services, but many of these assets remain unsecured. In April 2025, hackers exploited default passwords on audio‑enabled crosswalk buttons in three California cities, using AI‑generated voices to broadcast fake messages....
Manual Processes Are Putting National Security at Risk
More than half of national‑security agencies still move classified data by hand, a practice the CYBER360 report flags as a strategic liability. Manual transfers introduce human error, audit gaps, and exploitable seams that adversaries can weaponize. Legacy platforms, protracted procurement...
New Paper Examines How AI Could Be Exploited for Terrorist Financing
A new research paper by Jason Blazakis, funded by the EU’s Internal Security Fund and released through RUSI and Project CRAAFT, examines how large language models could be weaponised to facilitate terrorist financing. The study argues that AI‑driven content generation...
Chinese Group’s ChatGPT Use Reveals Worldwide Harassment Campaign Against Critics
OpenAI’s latest threat report reveals a Chinese law‑enforcement unit using ChatGPT to edit internal briefings and draft a propaganda push against Japan’s prime minister. The single account uploaded dozens of operation reports, exposing a coordinated effort involving mass posting, bogus...
Policy Blindspots Threaten Nigeria’s .ng Domain Adoption, NiRA Flags
Nigeria’s digital strategy hinges on expanding the local .ng domain, but the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA) warns that policy gaps are stalling adoption. Although the 2025 Nigeria First Policy obliges government bodies to migrate to .ng addresses and host...
Vodacom Opens R1.5m Digital School in Eastern Cape
Vodacom Foundation, together with the Eastern Cape Department of Education, has launched a R1.5 million School of Excellence at Lavelilanga Secondary School. The investment, delivered over the first year, funds infrastructure upgrades, digital connectivity, ICT support staff and psychosocial services. The...
Seeing in the Dark: Towards a Broad Construction of the Access to Data Provisions of the DSA
The Digital Services Act’s Article 40 gives vetted researchers EU‑wide data access to study systemic risks, but its “necessary and proportionate” test may limit that access. Past denials on privacy grounds show researchers often lack prior knowledge of what data they...
Online Consultations Part of New GP Contract
A new NHS England GP contract, backed by £485 million, will guarantee same‑day appointments for urgent patients. It mandates that online consultation platforms remain available throughout core hours and redirects £292 million to recruit roughly 1,600 additional full‑time‑equivalent GPs. The contract expands...
Crown and Magistrate Courts Digitisation Funding Boost
The UK government will fund every Crown court in England and Wales to operate at maximum capacity in 2026/27, with an extra £287 million for digital upgrades and infrastructure. Total court and tribunal funding rises to £2.785 billion, up from £2.538 billion. No...