If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. After three years, Meta’s apps will once again include facial recognition (this is currently in the testing phase). The giant is “selling” the move to its users as a way to fight scammers and make account recovery easier. The feature was abandoned because of widespread criticism of this tech, but Facebook and Instagram users can now expect to have it back on their apps. The first scenario involves deploying facial recognition to remove what is known as celeb-bait ads, which use photos of public figures to get users to visit scam websites. Meta said that if it suspects this is happening, faces in the ad will be compared to the public figure’s Facebook and Instagram profile photos using facial recognition. For now, the feature is applied to a group of celebrities and public figures, on an “opt-out” basis. The company also revealed that since it is happening in real-time, the process is “faster and more accurate” than when done manually. And now, onto “ordinary people.” The second test involves getting the apps’ users to take video selfies and upload them to Meta. Once again, facial recognition will be used to match these to people’s profile photos, this time in order to speed up the account recovery process. Meta is clearly counting on the “convenience factor” to persuade users that subjecting themselves to facial recognition carried out by a tech juggernaut is a good idea. Another promise is that the process will help when accounts are believed to be compromised by hackers logging in with stolen credentials. The inevitable question is, what happens to this sensitive personal biometric data, especially once in the hands of Meta? The company said it will not use it for any other purposes, that it will be encrypted, and “immediately” deleted once a comparison has been made. While Meta stated that public figures will be automatically enrolled but can opt out, it isn’t explicitly said that for other users facial recognition will be an opt-in, although a post on the company blog says that the video selfie verification “expands on the options for people to regain account access.” Left out of the new scheme for now, due to obvious legal reasons, are Illinois and Texas, but also the UK and the EU. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Meta Brings Back Face Scanning appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Cookies Aren’t Dead Yet: Google’s New Plan To Keep You Tracked All Over the Internet appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The authorities – and legacy media – in the UK are trying to deploy, and are promoting a number of initiatives that have an even more expansive forms of mass surveillance as one of their common denominators. Health Secretary Wes Streeting has declared that the National Health Service (NHS) will have to be “turned on its head” in order to be “saved” – and the Labour government has prepared a 10-year-plan to get this done. Developing a digital health ID, referred to as a “single patient record” on the NHS app containing “all information” is one of the changes that will be proposed during the upcoming “national conversation.” Another the current authorities aim for is not to build more hospitals, equip them better, train and employ more staff – as one might expect – but to get as many people to monitor their own health at home, by giving them devices tracking some health parameters, like blood pressure and glucose. The plan is to make even recovering cancer patients track that recovery themselves. And to achieve it, millions of people will get smart watches and other wearable tech. “Moving more care from hospitals to the community,” is how those behind the plan describe it. Other than announcing that the NHS is “broken,” “in a critical condition,” etc., and therefore in need of being “saved,” Streeting distinguished himself recently by pushing for things like giving obese unemployed persons weight loss drugs “to help them get back to work.” But Streeting’s not the only one apparently alarmed by the state of the NHS – or the only one trying to use the service’s infrastructure and reach to achieve other goals. The Observer Economics Editor Phillip Inman has penned a piece calling for mass government surveillance, where the NHS is a potential “testbed for a national ID card.” Other ideas Inman supports concerning highly invasive monitoring methods include taxing zero-emission vehicles via “satellite surveillance.” Inman advises Streeting to make sure “everyone” has the NHS app on their phone. “If UK households offer their information to the NHS in the way they do to Google et al, health service provision could be cheaper and more effective,” writes the Observer editor. The cynical implication that people “offer” their data to Big Tech – while in reality most are genuinely unaware of the extent of Big Tech’s data harvesting – aside, but Inman has more thoughts about the usefulness of the NHS. “The health service could be a testbed for a national ID card that allows for the digitization of more areas of government, reducing costs and tackling fraud,” he writes. If you're tired of censorship and dystopian threats against civil liberties, subscribe to Reclaim The Net. The post Tracking Health or Tracking You? The UK’s Expanding Health Surveillance appeared first on Reclaim The Net.

Kamala Harris' Unhinged Speech; UPDATE: Trump Responds

Exhausted: New Harris/Forbes Poll Puts Kamala Down Eight In Battleground States

Nate Silver: It's a 50-50 Race but My Gut Says Trump

The United Nations, of all groups, is surprisingly standing up for female athletes. Well, at least one of their representatives is. A recent UN report titled “Violence Against Women” reveals female athletes have lost nearly 900 medals to men competing in women's sporting categories. “According to information received, by 30 March 2024, over 600 female athletes in more than 400 competitions have lost more than 890 medals in 29 different sports,” the report, covered by the New York Post, added. “That is just the number that has been reported and accounted for,” Women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines reacted in an interview with Fox & Friends Wednesday morning.  Despite the number being “shocking to your average person,” Gaines told Fox even just “one girl” cheated in her sport by a biological male is “one girl too many.” She highlighted females “being exploited in locker rooms,” and “injured in their sport.” Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls who complied the report agrees.   She considers “any country that allows biological men to compete in women’s sports is allowing violence against women.” “Women and girls already have many odds stacked against them that impede their equal and effective participation in sports,” Alsalem, who presented her report to the UN General Assembly, said. She added that “their ability to play sport in conditions of safety, dignity and fairness has been further eroded by the intrusion of males who identify as female in female-only sports and related spaces.” It doesn’t matter that some sport federations limit the testosterone levels of men competing against women, Alsalem asserts. This “will not eliminate the set of comparative performance advantages they have already acquired,” she explained.

ABC’s Good Morning America went full bore against half the country on Wednesday, going all out with over 10 minutes (10:28) of hyperbolic tailspins eagerly touting as fact wild claims from former White House chief of staff John Kelly that Donald Trump is a fascist, danger to democracy and the American people, and enthralled with Adolf Hitler. In turn, they hurled nothing but venom toward Trump and his supporters as they were calmly soothed by Vice President Harris’s camp. Co-host and former Clinton official George Stephanopoulos — who views defeating Trump as a duty — gushed over the “truly extraordinary breaking news this morning” of Kelly “speaking out with things you have never heard before from someone who has served a president.” “He says Donald Trump fits the definition of a fascist. He says Donald Trump praised Adolf Hitler, demeaned American war heroes, calls Donald Trump a man who would govern like a dictator if allowed,” he added. Fact-check: Pants on fire. A simple internet search would reveal Kelly first leveled these claims in August 2022 in a book for liberal elitist snobs Peter Baker and Susan Glasser and doubled down in March 2024 to CNN tool and former Obama official Jim Sciutto.     Correspondent Rachel Scott — who has a idolatrous level of hate for Trump — eagerly shared that Kelly has “paint[ed] a picture of a former President and Republican nominee who has no regard for the Constitution or rule of law, warning that he would rule as a dictator if he could” and a “fascist”. Scott not only invoked Kelly’s tall tales about Hitler, but implied Trump is pining for a genocide: “Kelly describing how Trump would praise Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, who orchestrated the systematic murder of six million Jews and caused World War II.” Scott left no stone unturned, playing one soundbite after another from Kelly’s phone conversations with The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg and The New York Times’s Michael Schmidt (who’s married to MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace) and gave zero time to anything Trump said Tuesday about the 2024 race (click “expand”): KELLY: He commented more than once that, you know, that Hitler did some of those things, too. SCOTT: Kelly’s on-the-record, first-hand accounts following similar reporting in The Atlantic, including a private conversation at the White House where, according to Kelly, Trump asked why his generals couldn’t “be more like” Hitler’s generals. KELLY: Well, I would tell him that, sir, you know, first of all you should never say that. But if you knew what Hitler was all about, from the beginning to the end, everything he did was in support of this racist, fascist, life, you know — the — you know, philosophy, so that nothing he did you could argue was good. SCOTT: The Trump campaign calling that an outrageous lie. Just as The New York Times published their interview with Kelly, Trump was on stage in Greensboro, North Carolina praising authoritarian leaders like Chinese President Xi and Russian President Vladimir Putin. TRUMP: He’s smart. He’s a smart man. He’s a fierce man. I got along with him very well. Putin, these are people that are tough people. SCOTT: Kelly insisting to The Times, if given the chance, Trump would rule as a dictator himself. KELLY: Oh, I think he’d, you know, love to be just like he was in business. He could tell people to do things and they would do it and not really bother too much about whether — what the legalities were. SCOTT: Kelly also says Trump often questioned why people would serve the country in uniform and referred to service members who were injured or killed as losers and suckers multiple times, something the former President has repeatedly denied. KELLY: His not wanting to be seen with amputees — amputees that lost their limbs in defense of this country fighting for every American to — him included, to protect him, but didn’t want to be seen with them. SCOTT: Kelly, a retired four star marine general, who spent 45 years in uniform, lost his own son to combat in Afghanistan. He was handpicked by Trump to lead the Department of Homeland Security before serving as his longest chief of staff. TRUMP: General Kelly will go down, in terms of the position of chief of staff, one of the great ever. SCOTT: He says he made the decision to speak out now after Trump talked about using the military against what he calls the enemy within. TRUMP [on FNC’s Sunday Morning Futures, on 10/13/24]: I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the — should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military. SCOTT: In a statement, the Trump campaign writing, “John Kelly has totally beclowned himself,” calling the stories “fabricated,” and adding “Trump has always honored the service and sacrifice of all of our military men and women.” Scott ended with a laughably absurd claim from Kelly: ABC’s Rachel Scott: “John Kelly insists he is not trying to tell people how to vote, but he is asking this country to consider character over policy, George.” George Stephanopoulos: “And that all comes from someone who served former President Trump.” pic.twitter.com/1bOV1a9gvC — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 23, 2024 After the two hurled more invective (this time about rumored Attorney General candidates) at a man who’s been nearly assassinated twice, ABC gave a few moments to the fluff the pillows of Harris’s campaign. Of course, Mary Bruce obliged: Here was as sample of how ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ covered the Kamala Harris campaign in between its two opening segments oozing over John Kelly. Mary Bruce -- Disney's in-house North Korean news lady for Kamala Harris -- was on the case, fawning over Harris being “focused… pic.twitter.com/7vftsgobhR — Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 23, 2024 Bruce was so predictable that she had to end with celebrities, cheering the Obamas and Bruce Springsteen. Stephanopoulos took back control of what would be nearly 10 minutes straight of campaign coverage and brought in three-time anti-Trump author Jonathan Karl for more fear-mongering. “One of the things you’ve reported in your books. I have reported it in my book as well. We’ve seen it again today: some of the most damning critiques of Donald Trump’s character and competence come from those who served in these top national security positions,” Stephanopoulos solemnly huffed. Karl has more money to bank in book sales to Resistance liberals, so he needs more grist to keep readers hiding under their covers and lamented “[t]he most damning critiques of Donald Trump and the most dire warnings about what it would mean if he came back into the White House came from people who served him closest in his administration in the most sensitive and important positions.” He even came with a graphic of former officials who’ve, at a minimum, voiced dismay with Trump.     For good measure, Karl trotted out another anonymous source who believes Trump is guilty of treason. Karl obviously ignored how the implication of that would be such a crime would be punishable by death (click “expand”): Let me just go through a few of them. I’ve written them down so I don’t leave any out, but I’m going to leave some out because there are a lot. Obviously, there are his former Vice President. There’s Rex Tillerson, who was his secretary of state, Bill Barr, who was attorney general, John Kelly, Mark Milley, Mark Esper, who was his defense secretary, Jim Mattis, who was his earlier defense secretary, Dan Coats who was in charge of the national intelligence. All of these people have come out to issue dire warnings about Donald Trump. And, George, it — I have to say, it’s not just the people who have come out publicly. A lot of others, and you can see they are not endorsing Trump, but they’re not speaking publicly. They are worried about feed back. Let just me read something that — an anonymous, very top official who spent every day time with Donald Trump, served many years in the administration, told me about Donald Trump: “Trump lacks any shred of any decency, humility, or caring. He is traitor and a malignancy on our nation and represents a clear and present danger to our democracy and rule of law.” Again, that is somebody who, just like Jon Kelly, who was with Trump every day for more than a year in the White House. Stephanopoulos had more anxiety to cause among his superficial audience, which ended with him telling Karl that, if Trump were to become president, “[t]he guardrails” of our democracy in these former officials would “be gone” (click “expand”): STEPHANOPOULOS: Traitor. Let’s put that graphic back up there cause I want to make a point here of when see that graphic of all the people who have surrounded Donald Trump, these are people who were in The Situation Room during the times of crisis. If Donald Trump is election [sic] again, none of those people will be there? KARL: Well, I have spoken to Trump many times about some of the people that have crossed him and I asked him what his next administration would be like. What he told me is he didn’t know anybody. He had to rely on advice to hire people last time. Now he knows people. He will put people in who are loyal to him. He will put people that will carry out his orders. STEPHANOPOULOS: The guardrails will be gone. Jon Karl, thanks very much. Robin. ROBERTS: Thank you, both. For good measure, Stephanopoulos reiterated the topline talking points in a news brief to begin the second half-hour and, for the second hour, he brought Scott and Bruce for more pom-pom waving. To see the relevant ABC transcript from October 23, click here.

The Department of Homeland Security has reportedly identified more than 600 immigrants currently in the United States who have possible ties to Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan gang.According to data obtained and released by NBC News on Wednesday, approximately 100 of the individuals have been designated as “subjects of interest” after they were found to be confirmed gang members. The DHS advised the FBI to place those individuals on its watch list, officials told the news outlet. 'Almost disturbingly low.'It noted that after further review, the rest of the 500 immigrants may be gang members themselves or victims and witnesses linked to the gang.The DHS data obtained by NBC News also revealed that TDA has confirmed activity in at least 15 states and may have a presence in another eight. A spokesperson for the department told the news outlet, “DHS has an ongoing operation to crack down on gang members through re-screening certain individuals previously encountered, in addition to the rigorous screening and vetting at the border.”“All individuals confirmed or suspected to be gang members are referred for criminal prosecution or detained and placed into expedited removal,” the spokesperson added.However, the data revealed that fewer than 5% of the 600 individuals identified by the DHS are in federal custody with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.A DHS official told NBC News that ICE has not yet detained some of the individuals because they are currently in custody with other law enforcement agencies, or ICE may not know where the individuals are located. The official also stated that the federal government may still be confirming the individuals’ connections to the gang or to crimes.According to the DHS official, TDA “prey[s] first and foremost on Venezuelans.”“We know that they control human smuggling routes out of Venezuela and into Colombia and into Panama. And they are controlling more of these passages as individuals move north through Mexico,” the official said.Frank Figliuzzi, a former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence and an NBC News contributor, called the DHS’ discovery of 600 immigrants with possible ties to TDA “almost disturbingly low.”“It should be higher,” he added.Ammon Blair, a senior fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and former Border Patrol agent, told NBC News that the federal government does not know the full extent of TDA’s presence in the U.S.“When you look at the process, unfortunately, they’re just steamrolled through,” Blair stated. “The Border Patrol has created a conveyor belt, an automated system to process them and release them as fast as possible into the United States. We were not asking questions.”Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

During a hearing earlier this month, Tim Ballard's attorney, Mark Eisenhut, offered a startling theory about semen found on the skirt of one of Ballard's accusers. Eisenhut indicated that Ballard may have masturbated onto the skirt in response to a meeting with a "high-end escort" named Juli. Celeste Borys has accused Ballard of sexual misconduct while the two worked together at Operation Underground Railroad from October 2022 until September 2023. According to Borys and her attorney, Suzette Rasmussen, Ballard sexually assaulted Borys 30 times during that 11-month period, as Blaze News previously reported. 'So when he masturbated, your position is that it got on the skirt?' One such alleged assault occurred on Jan. 8, 2023, when Borys and Ballard flew to Mexico for a supposed operation. Borys later stuffed a leather skirt she had been wearing that day into a drawer. DNA from semen was later extracted from the skirt. A Utah County detective confirmed that "the DNA was a 100% match of Ballard’s DNA" and that Borys' husband had been excluded, Borys and her attorney asserted in court documents. A Utah state crime lab has yet to confirm the results of the DNA test. At an Oct. 3 hearing regarding a sexual violence protective order against Ballard, Eisenhut claimed to court commissioner Kim Luhn that while his team had yet to examine "the skirt, the semen, or the test results," his client did apparently ejaculate on Borys' skirt after returning with Juli to his Ritz-Carlton hotel room in Mexico in the hopes of getting information from her. "He actually gets the information out of her," Eisenhut said of Ballard and Juli, "but the problem is, she now wants to have sex." Eisenhut then went on a tangent, discussing prostitutes in seedy areas who are often ready and willing to sell their services — and Ballard's determination to remain faithful to his wife and family. After some time, Commissioner Luhn interjected and asked: "So when he masturbated, your position is that it got on the skirt?" "He was in her room," Eisenhut replied, now referring to Ballard and Borys. "He used her skirt to do it, and that's the excuse he used with the prostitute." In other words, Eisenhut suggested Ballard may have masturbated as an "excuse" not to have sex with Juli. Eisenhut reiterated that this alleged semen deposit "could have and probably did happen." Luhn ultimately granted Borys the sexual violence protective order against Ballard, which compels him to remain at least 250 feet from her and avoid all contact with her. The order is set to expire in October 2027. "We commend the court for its careful examination of the full context surrounding this case. By taking the time to understand the grooming, manipulation, and threats and dangers faced by the victim, the court has demonstrated a commitment to justice and safety," Rasmussen said in a statement to Blaze News. "This decision not only protects the victim, but also reinforces the importance of a judicial system that prioritizes safety and accountability." In response to a request for comment, Ballard spokesperson Chad Kolton told Blaze News: "The commissioner's decision in the [Borys] PO matter is considered a recommendation. The judge will make a final ruling." Neither Ballard nor Borys still works at Operation Underground Railroad. OUR did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News. Editor's note: This article has been updated to note that the hearing was held before Commissioner Kim Luhn, not Judge Kristine Johnson. A previous version of this article attributed comments to Judge Johnson that were actually made by Commissioner Luhn. We regret the error. Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!