Consumers would gain more control over their data under a new bill set for Senate approval that would also ban targeted advertising to minors.
Technology
Posted inTechnology
Advocates call for cameras on school buses
Automated enforcement has historically received pushback, with opponents citing concerns about privacy and racial profiling. Previous bills that would have allowed for automated enforcement of running red lights have failed on Beacon Hill.
Posted inEconomy
Technology, remote work shaping future labor force
THE NATURE OF work is changing due to technology, automation, and the explosion of remote work. Addressing the challenges posed by these shifts will require not only traditional workforce supports […]
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
Unemployment system shifting away from facial recognition tech
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE’S UNEMPLOYMENT assistance agency will in the “coming weeks” stop utilizing facial recognition technology to verify the identities of benefit applicants after senior members of […]
Posted inEconomy
A&F Secretary Heffernan calls millionaire’s tax ‘dangerous’
RAISING TAXES ON income over $1 million would be a “dangerous policy,” given how well the state is doing financially under the current tax system, Secretary of Administration and Finance […]
Posted inEconomy
Rural towns seek money to repay broadband debt
THE RURAL HAMPSHIRE County town of Goshen is in the middle of installing broadband internet service. Even with state subsidies for the project, town officials estimate that Goshen will have […]
Posted inOpinion
Safety should trump privacy in next pandemic
WHEN HISTORIANS of the future write their accounts of the pandemic of 2020-21, they will say we knew something this bad was coming, still got caught flat-footed, and hundreds of […]
Posted inOpinion
It’s time for a Big Tech tea party
IN LIFE AND IN POLITICS, there are lines of behavior that, when crossed, an equilibrium previously tolerated now becomes insufferable. Once that line is broken, action must be taken to […]
Posted inArts and Culture
Pandemic prayers: COVID is reshaping organized religion
IT HAS BEEN more than a year since Temple Beth Zion, a nondenominational Jewish synagogue in Brookline, closed its physical doors. The synagogue started holding daily prayer services for the first […]
Posted inUncategorized
Why is the state’s technology so bad?
“THE…DISASTER WAS completely avoidable, as administrators knew the system was not ready, yet decided to launch it anyway… Investigations cannot undo the taxpayer dollars wasted and the disruption of families’ […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Audit faults data system used by DAs
IN AN AUDIT of the Cape and Islands district attorney’s office this week, state Auditor Suzanne Bump flagged the case management system used by all 11 Massachusetts district attorneys as outdated, citing in particular its information on juvenile defendants. If […]
Posted inThe Download
Ruling permits citizen recordings of police
While Beacon Hill legislators haven’t moved yet to address Gov. Charlie Baker’s amendments to policing reform legislation, other efforts to improve law enforcement accountability are moving forward locally and in […]
Posted inUncategorized
Ruling permits citizen recordings of police
WHILE BEACON HILL legislators haven’t moved yet to address Gov. Charlie Baker’s amendments to policing reform legislation, other efforts to improve law enforcement accountability are moving forward locally and in […]
Posted inUncategorized
Confusion over tax status stymies solar projects
AN OUTDATED LAW and a series of rulings by an obscure tax board are throwing the state’s landscape for solar projects into disarray. The question revolves around whether commercial solar […]
Posted inUncategorized
Healey not saying why she didn’t join Apple lawsuit
ATTORNEY GENERAL Maura Healey is refusing to say why she never joined a large coalition of attorneys general who sued Apple and recently won a $113 million legal settlement, which […]
Posted inBallot Questions, Politics
Right to repair ballot question passes, but implementation a concern
MASSACHUSETTS VOTERS on Tuesday voted to expand the state’s Right to Repair law and require car manufacturers to provide more information to independent repair shops. The passage of the ballot […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Boston City Council bans use of facial recognition tech
THE BOSTON CITY COUNCIL voted unanimously on Wednesday to prohibit the police department and other city agencies from using facial recognition technology or information derived from face surveillance systems. The […]
Posted inEconomy
Markey owes a telecom fix
COVID-19 HAS HIGHLIGHTED deep divisions in this country, from who has access to health care to who can afford to stay at home to how we educate our children. At […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
What you need to know about new hands-free driving law
IT’S TIME TO stop reading those emails while traffic is crawling on the Southeast Expressway. Massachusetts’s ban on handheld cellphone use while driving goes into effect Sunday. Gov. Charlie Baker […]
Posted inThe Download
Many municipalities hit by cyber stick-ups
Dozens of Massachusetts municipalities have been targeted by ransomware attacks — cyberattacks on computer systems that are designed to extort money. A shocking investigation from NBC 10 Boston found that many […]
Posted inUncategorized
Many municipalities hit by cyber stick-ups
DOZENS OF MASSACHUSETTS MUNICIPALITIES have been targeted by ransomware attacks — cyberattacks on computer systems that are designed to extort money. A shocking investigation from NBC 10 Boston found that […]
Posted inOpinion
Face surveillance tech unprecedented threat
DOZENS OF ADVOCATES—including district attorneys, MIT researchers, educators, and tech business leaders—sounded the alarm this week on an unprecedented threat to our civil liberties. We testified before state lawmakers, and […]
Posted inEducation
A Swift return
IT’S BEEN A long time since Jane Swift left the public stage, retreating home to Western Massachusetts after a rocky 21-month tenure as governor. Just how much time has passed? […]
Posted inOpinion
Gene editing for plants could feed the world
THE NEW ENGLAND life sciences industry has produced an explosion of therapies for small patient populations with rare diseases. Last year, fully half of newly approved drugs were for these […]