Your #Vape Wants to Know How Old You Are

Companies hope that #biometric age-verification tech in cartridges could put flavored vapes back in business. But it's unlikely to solve the real problems.
#ageverification #privacy #security

https://www.wired.com/story/your-vape-wants-to-know-how-old-you-are/

Your #Body Is Betraying Your #Right to #Privacy

Attachment to smart devices and #biometric #surveillance leaves Americans more vulnerable to police searches than ever. Left unchecked it will only get worse.

https://www.wired.com/story/book-excerpt-your-data-will-be-used-against-you-andrew-guthrie-ferguson/

I'm very sceptical to #digital HR-tagging tech, like #idaustria:
Driving the "said to be free" public to freely select to irreversibly "donate" their #biometric #metadata to "some companies":

1. face
2. fingerprints

And encourage children to grow up finding this okay and necessary. Over devices known to be quite permanently under control and surveilance by "some companies"?

Hm. Safe?
Option 3. "yubikey" (another company) - already saying TODAY their program is end-of-life??

😕 #longterm?

Federal Agents Are Intimidating #LegalObservers at Their Homes: “They Know Where You Live.”

#Immigration authorities in #Minnesota have identified legal observers by name and address, and in some cases showed up at their homes.

by Austin Campbell
March 5 2026, 5:53 a.m.

"Former Minnesota state Sen. #MattLittle was lawfully observing federal immigration agents in a Dakota County neighborhood last month when the drive took an unexpected turn.

"As he followed their vehicles, they led him down a rural road that grew increasingly familiar during the 20-minute drive. Soon, Little told #TheIntercept, he realized where the federal agents were headed: his house.

"When he approached his driveway, two SUVs were already waiting, Little said. Agents moved to block his car, claiming he had impeded their investigation and that local law enforcement would be called. No other officers came to his house, and Little was not cited or charged.

" 'The intent was clearly to intimidate us. It’s stressful. It’s a little bit scary. But at the same time,' Little said, 'I just think it’s really important to be out there and monitoring what they’re doing.'

"Interviews, sworn declarations, and video reviewed by The Intercept indicate that Little is not the only person subjected to this kind of #intimidation. Across the #TwinCities, immigration agents have identified legal observers by name and address, and, in some cases, led them back to their homes after they engaged in lawful monitoring of immigration activity. Legal observers say this pattern of behavior sends a clear and chilling message: The federal government knows who they are and where they live.

"These encounters are unfolding amid a rapid expansion of federal #surveillance capabilities.

"Immigration authorities have significantly expanded their use of mobile #biometric and surveillance tools in recent years. Officers with Immigration and Customs Enforcement as well as Customs and Border Protection, for example, can use the smartphone app #MobileFortify to photograph a person’s face or capture fingerprints in the field and compare them against federal biometric databases, according to a Department of Homeland Security inventory of artificial intelligence technologies."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/05/ice-cbp-minnesota-surveillance-intimidation-observers/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/MggRo

#AbolishCBP #AbolishICE #ICESucks #Palantir #AISucks #PoliceState #USPol #Orwellian #SilencingDissent #SurveillanceState

#Mexico Mandates #Biometric #SIM Registration for All Phone Numbers

https://reclaimthenet.org/mexico-mandates-biometric-sim-registration-for-all-phone-numbers

#privacy #politics

#NYC Council pushes to ban stores from collecting #biometric data

https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-council-pushes-to-ban-stores-from-collecting-biometric-data

The world wants to ban children from social media, but there will be grave consequences for us all
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/02/ban-children-social-media-biometic-data-surveilled

#censorship #socialmedia #surveillance #biometric #privacy #saveourchildren

"Every single time you mandate #ageverification, you are mandating the creation of a centralized database of extraordinarily sensitive personal information. Government IDs. #Biometric facial data. The kind of data that, once breached, cannot be “changed” like a password. You get one face. You get one #government ID number. When those leak—and they will leak—the damage is permanent."

https://www.techdirt.com/2026/02/25/hackers-expose-the-massive-surveillance-stack-hiding-inside-your-age-verification-check/

When an account that's password-protected is compromised, you can change the password, on that and other vulnerable accounts.

But what do you do when an account that's protected by biometric data (thumb print, facial recognition, etc) is hacked? Do you get a new thumb? Or a new face?

#Biometric