Autos are data-collection hubs due to their many sensors, from telematics to fully digital control consoles.

However, drivers have little control over the personal data their vehicles collect, Mozilla Foundation researchers said Wednesday in their latest “Privacy Not Included” survey. Security standards are also vague, which is concerning given automakers’ hacking history.

“Cars seem to have really flown under the privacy radar and I’m really hoping that we can help remedy that because they are truly awful,” said study research lead Jen Caltrider. “Cars have microphones and people have sensitive conversations. Car cameras face inward and outward.”

Caltrider said automobile purchasers “just don’t have a lot of options” without a used, pre-digital model.

Since 2017, Mozilla has analyzed more than a dozen product categories, including fitness trackers, reproductive health applications, smart speakers, and other connected home products, and cars ranked worst for privacy.

None of the 25 automobile brands whose privacy notices were reviewed—chosen for their popularity in Europe and North America—met Mozilla’s baseline privacy criteria. Mozilla promotes open-source, public-interest technology and maintains the Firefox browser. However, 37% of mental health apps the non-profit tested this year did.

Notices from 19 automakers suggest they can sell your personal info. Half will share your information with the government or law enforcement upon “request” rather than legal order. Only Renault and Dacia, which are not offered in North America, allow drivers to remove their data.

“Increasingly, most cars are wiretaps on wheels,” said Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy technology and human rights fellow Albert Fox Cahn. Drivers pay extra to install devices that collect more data on them and their passengers.”

Since 2017, Mozilla has analyzed more than a dozen product categories, including fitness trackers, reproductive health applications, smart speakers, and other connected home products, and cars ranked worst for privacy.

None of the 25 automobile brands whose privacy notices were reviewed—chosen for their popularity in Europe and North America—met Mozilla’s baseline privacy criteria. Mozilla promotes open-source, public-interest technology and maintains the Firefox browser. However, 37% of mental health apps the non-profit tested this year did.

Notices from 19 automakers suggest they can sell your personal info. Half will share your information with the government or law enforcement upon “request” rather than legal order. Only Renault and Dacia, which are not offered in North America, allow drivers to remove their data.

“Increasingly, most cars are wiretaps on wheels,” said Harvard’s Carr Center for Human Rights Policy technology and human rights fellow Albert Fox Cahn. Drivers pay extra to install devices that collect more data on them and their passengers.”

In a 2020 Pew Research survey, 52% of Americans indicated they avoided a product or service because they were apprehensive about its data collection.

Minimum Mozilla security standards include encrypting car personal data. The researchers stated most vehicle brands disregarded their emails and provided partial, unsatisfactory responses.

Japan-based Nissan shocked researchers with its privacy notice’s honesty and thorough data collecting breakdowns, unlike Facebook or Google. Driver’s license numbers, immigrant status, race, sexual orientation, and health diagnoses are considered “sensitive personal information.”

Nissan can also use data “inferences” to construct profiles “reflecting the consumer’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes.”

Six car firms claimed to collect “genetic information” or “genetic characteristics,” researchers found.

Nissan claims it obtained “sexual activity” data.” How wasn’t explained?

Mozilla’s “creepiness” ranking favored Tesla’s electric cars. Tesla’s privacy notice states that it may not be able to warn drivers “in real time” of concerns that could cause “reduced functionality, serious damage, or inoperability” if they opt out of data gathering.

Nissan and Tesla did not answer practice queries quickly

Mozilla’s Caltrider said the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation and California’s Consumer Privacy Act forced carmakers to disclose data collecting.

She said it’s a start by boosting customer awareness, like in the 2010s when a backlash forced TV makers to provide more alternatives to surveillance-heavy connected displays.

During the first leg of her record-breaking “Eras” tour, the music superstar made a six-night stop in Los Angeles as part of her “Eras” tour. Stars such as Elizabeth Banks and Katherine Schwarzenegger have been seen attending her shows there. They made a post on social media to announce their presence, with Banks inviting a number of her celebrity friends along for the voyage.

After attending the first night of “Eras” in Los Angeles, Banks uploaded a series of photographs and a video to her Instagram account, beginning with a selfie with the actor Amy Adams, who was nominated for an Academy Award.

The director of “Cocaine Bear” also inserted a video of “American Horror Story” actor Sarah Paulson mouthing the words “I love her” to the camera while holding up a Taylor Swift concert T-shirt. The video was included in the film.

In the accompanying caption, Banks referred to Swift as “an Angel and a Unicorn and Pure Magic” and claimed that she liked the event along with “70k other fans.”

On the occasion of the tour, Schwarzenegger posted a carousel of images to Instagram of herself with her mother Maria Shriver, and other members of the Shriver family. She captioned the photos with the following: “I’ve gotta hand it to her, TSwift puts on a great show.”

The daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger stated, “I am left perplexed by her energy level,” adding in parentheses, “We are the same age to the day, and there is no physical way that I could stay awake past 9 pm that many days in a row.” (Her birthday, December 13, 1989, is the same as Taylor Swift’s.)

Vanessa Bryant is one of the other well-known people who have been spotted at “Eras” thus far.

Next week, in Los Angeles, Taylor Swift is going to bring this first domestic leg of her tour to a stop. After that, she will continue on to Mexico later this month to continue her tour abroad.

Customers are increasingly relying on credit cards, falling behind on bills, and gravitating toward private label brands like Liz Claiborne rather than more expensive national names, according to Rosen.

“Our customers are working families in America.” They are the instructors who teach our children in schools, the construction workers who build our homes, and the medical personnel who care for us,” Rosen explained in an interview last week. “And that customer is facing a tougher economic environment.”

The CEO of JCPenney emphasized the snowball effect that inflation has had on family finances, saying that the average household is spending approximately $700 more per month for the same goods and services than they were two years ago.

“That’s tough for a family like that because it means they’re making tradeoffs in everything they can do,” Rosen explained.

Rosen sees indications of this financial stress in the department store’s “very strong” expansion of private brands, which are priced lower than national names. He cited strong private-label sales of garments as well as home products such as kitchenware and small appliances such as blenders and toasters.

Similarly, Rosen stated that, while JCPenney maintains a “strong” portfolio of company-branded credit cards for its clients, credit consumption has climbed and the rate of delinquencies has returned to pre-Covid-19 levels.

This is consistent with what other stores have indicated. Macy’s has issued a warning about rising credit card delinquencies, and the New York Federal Reserve discovered that the rate of new credit card delinquencies had risen above mid-2019 levels.

JCPenney’s statements highlight the perplexing status of the US economy. Even though the likelihood of a recession has decreased and the labor market remains strong, some consumers are suffering.

Dollar General has reduced its sales and profit forecast for the year, citing core customers who are “financially constrained.” Bank of America has discovered that Americans are withdrawing funds from their 401(k) accounts owing to financial difficulties.

Nonetheless, JCPenney claims that these economic concerns play to the company’s strengths.

“I absolutely believe that this is a take-share moment right now,” Rosen declared. “We believe that customers deserve a shopping experience in which they do not have to make those tradeoffs, in which they can still get that great fashion without having to pay a price that makes it difficult to put groceries on the table.”

That is why JCPenney is investing $1 billion in upgrading the old retailer. The self-funded reinvestment program includes everything from new merchandising tools to speed up its supply chain to store renovations such as new technology, fitting rooms, and even a fresh coat of paint.

The $1 billion reinvestment is a watershed moment for a renowned corporation that declared bankruptcy in May 2020. JCPenney was able to emerge from bankruptcy later that year thanks to a rescue from mall owners Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management.

“We’re in a really strong financial position right now, with a clean balance sheet and strong cash flow funding the operations of the business,” Rosen said, adding that no big store closures are planned.

The CEO of JCPenney refused to say whether the department retailer intends to return to the public markets via an initial public offering. However, he indicated that an IPO is not in the near future.

“We think there are a lot of advantages right now to being a private company,” Rosen said, adding that JCPenney’s owners are reinvesting in the firm and have a “long-term perspective” on that investment.

Eric Coomer, Dominion’s former top security official, sued OAN and its correspondent Chanel Rion after they repeatedly peddled unfounded claims that he and Dominion were involved in massive election fraud in 2020 by switching millions of votes from Donald Trump to Joe Biden.

The terms of the out-of-court settlement, disclosed in a court document, were not immediately available. The filing stated that OAN and Rion “have fully and finally settled the disputes” with Coomer, but provided no other information. According to court papers, the agreement was reached late last week.

OAN’s spokeswoman and attorney did not reply immediately to CNN’s requests for comment. Coomer’s lawyer refused to comment.

According to the recent court filing, other defendants in the action, including Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign, Trump’s former lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell, have not struck a settlement and are still active defendants in the case.

By reaching an agreement with Coomer, OAN is resolving one of numerous pending cases related to the 2020 presidential election, which might have serious financial ramifications for the little network.

Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic, voting technology companies that OAN falsely claimed stole the election against Trump, have filed defamation claims against the conspiracy-peddling channel. Those claims are still in the discovery phase, and unless a settlement is reached, the litigation is projected to last well into next year.

Rion has been at the heart of the network’s pro-Trump propaganda as a correspondent, and she produced a special dubbed “Dominion-izing the Vote,” which propagated baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election results.

Coomer’s Colorado-based litigation compelled numerous top Trump associates to take depositions over their phony fraud accusations. Excerpts made public show how little due diligence these Trump backers performed before spreading the claims on social media and on television, particularly on OAN and Fox News.

Dominion, Smartmatic, and Coomer have gone from being relatively unknown characters to important protagonists in the fight to hold Trump accountable for his electoral falsehoods in the aftermath of the 2020 election.

However, the lengthy litigation has uncovered some disparaging statements Coomer made about Dominion privately, including a 2019 email in which he claimed “our products suck” and a message sent weeks before the 2020 election in which he said the company’s software was “riddled with bugs.”

Dominion famously settled with Fox News for $787 million earlier last year after suing the right-wing network over similar election-related claims.

The Disney-Charter Communications brawl, which occurred during the US Open and NFL season, revealed years of tension between distributors and content providers.

ABC, ESPN, and other major Disney-owned channels were pulled off the air for Charter’s 15 million Spectrum subscribers over Labor Day weekend, angering viewers and raising existential questions for the cable industry as it became clear this was not the usual carriage battle.

Charter wants Disney to offer its users free access to its attractive direct-to-consumer offerings or more bundling options. Charter claims it pays a premium for Disney programming ($2.2 billion in 2023), although most of the buzzy content is on Disney+, not linear channels.

The battle has shown how streaming has destroyed cable and satellite providers’ economic models, with Charter admitting that “the current video ecosystem is broken” and unsustainable.

“This is not a typical carriage dispute,” Charter added. “It is significant for Charter, but we think programmers and the video ecosystem are even more important.”

Charter believes it is being charged a top-tier premium for second-quality content while Disney utilizes its lucrative carriage arrangement to construct a service that will destroy the cable bundle. It wants the remainder of the Magic Kingdom unlocked or the House of Mouse to offer more flexibility in the standard bundle so customers who don’t want ESPN don’t have to pay for it.

Disney definitely sees things differently. It feels it is still developing premium content for its linear channels and invests heavily in DTC programming, which it considers a separate offering. It says it has suggested “creative ways” to give Disney DTC to Charter users. Disney wondered why it would give Charter users free access to its premium DTC programming.

Disney stated, “Our linear channels and direct-to-consumer services are not one and the same, per Charter’s assertions, but rather complementary products.” Our linear networks continue to invest in unique content, including live sports, news, and appointment viewing. We invest multi-billion dollars in exclusive programming for our direct-to-consumer services, which complement our linear networks.

Share prices of media heavyweights fell across the board last week after reports of the unusual battle between the two entertainment giants, indicating that the outcome could affect the whole sector. CNN’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, is down 9%, Paramount Global is down almost 8%, Comcast and Fox Corporation are each down 3%.

When the issue will be rectified is unknown. CNN has discovered that Disney CEO Bob Iger has been personally involved in the problem, discussing a resolution with Charter CEO Chris Winfrey. The two parties may reach a deal, but when is unclear.

Disney is now encouraging users to move to Hulu + Live TV while Charter is encouraging customers to sign up for FuboTV at a discount, suggesting negotiations aren’t nearing a settlement.

Charter has likewise taken a firm line: either it will transform the television industry’s economics or leave.

“The Walt Disney Company and Charter have the opportunity to work together on transforming the industry for the long-term benefit of both companies and their customers,” Charter said. Without them, we must switch models to value our connectivity ties. We either move forward with a collaborative business model or move on.”

We were unable to officially verify why the tires were placed on the aircraft, but analysts believe it was a crude attempt to not only add another layer of protection against Ukrainian drones but also to reduce the aircraft’s visibility, particularly at night.

According to Francisco Serra-Martins of drone company One Way Aerospace, whose drones have been utilized by the Ukrainian military, the move may have a limited impact.

“It may reduce the thermal signature for exposed strategic aviation assets placed on airfield aprons, but they will still be observable under infrared cameras,” he told.

“While it appears silly, they appear to be doing their best to arm the planes that are otherwise sitting ducks.” “Whether or not it works depends on the warhead on the missile/drone,” said Steffan Watkins, an open-source research consultant who monitors aircraft and ships.

Watkins went on to say that the tires may be utilized to prevent fragments from an explosion above the airliner from piercing the plane.

According to a NATO military official, the organization was aware of the tires. The officials requested anonymity since they were not authorized to speak to the media.

“We believe it’s meant to protect against drones,” a CNN official said. “We don’t know if this will have any effect.”

In recent weeks, Ukraine has gotten more daring in targeting vital assets within Russia via aerial operations, even as it endures assaults on its own cities, ushering in a new phase of the conflict characterized by Kyiv’s apparent efforts to erode internal Russian support for the war.

According to a statement released by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), three people from Russia, one from France, and ranging in age from 28 to 63 were on board the boat as it journeyed from the island country of Vanuatu to the city of Cairns in northern Australia.

The ship, which measured 9 meters (30 feet) in length and was registered in Russia, appeared to get into problems when sharks attacked the inflatable hulls of the ship.

According to the statement released by AMSA, the vessel sustained damage to both of its hulls as a result of multiple shark attacks.

AMSA requested the aid of the Panamanian-flagged vehicle carrier Dugong Ace after receiving a call for assistance at 1:30 in the morning on Wednesday. The vehicle carrier successfully carried out the rescue operation in the Coral Sea, which is located approximately 835 kilometers (520 miles) southeast of Cairns.

In addition, an AMSA rescue aircraft was dispatched to the scene.

Joe Zeller, the duty manager for AMSA, stated that “a large section” of the vessel’s hull was gone when it was discovered.

There are a variety of factors that can lead to sharks attacking vessels. However, it is unknown what drives these sharks to act in this manner,” he stated.

Zeller estimated that the journey from Vanuatu to Cairns, which covers a distance of more than 2,200 kilometers (1,400 miles), would typically take between two and three weeks, although this would be contingent on the weather.

Zeller reported that all three of the rescued guys were in good health and that they were overjoyed to have been saved.

The night vision photographs that were uploaded to the website of the regulatory agency showed the back of the vessel completely buried in the water.

According to AMSA’s statement, the men are due to arrive in Brisbane on Thursday morning.

According to the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office, Mack, 72, spent more than seven years in jail after a jury convicted him guilty of raping a high school student in Greenburgh in 1975 and a related weapons conviction.

The district attorney’s office opened an investigation into Mack’s claim of innocence last year and conducted DNA testing that “conclusively excluded” Mack as the rapist. The office also discovered that the initial investigation and prosecution relied on eyewitness identifications that were “tainted by problematic and suggestive procedures used by the police,” according to a release.

Mack, whose exoneration occurred on his 72nd birthday, stated that he never gave up faith that his innocence would be established.

“Today has been a long time in the making. “I spent seven and a half years of my life in prison for a crime I did not commit, and I’ve lived with this injustice hanging over my head for nearly 50 years,” Mack said in a statement provided by the Innocence Project, an organization that works to exonerate wrongfully convicted people and brought Mack’s case to the DA.

“Now that the truth has been revealed, I can finally breathe.” “I am finally free,” he declared.

According to the Innocence Project, Mack is a Vietnam War veteran who has lived in South Carolina with his wife for over 21 years. He stated that the erroneous conviction had an irreversible impact on his life.

“It changed the course of my life—everything from where I lived to my relationship with my family,” Mack explained.

According to the Innocence Project, Mack’s wrongful conviction is the longest to be overturned based on fresh DNA evidence, based on its knowledge of similar cases.

According to the district attorney’s office, investigators were able to connect the fresh DNA test results to a Westchester man who had been convicted of a separate rape in 1975 and another sex crime in 2004. According to the release, when probed by an investigator, the man confessed to the 1975 Greenburgh rape.

According to the district attorney’s office, the new suspect cannot be prosecuted for the 1975 offense due to New York’s statute of limitations, but he is now in custody and being prosecuted for failing to register as a sex offender in relation to the 2004 sex crime.

Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah attributed Mack’s innocence to his “unwavering strength fighting to clear his name for almost 50 years.”

“This exoneration confirms that wrongful convictions are not only harmful to the wrongly convicted but also make us all less safe,” Rocah said in a statement last week.

According to a statement released by the World Food Programme (WFP), the organization “will only be able to provide emergency assistance to 3 million people per month going forward due to a massive funding shortfall.”

“We are obliged to choose between the hungry and the starving, leaving millions of families scrambling for their next meal,” said Hsiao-Wei Lee, who serves as the Country Director and Representative for the WFP in Afghanistan. “Amid already worrying levels of hunger and malnutrition, we are forced to choose between the hungry and the starving.”

We are unable to help all of those folks who are on the verge of being completely destitute due to the fact that we only have a limited amount of resources left.

According to the statement, the World Food Programme is frequently the last lifeline for women, who are increasingly being pushed out of society and have dwindling options for generating a living and feeding their children. The World Food Programme is often the only way for these women to feed their children.

According to Lee, who was quoted in the article, “These cuts mean that 1.4 million new and expecting mothers and their children will no longer receive specialized food designed to prevent malnutrition.”

According to the statement, the WFP requires one billion United States dollars during the next six months in order to be able to provide life-saving meals to 21 million people.

According to Lee, “a small window of opportunity remains to avert catastrophe in Afghanistan, but we are running out of time,” but this window of opportunity is closing quickly. “The most vulnerable women and children who are reeling from the effects of 40 years of conflict, a crippled economy, and a worsening climate crisis will pay the price for inaction,” said one expert.

After the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan forced the United States and other countries to freeze an estimated $7 billion of the country’s foreign reserves, the World Food Programme (WFP) estimated that more than 36 million people in Afghanistan, or over 90% of the population, lacked sufficient food as of August 2022.

After reading about flamingos at Ceasar Creek State Park, close to Dayton, on Facebook, Jacob Roalef decided to go check them out for himself last week. Roalef, who organizes birding trips, told, “I quickly grabbed my gear and told my wife and was out the door.”

Two birds, an adult, and a youngster, were swimming in the lake when he arrived. “The flamingos were just chilling and sleeping in about a foot of water near the shore,” Roalef added. If a gull flew overhead, it would cause them to open their eyes and take a drink of water.

He estimated that the birds lasted until 6 o’clock in the evening when a dog chased them away. Since Hurricane Idalia passed, reports of flamingo sightings have come in from all across the United States, including Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, Texas, Kentucky, and many other areas, according to Jerry Lorenz, the state director of research for Audubon Florida.

He thinks the birds were on their way from Cuba to the Yucatan until the storm rerouted them.

It’s “really surprising” that “if you follow the path of Idalia, it (the sightings) really does kind of fall out to the north and south of that central track,” he said.

Lorenz stated that they are currently reviewing the data and he does not yet have an estimate for the number of birds that migrated north due to the storm.

“We have never seen anything like this,” Lorenz remarked. Some flamingos may arrive after storms, but this is truly unprecedented.

On Treasure Island, close to St. Petersburg, Florida, boat skipper Vinnie Fugett saw a flock of seventeen flamingos enjoying the sand and waves. It was dusk by the time the birds had finished their meal and taken flight.

Even though Fugett has spent his entire life in Florida, he has never seen a flamingo.

Lorenz pleaded with onlookers to give the flamingos plenty of room because they have endured so much.

This is a really stressful time for these birds. No matter how you slice it, they just endured a terrible tragedy,” he added. “So, don’t get close enough to startle them to frighten them or anything else, but enjoy their presence.”

Although flamingos are native to Florida, they were nearly wiped off by the fashion industry’s demand for their striking feathers around the turn of the 20th century.

Flamingo numbers are on the rise globally, but it was long thought that many of the birds in Florida originated in zoos and other escaped exhibits.

Flamingos have been spotted recently by experts who have tracked their migration from Cuba, Yucatan, and the Bahamas.

Flamingos, according to Lorenz, can travel thousands of miles across open sea, so the Ohio birds shouldn’t have any trouble getting back to warmer climes when winter comes.

Together with a team of specialists, he has been trying to improve flamingo habitat in the Everglades and the Florida Keys.

Maybe then they’ll feel safer, and then we’ll have a population again, and tourists will be able to visit South Florida and the Florida Keys to see flamingos in their natural habitats, as he put it.