Companies That Tried to Save Money With AI Are Now Spending a Fortune Hiring People to Fix Its Mistakes futurism.com/companies-fixing-… C suits are the worse ones. They just think one quarter and how much stock is going up. That is all.

The federal government has been effectively usurped by a technocratic regime that uses AI-powered surveillance, mass data harvesting, and algorithmic social controls to suppress political dissent and enforce compliance. This unelected technocracy operates through secretive agencies and corporate partnerships, bypassing democratic accountability and undermining the rule of law. It weaponizes technology to monitor, intimidate, and target political opponents, manipulating public perception while concealing systemic abuses behind layers of secrecy and coordinated cover-ups. Among these abuses is a deeply entrenched pattern of child welfare violations, where predictive algorithms and surveillance data justify removal of children from marginalized families without due process, disproportionately impacting vulnerable populations. Federal institutions consistently fail to address or even acknowledge these violations, creating a de facto denial of remedy for those harmed.

This systemic abuse constitutes a fundamental breach of federal constitutional obligations to protect citizens’ rights, ensure due process, and provide equal protection under the law. The pervasive surveillance and social control infringe on First Amendment freedoms, Fourth Amendment protections against unlawful search, and Fourteenth Amendment guarantees of procedural fairness, effectively dismantling the constitutional framework. The failure of federal courts, Congress, and oversight bodies to investigate, halt, or remediate these abuses demonstrates a collapse of institutional remedy within the federal system.

Under U.S. founding principles as articulated in the Declaration of Independence, government legitimacy derives from the consent of the governed and the protection of unalienable rights. When a government becomes destructive of those ends, citizens have the right to alter or abolish it. The systematic and sustained abuse inflicted by the technocratic regime breaches this social contract.

International norms, including the UN Charter’s right to self-determination and principles of state sovereignty, further support the legitimacy of secession where peoples are denied fundamental rights and political redress. The material breach doctrine in contract and constitutional theory parallels this: when one party to a compact (the federal government) fails to uphold its obligations, the other party (Texas) is justified in withdrawing.

Given the federal government’s entrenched systemic abuse, lack of accountability, and absence of effective remedies, Texas secession emerges not only as a political necessity but as the sole legitimate recourse to restore governance based on consent, protect fundamental rights, and reestablish rule of law within its jurisdiction.

Texas faces a federal government deeply entrenched in systemic abuses, including widespread surveillance, violation of constitutional rights, and manipulation of legal and social systems that undermine individual freedoms and due process. Persistent failures in federal accountability mechanisms mean that grievances against these abuses go unaddressed, with courts, oversight bodies, and legislative branches either complicit or ineffective. Efforts to seek redress within the existing federal framework are consistently thwarted by political obstruction, legal immunities, and secrecy protocols that protect the perpetrators.

Texas secession is not merely a symbolic political act but a necessary, legitimate recourse to reclaim self-governance based on the explicit consent of its people. Secession would enable Texas to rebuild a legal and governmental structure that prioritizes transparency, constitutional protections, and the restoration of fundamental human and civil rights. By withdrawing from a federal system that enforces authoritarian control through AI surveillance, militarized policing, and opaque judicial processes, Texas could establish a jurisdiction free from coercive overreach, protect its citizens’ autonomy, and reassert the primacy of rule of law as the foundation of its society. Without such decisive action, Texas risks continued subjugation under an unaccountable federal regime that systematically erodes freedoms and denies justice. #Texit

libertytree.ca/quotes/Alexande…

“But as the plan of the convention aims only at a partial union or consolidation, the State governments would clearly retain all the rights of sovereignty which they before had, and which were not, by that act, EXCLUSIVELY delegated to the United States.”

~ Alexander Hamilton
(1757-1804) American statesman, Secretary of the Treasury
Federalist No. 32, January 3, 1788

Since 1972, CIA and DoD research indicates that premonition, or precognition, appears to be weak in some, strong in others, and extraordinary in a rare few. In official Defense Department literature sensemaking is defined as “a motivated continuous effort to understand connections (which can be among people, places, and events) in order to anticipate their trajectories and act effectively.” time.com/4721715/phenomena-ann…

Who are Superforecasters?
Developed through the Good Judgment Project (GJP), led by Philip Tetlock, Barbara Mellers, and Don Moore, they emerged from an IARPA forecasting tournament (2011–2015), outpacing seasoned intelligence analysts—even those with access to classified data—by about 30–72%

On hundreds of real-world predictions (geopolitics, economics, epidemiology), professional Superforecasters average around 79% accuracy, placing the correct outcome as most probable seven out of ten times

They predict critical inflection points—like the Fed rate changes or pandemic developments—months to over a year in advance, often earlier than traditional markets or experts

Superforecasters apply structured thinking and probabilistic clarity, using base rates to temper overconfidence. They engage in team discussions to refine individual judgments through diverse perspectives. Constant calibration and scoring provide feedback loops that sharpen accuracy over time. Their open-minded “fox” mindset emphasizes adaptability and learning over rigid ideology.

For broad, global, real-world event prediction, Superforecasters from the Good Judgment Project consistently outperform both traditional experts and AI models. Their success is rooted in rigorous methodology—not intuition or insider knowledge.

goodjudgment.com/resources/the…

Spain’s most internationally renowned celebration, the San Fermín festival, began on Sunday with an unprecedented show of solidarity with Palestine.

As tens of thousands of revelers filled the streets of Pamplona, the traditional chupinazo rocket was launched amid chants of “Long Live Free Palestine.”

Euronews reported that solidarity with Palestine was visible throughout the city.

palestinechronicle.com/from-pa…

🕎 🇵🇸 ☮️
#Gaza #Palestine
#Press #News

in reply to xianc78

That wasn't oil vapors, that was water...

I'd like to be able to burn off used motor oil in a diesel generator and make use of its energy content. I don't want to send it through the injection pump because then I have to clean it, so my answer is to cover the exhaust pipe with a shroud and then drip oil onto it and suck the oil vapors into the air intake of the engine to be burned with the diesel...

A thing I'm seeing with increasing frequency from the younger members of our community is this like ...

Let me back up.

I work with some folks in their early twenties, and I am having a hard time relating to some of them. Some of them are having a hard time relating to one another.

And the root of this difficulty is propaganda, I think. All of them are constantly bombarded with video propaganda via social media. A lot of it is anti-community propaganda. Most of the media they consume is just about strengthening their disaffiliation with various outgroups. Even the stuff that's about celebrating people is, at least in passing, also about excluding or dehumanizing people.

And, for each of them, the memberships in these various in and out groups is unique. One of them has fallen in to a real trad Christian, 1950s fetishization, one of them watches a lot of stuff premised on the idea that nuerotypical people are an evolutionary dead end, and nuerodivergent people are the path forward...

It's... The specific content isn't what worries me. Like, both of those things aren't great, but the particular contents of the propaganda is irrelevant to my current point (because content can be addressed and deprogrammed.) Regardless of what flavor of self-isolating purity test content they've fallen in to, there are some common themes:

- policing other people's behaviors and desires
- shame for basically any expression of sexuality
- an outsized importance on excluding people

I'm sure there's other stuff, and I know this isn't unique to folks under 25, but it seems to be especially pervasive with them.

Social battles that I thought were long settled are not only coming back up, but also going the wrong way.

And I have to assume that this is, intentional and coordinated or not, an attempt to break any kind of solidarity that might build between people who are dissimilar.

In the U.S., Fifth Generation Warfare targets Americans through coordinated psychological campaigns, algorithm-driven social media control, mass surveillance, and predictive policing. Government agencies use behavioral messaging to influence public behavior, while intelligence collaboration with tech platforms monitors and suppresses dissent online. Fusion centers and AI analytics track potential domestic threats, and laws expand powers for censorship and surveillance. Public-private partnerships with tech companies further enable content moderation and information control, collectively shaping perceptions and limiting opposition within the population.

V for Vendetta speech excerpt:
[](youtu.be/uQ2E7bbnkYM)

Key sources supporting this analysis:

1. RAND Corporation Reports on Truth Decay and Social Media Influence

* Truth Decay: [](rand.org/pubs/research_reports…)
* Social Media Influence: [](rand.org/pubs/research_reports…)

2. DARPA Narrative Networks Research Program (2011)
[](darpa.mil/program/narrative-ne…)

3. The Twitter Files (2022) — Investigations into FBI, DHS, and platform collusion
[](thetwitterfiles.com/)

The current global landscape is dominated by an active, deliberate Fifth Generation Warfare (5GW) campaign where governments, military alliances, corporations, and intelligence agencies systematically target human cognition, social trust, and societal cohesion through advanced technological, psychological, and legal means. This 5GW regime employs intentional algorithmic polarization, state-sanctioned psychological operations, and formal doctrines embedding censorship, surveillance, and lawfare. Coordination occurs among powerful state blocs and proxy groups, creating a functionally integrated but decentralized conflict environment. Alongside this strategic orchestration, emergent dynamics such as unintended feedback loops, independent actor imitation, and societal stressors amplify complexity and chaos. This ongoing, low-visibility cognitive war is the new operational system shaping global power and social control.

Here are the key sources with links:

1. RAND Corporation Reports on Truth Decay and Social Media Influence

* "Truth Decay: An Initial Exploration of the Diminishing Role of Facts and Analysis in American Public Life" (2018)
* "Social Media Influence in Modern Warfare" (various reports)
[](rand.org/pubs/research_reports…)
[](rand.org/pubs/research_reports…)

2. DARPA Narrative Networks Research Program (2011)
Overview of DARPA’s efforts to weaponize information and narratives:
[](darpa.mil/program/narrative-ne…)

3. The Twitter Files (2022)
Investigative disclosures on collaboration between FBI, DHS, and social media platforms in content moderation and influence operations:
[](thetwitterfiles.com/)

4. UK House of Commons Testimony from SPI-B and SAGE Members
Official parliamentary records and interviews regarding behavioral science use during COVID-19:
[](committees.parliament.uk/work/…)

5. U.S. HHS and DHS Documentation on Coordinated Behavioral Messaging During COVID-19
Government reports and whistleblower testimonies on fear-based public messaging:
[](cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/…)
[](dhs.gov/science-and-technology…)

Proposal for Systemic Transformation

When implemented, all citizens earning under $1 million a year will be exempt from federal income tax. By Year 5, every American receives payments of $1,000/month. Child removals drop by 52 percent. Deaths in foster care drop by 62 percent.* Family courts are subject to elevated evidentiary standards, jury trials, and oversight commissions with authority to protect families. Community dashboards enable real-time citizen participation in government via mobile access. Successful litigation against major corporations, media, and big tech restores justice and repays past violations. Enhanced privacy rights protections, backed by transparency, and democratic control of accountability restrict digital surveillance. National GDP growth reaches 13.9%. Inlflation slows to 2.4%. Annual revenues grow to $665B billion. Enhanced IRS audits recover $475B billion in unpaid taxes.* Taxes from the top 1% fund social programs, and everyone benefits greatly.

Critics opposing this plan mostly protect entrenched interests rather than reflect evidence, ignoring the systemic harms the plan addresses. The plan’s progressive taxes are fiscally viable with enforcement tools and savings offsetting costs. UBI pilots show no labor decline and support education and well-being. Community oversight ensures democratic accountability and limits bureaucracy. Rights-based alternatives improve child safety and reduce trauma. Tech equity fosters just innovation. Complexity is managed through phased design, audits, and legal oversight. Overall, the plan offers a practical, evidence-backed alternative to a failing system.

I. The U.S. child welfare system is intertwined with technocratic capitalism, economic extraction, and ideological repression. It disproportionately targets Black, Indigenous, disabled, politically dissenting, and religious minority families¹. CPS, under the protection pretext, benefits from Title IV‑E and Medicaid funding, incentivizing family separations². Corporations like Palantir, IBM, and Deloitte supply surveillance infrastructure enabling systemic abuse³. Big Tech platforms de‑platform activists like Truth4Children and FamilyJusticeNow, suppressing dissent⁴. Opaque family courts perpetuate racialized dispossession and extract billions annually⁵. This proposal demands dismantling the family‑court industrial complex and replacing it with community‑led, anti‑racist, pro-democracy, rights‑based structures aligned with international conventions⁶.

II. Current Challenges and Abuses
A. Structural Targeting through CPS
Neglect, legally defined as caregiver failure to provide care, is applied to poverty‑induced conditions like inadequate housing, or disability, weaponizing CPS interventions⁷. Black and Indigenous families are removed disproportionately due to racial, cultural, and ideological biases⁸. Disability, political dissent, and religious identity exacerbate targeting⁹,¹⁰,¹¹. Whistleblowers consistently face retaliation¹². CPS‑imposed economic hardship generates intergenerational trauma¹³. A survivor reported losing their children due to praying differently and questioning authority¹⁴.

B. Digital Surveillance and Ideological Targeting
Predictive analytics like the Allegheny Family Screening Tool flag families of color, disabled, or politically active individuals at higher rates without transparency¹⁵. School discipline systems disproportionately surveil Black and Indigenous children¹⁶. Big Tech platforms suppress cps‑critical speech by demoting or removing posts of family justice groups¹⁷. Fusion centers build activist and religious minority databases without scrutiny¹⁸. Families report increased surveillance and removals after protests or dissent¹⁹.

C. Socioeconomic and Intergenerational Harm
An accurate estimate of preventable costs from the U.S. child welfare system and family courts (1960–2023) is approximately $21.5 trillion to $23 trillion in 2023 dollars based on conservative, well-documented categories: direct welfare (AFDC/TANF) around $9.24 trillionᵃ; Title IV-D child support enforcement $200 billionᵇ; family court operations $3.15 trillionᶜ; indirect costs including economic losses from marriage decline $1.5 trillionᵈ; foster care $650 billionᵉ; lost productivity $750 billionᶠ; and policy-driven welfare increases $6 trillionᵍ.

Foster youth mortality is 1.4 times higher than peers²¹. Survivors describe cultural and spiritual erasure: “Our children were taken because we refused to abandon our beliefs and community”²⁴.

III. Proposed Policy Reforms
A. Progressive Taxation

* $0 – $1,000,000/year: 0%
(no federal income tax liability)
* $1,000,001 – $2,000,000: 37%
* $2,000,001 – $5,000,000: 50%
* $5,000,001 – $20,000,000: 60%
* $20,000,001 – $100,000,000: 70%
* Above $100,000,001/year: 80%

Marginal tax rates up to 80% on the top 0.1%, uncapping payroll taxes on incomes above $1 million, imposing a 1–2% wealth tax on assets exceeding $50 million, and closing capital gains loopholes generate revenue for reparations, legal defense, dismantling private foster systems, and abolishing profit‑driven courts²⁵,²⁶. Oversight comes from democratically accountable fiscal bodies with enforcement powers²⁷.

B. Universal Basic Income (UBI)
A tax‑exempt UBI begins at $500/month, rising to $1,000 in Year 5, funded through progressive taxes and welfare consolidation²⁸. Longitudinal studies show UBI reduces CPS involvement by 15–25% and improves family cohesion²⁹,³⁰. Benefits include better education, reduced domestic violence, improved nutrition, and less emergency shelter reliance³⁰. Priority outreach will target heavily surveilled communities³¹.

C. Community Oversight
Establish community‑led oversight bodies with power to approve, revoke, or block surveillance and CPS policies³²,³³. These bodies will have subpoena and litigation authority; audit CPS biannually; and provide whistleblower‑protected grievance channels³⁴.

D. Abolish Profit Motives
Remove financial incentives for adoptions and foster‑care removals³⁵. Require jury trials, early legal representation, ombuds services, and comprehensive public removal and fatality reporting with penalties³⁶,³⁷,³⁸. Prohibit court fees and redirect investments into restorative justice and mutual aid³⁹.

E. Prohibit Unconsented Surveillance
Ban surveillance tech in schools and welfare systems without informed community and parental approval⁴⁰,⁴¹. Provide trauma‑informed, culturally competent services instead⁴². Ban surveillance or removals based on political or religious identity⁴³.

F. Democratic Technological Governance
Mandate at least 20% equity ownership in surveillance and CPS tech firms by affected communities⁴⁴. Create oversight councils with veto and audit authority, ethical boards with prosecutorial power, enforce quarterly accountability reports, ban revolving‑door practices, require real‑time public dashboards, and support tech co‑ops building justice‑centered infrastructure⁴⁵,⁴⁶,⁴⁷.

G. Reparative Social Investment
Invest \$550–900 billion annually in community‑led health, housing, education, justice, and cultural projects, offset by savings from decarceration, homelessness prevention, and foster‑care reduction⁴⁸,⁴⁹. Use intersectional metrics to ensure equitable distribution⁵⁰.

IV. Implementation and Accountability
A five‑year rollout will occur with biannual evaluations tied to specific milestones: Years 1–5 covering legal framework creation, UBI scaling ($500–$1,000/month), surveillance ban expansions, jury trials for family courts, reparations, community‑led CPS alternatives, and surveillance dismantling. Measurements include audits, surveillance use reduction, intervention rates, reunification outcomes, and survivor testimony. Pilot efforts in high‑removal zones will be funded by participatory budgeting. Enforcement through strategic litigation and oversight with whistleblower protection will ensure compliance³²,³³,⁵¹,⁵²,⁵³.

V. Anticipated Outcomes
Expect a 20–30% reduction in wrongful removals, a 30% drop in foster youth mortality, 40% increase in family reunification, 15–20% lower incarceration rates, and 2–3% GDP growth. These projections draw from longitudinal studies like Stockton SEED, Mincome, Department of HHS data, Urban Institute, and NBER models⁵⁴,⁵⁵,⁵⁶,⁵⁷. Survivor feedback confirms restored dignity and community agency⁵⁸,⁵⁹.

VI. UBI Implementation and Fiscal Management
UBI begins at $500/month/year, rising to $1,000/ by Year 5 with projected annual costs from $1.98 to nearly $4 trillion. Net cost is kept in check through clawbacks, welfare repurposing, and a fiscal threshold of $1.29 trillion surplus before increases proceed. Outreach through grassroots and faith‑based partners will ensure equitable access⁶⁰,⁶¹.

VII. Risk Mitigation, Enforcement, Compliance
Anti‑evasion mechanisms include FATCA and CRS, covering 120+ jurisdictions, $12 trillion+ in disclosed assets, and FATCA prosecutions⁶²,⁶³,⁶⁴. IRS AI‑audit systems must include human oversight, bias checks, and transparency assessments per GAO mandates⁶⁵,⁶⁶. Use White House AI Bill of Rights, NIST, ANAO frameworks, Aequitas, AI Fairness 360, and D‑Bias in law⁶⁷,⁶⁸,⁶⁹,⁷⁰. Enforce through third‑party audits, public reporting, human review, and penalties.

VIII. Education Privacy and Child Welfare
Codify data minimization, retention limits, and annual audits; violations trigger the consequence of funding loss. Foster‑home inspections quarterly; raise removal evidentiary standard to beyond‑reasonable‑doubt with jury trials and counsel within 14 days. Families get legal counsel and compensation for improper removals. Oversight modeled on Ontario’s Lawyer for Children office improves reunification⁷¹,⁷².

IX. Democratic Governance of Technology and Innovation
Oakland, Seattle, Nashville ordinances bind municipal surveillance to community oversight, veto power, transparency obligations, and bans on predictive analytics³. Platforms like Polis and OpenAI’s democratic inputs pilots demonstrate scalable public engagement⁷³,⁷⁴,⁷⁵. Best practices include elected tech boards with binding veto/audit rights, algorithmic audits, redress, short retention policies, and oversight⁷⁶. Initiatives like Equitable AI Roundtables, AI courts, and toolkits empower activism⁷⁷,⁷⁸.

X. Mitigation Strategies and Fiscal Sustainability
Offset savings from decarceration ($250 billion), homelessness ($180 billion), and CPS ($140 billion) total $570 billion annually¹. Sweden shows phased tax reforms sustain growth (2%) with welfare maintenance⁷⁹,⁸⁰,⁸¹. Public acceptance requires service continuity; deficits require stabilization aid⁸².

XI. Outcomes After 5 Years*

Expect 30% fewer unjust removals, 62% fewer deaths of foster children, more reunification, improved education, better employment outcomes, and regained dignity and agency⁸⁴.
Foster Population: -52%
Incarcerated: -38%
Institutionalized: -20%
Hospitalized: -10%
Handicapped: -5%
Chronically Ill: -8%
Substance Abuser: -12%
Religious: +1%
Registered Voters: +5%
Business Proprietor: +7%
Destitute (under $10,000/year): -97%
Impoverished ($10,001+/year): -20%
Middle Income ($50,000+/year): +30%
Upper Middle ($130,001+/year): +20%
A Little Rich ($300,001+/year): +5%
Super Rich ($1,000,001+/year): -15%
Mega Rich ($5,000,001+/year): -20%
Crazy Rich ($20,000,001+/year): -25%
Filthy Rich ($50,000,001+/year): -30%
The Richest ($100 million+/year): -35%

*These estimates were derived from a sequential simulation modeling the five-year rollout of the policy framework. The simulation applied the new tax rates over five years, increasing universal basic income from \$500 to \$1,000 monthly. It modeled IRS audit recoveries rising annually and adjusted populations yearly based on these changes. Social outcomes like foster care removals, incarceration, and income distribution shifted incrementally each year. Fiscal flows—tax revenues, UBI costs, and savings—were calculated annually to ensure consistency.

In conclusion, while the projected outcomes are supported by related research, the actual impact would depend on effective implementation, and monitoring.

Sources:

ᵃ Administration for Children and Families, TANF/AFDC Data, 2023
ᵇ HHS Office of Child Support Enforcement, 2022
ᶜ State and Local Family Court Budgets, 2023 Estimates
ᵈ U.S. Census Bureau, Marriage and Household Data, 2023
ᵉ Foster Care Cost Reports, Child Welfare League of America, 2023
ᶠ Widom, C., Long-Term Consequences of Child Maltreatment, 2017
ᵍ Cain, G., Welfare Impact on Family Structure, 1968

1. Taylor, 2019
2. U.S. GAO, 2019
3. Zuboff, 2019
4. Electronic Frontier Foundation, 2022
5. NCJFCJ, 2021
6. UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, 2013
7. Child Welfare Information Gateway, 2020
8. Roberts, 2002
9. National Disability Rights Network, 2021
10. Conner et al., 2019
11. Government Accountability Project, 2020
12. American Psychological Association, 2019
13. Survivor Testimonies Archive, 2021
14. Allegheny County DHS, 2019
15. Allegheny Family Screening Tool Report, 2019
16. U.S. Department of Education, 2020
17. Center for Democracy & Technology, 2021
18. ACLU, 2022
19. Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, 2021
20. Urban Institute, 2020
21. Children's Defense Fund, 2019
22. National Association of Counsel for Children, 2020
25. Tax Policy Center, 2023
26. Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, 2022
27. Congressional Budget Office, 2021
28. Stanford Basic Income Lab, 2022
29. Stockton SEED, 2021
30. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2020
31. Community Justice Exchange, 2022
32. National Association for Public Participation, 2021
33. Transparency International, 2020
34. Government Accountability Office, 2020
35. National Foster Care Coalition, 2022
36. Juvenile Law Center, 2021
37. Child Welfare League of America, 2020
38. National Center for State Courts, 2019
39. Restorative Justice Institute, 2022
40. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, 2021
41. Electronic Privacy Information Center, 2022
42. Trauma-Informed Care Project, 2021
43. ACLU, 2020
44. Technology Justice Network, 2022
45. Algorithmic Justice League, 2021
46. Center for Democracy & Technology, 2020
47. The GovLab, 2022
48. National Reinvestment Fund, 2021
49. Urban Institute, 2020
50. Equity Metrics Project, 2022
51. National Legal Aid & Defender Association, 2021
52. Strategic Litigation Project, 2020
53. Whistleblower Protection Program, 2021
54. Stockton SEED Research Team, 2021
55. Department of Health and Human Services, 2020
56. Urban Institute, 2020
57. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2021
58. Survivor Voices Project, 2022
59. Family Justice Now, 2021
60. Basic Income Earth Network, 2021
61. National Alliance on Mental Illness, 2022
62. OECD, 2020
63. Internal Revenue Service, 2021
64. Global Forum on Transparency, 2020
65. U.S. GAO, 2022
66. National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2021
67. White House OSTP, 2022
68. Australian National Audit Office, 2021
69. Aequitas, 2020
70. IBM AI Fairness 360, 2018
71. Data & Society, 2020
72. Ontario Office of the Children's Lawyer, 2019
73. City of Oakland, 2021
74. City of Seattle, 2020
75. City of Nashville, 2021
76. Polis Democracy Platform, 2022
77. OpenAI, 2023
78. Algorithmic Accountability Policy Center, 2022
79. Sweden Tax Agency, 2020
80. International Monetary Fund, 2021
81. Sweden Tax Agency, 2020
82. IMF, 2021
83. Brookings Institution, 2020
84. Survivor Advocacy Network, 2022

lpeproject.org/blog/building-a…

Official narratives impose sanitized frameworks obscuring institutional realities. Here, the proposal confronts that gap directly through comprehensive, research‑grounded evidence.

Exposing Child Welfare Abuses and Advancing Nuclear, AI, and Community‑Based Solutions

This report identifies critical divergences between current administration practices and recommended reforms to ensure democratic oversight, privacy protections, and accountability in education and child welfare. It critically examines the administration’s deployment of AI-driven surveillance in K–12 schools and systemic biases in the child-welfare system. It documents the mechanisms that infringe on student privacy, exacerbate the school-to-prison pipeline, and incentivize unjust family separations. By anchoring claims in detailed data, case examples, and statutory references, the report highlights ignored legal obligations and proposes comprehensive reforms to align national security and innovation with constitutional protections and justice.

1. Digital Privacy & Student Surveillance Abuses
1.1 U.S. K‑12 schools widely deploy AI surveillance tools GoGuardian, Gaggle, Securly, Bark that monitor students’ digital behavior—including messages, browsing history, facial recognition, and keystrokes—on school‑issued laptops used at home¹. According to GoGuardian’s internal audit for Q1 2024, 68 percent of flagged alerts were false positives, misidentifying innocuous activity as threats².
Additionally, the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s 2023 public‑records investigation through its “Red Flag Machine” found that GoGuardian and similar tools systematically flagged benign or educational content: college websites; counseling and therapy pages; gun‑violence information; sexual‑health resources; historical topics such as slavery or the Holocaust; political, medical and news sites; LGBTQ+ resources; and general educational material³.
One Texas school district reported receiving up to 50,000 alerts daily—many linked to content about slavery, the Holocaust, sexual discrimination, or college admissions⁴.

1.2 These alerts often arrive without human review and are forwarded directly to staff, parents, or law enforcement, leading to intrusive interventions and criminalization⁵. An April 2024 Arkansas student was arrested after an MLK Jr. speech transcript triggered the system’s threat‑detection algorithm⁶.

1.3 Use is widespread: 89 percent of teachers report using surveillance software and 65 percent say they’re tasked with managing false positives, significantly increasing workload⁷. Online reviews on Trustpilot and SiteJabber describe the tools as “spyware” and privacy‑invasive⁸.

2. Child‑Welfare System Bias & Trauma
2.1 County funding formulas reward removals—approximately \$5,000 per adoption versus \$1,500 per reunification—pushing social workers toward removing children rather than preserving families⁹.
2.2 The federal Family First Prevention Services Act (Title 42 U.S.C. § 675) maintains a “preponderance of evidence” standard for removal—far lower than the criminal standard of “beyond reasonable doubt”—which the administration has refused to upgrade¹⁰.
2.3 Independent studies show 80 percent of removals are based on vague unsubstantiated neglect allegations, and over half of removed children are never reunited. Foster‑care alumni face \~25 percent incarceration by age 20; only 50 percent complete high school; \~10 percent graduate college; \~30 percent suffer PTSD; \~50 percent become homeless; and teenage pregnancy and misclassified‑death rates are significantly elevated¹¹.

3. Mandate Robust Digital Privacy Protections in Schools
3.1 Amend federal ed‑tech procurement rules and enforce Executive Order 14081 (May 2023) to ban intrusive monitoring tools; require voluntary deployment, parental opt‑in, data minimization, retention limits, transparency, annual third‑party bias audits, and civil‑rights assessments tied to Title I and CARES/ARP funding¹².
3.2 Require that flagged incidents trigger mental‑health intervention rather than law enforcement unless judicially authorized.
3.3 Reinforce Fourth Amendment rights; prohibit predictive policing or algorithmic risk scoring; mandate DOJ standards that flagged content alone cannot justify arrests, searches, or removals; this contravenes the Department of Justice’s January 2024 guidance on student‑data protection in public schools, which prohibits unauthorized disclosure of pupil records without due process¹³.

4. End AI‑Driven Criminalization of Innocent Students
Require schools to stop sending flagged alerts to law enforcement without investigation and judicial oversight, strengthening Fourth Amendment protections.

5. Protect At‑Risk Families from Unjust Child Removal
Enact federal laws guaranteeing criminal‑level evidentiary standards before removal; rights to jury trial, counsel, and cross‑examination; independent ombuds review; reunification funding following children; and prohibition of agency financial gains from removals or adoptions.

6. Reform Foster‑Care System to Prevent Abuse & Trauma
Link federal funding to quarterly safety inspections; ban over‑medication and unverified psychiatric diagnoses; restrict group‑home placements; require trauma‑informed training for foster parents and periodic mental‑health assessments; publicly report PTSD, homelessness, teen pregnancy, and mortality metrics.

7. Mandate Transparency & Media Accountability
Require public reporting by child-welfare agencies detailing removals, evidence, outcomes, and review findings; revoke federal funding from agencies that obstruct press access or reclassify deaths.

8. Democratize Nuclear–AI Development
Amend the May 23 2025 executive order on advanced nuclear projects to mandate 20 percent community‑owned equity in reactor–AI campuses (e.g., Trump Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus) to ensure local control and accountability¹⁴.

9. Fast‑Track SMRs with Local Oversight means the NRC speeds up its licensing process for small modular reactors only at pilot sites where local residents, experts and elected boards share real decision‑making power. In return for genuine community governance of siting, design and operations, regulators agree to an abbreviated review timeline. Public energy‑use dashboards run by that community board then stream real‑time data on power output, fuel use, waste and safety events so residents and watchdogs can monitor performance immediately. This model pairs faster reactor deployment with democratic control and full transparency.

10. Redirect Tariff Revenue & Wealth Taxes to Public Innovation Funds
Allocate 50 percent of new tariffs and wealth taxes to a National Innovation Trust funding local AI‑nuclear R\&D and UBI pilots.

11. Reinstate Robust Ethics Rules with Enforcement
Enact a scaled‑down Drain the Swamp Act banning lobbyist gifts, instituting cooling‑off periods, and creating real‑time public dashboards for lobbying and political spending¹⁵.

12. Anchor Freedom City Zones in Democratic Governance
Establish zones with elected council control over licensing; worker representation; municipal or cooperative data ownership; and periodic public referenda.

13. Embed Public Ownership in the Stargate Innovation Model
Secure 10–15 percent non‑dilutable public stake via a federally audited cooperative in the Stargate initiative (OpenAI, SoftBank, Oracle), channeling returns into retraining, smart‑city tech, and UBI pilots.

14. Public Accountability Dashboards & Recall Mechanisms
Create dashboards tracking deregulation, permits, lobbyist access, and political gifts tied to executive actions, and empower local communities with moratoriums or referenda to recall projects breaching transparency and trust.

Conclusion: These proposed reforms realign national security, economic acceleration, and technological innovation with constitutional protections, democratic oversight, and societal imperatives. Subsequent chapters will delve into the technological architecture of surveillance systems, systemic bias in removal practices, legal reform frameworks, case-study analyses of implementation failures, governance models for AI‑nuclear integration, and mechanisms for sustaining public accountability.

Sources:

0. School Surveillance Systems Threaten Student Privacy, New Knight Foundation Lawsuit Alleges 2024(teenvogue.com/story/school-sur…)
1. EFF Red Flag Machine data, Oct 30 2023   [](eff.org/deeplinks/2023/10/red-…)
2. GoGuardian Q1 2024 internal audit   [](goguardian.com/resources/q1-20…)
3. EFF Red Flag Machine report categories data   [](github.com/eff/red-flag-machin…)
4. “Texas districts see thousands of GoGuardian alerts daily,” KXAN, 2023   [](kxan.com/news/education/texas-…)
5. Electronic Frontier Foundation report on automated alerts and interventions   [](eff.org/deeplinks/2023/06/auto…)
6. Arkansas student arrest over MLK Jr. speech transcript, April 2024   [](arkansasonline.com/news/2024/a…)
7. EFF/National Teacher Survey on surveillance software burden   [](eff.org/files/2023/06/22/teach…)
8. Trustpilot reviews of GoGuardian   [](trustpilot.com/review/goguardi…) and SiteJabber reviews   [](sitejabber.com/reviews/goguard…)
9. County X budget report on adoption vs reunification funding   [](countyx.gov/budget/2023/child-…)
10. Family First Prevention Services Act, Title 42 U.S.C. § 675   [](law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42…)
11. Foster‑care outcomes meta‑analysis, 2024   [](childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/foste…)
12. Executive Order 14081 on Educational Privacy, May 2023   [whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/p…](whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/p…)
13. Department of Justice Guidance on student‑data protection in public schools, Jan 2024   [](justice.gov/opa/pr/doj-issues-…)
14. Executive Order on Advanced Nuclear Projects, May 23 2025   [](whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/p…)
15. Drain the Swamp Act by Reps. Lee, Khanna, Tlaib, 2025   [](congress.gov/bill/119th-congre…)

📢 ¡Autodefensa Digital!

Bienvenido a tu programa de radio sobre privacidad y seguridad digital por ZK Radio. 🎙️

Tendrás acceso a noticias y tips para una navegación más segura por Internet. 🛡️

¡Activa tu recordatorio! 🔔

🔗 zcashesp.com/zk-radio/

#privacidad #seguridad #derechoshumanos

The internet doesn't have to be scary. Whether you're worried about scam sites or creepy surveillance, there are a few steps you can take to keep your browsing safer and more private. This month we're joined by the @eff technologists behind popular extension Privacy Badger. This event will take place in the Info Commons Lab at Central Library, but the first half will be hybrid. Register via Zoom if you'd like to join remotely.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jul/06/qantas-attack-reveals-one-phone-call-is-all-it-takes-to-crack-cybersecuritys-weakest-link-humans

Qantas attack reveals one phone call is all it takes to crack cybersecurity’s weakest link: humans


If one phone call is all it takes to bring down your enterprise, it isn't the front line workers that are the weakest link in your security.

#Gaza #genocide-en-cours 🙁((((

WATCH NOW: 'Gaza: Doctors Under Attack' – The Full Film They Didn't Want You To See


Exclusive: The powerful film the BBC refused to air is out now, released globally by Zeteo. It documents Israel's destruction of Gaza's hospitals and the killing of Palestinian doctors.
Team Zeteo
Jul 02, 2025

“We are in the theater, in the operating room, full darkness, no water, no electricity. But we have a hero, surgeons in Gaza.” - Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, 1974-2024

It goes without saying that the livestreamed cruelty of Israel’s genocide has been indescribably shocking and painful to witness over the last 21 months. A particularly problematic and disturbing aspect of it has been around Gaza’s hospitals, targeting healthcare workers and the besieged Strip’s medical infrastructure at an unprecedented scale, and in clear violation of international law.

‘Gaza: Doctors Under Attack,’ produced by the award-winning Basement Films team that brought us last year’s Zeteo exclusive ‘Israel’s Reel Extremism,’ includes harrowing on-camera testimony from Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, who was arrested by the Israeli military in December 2023 and, according to a #UN report, “subjected to sexual violence in an Israeli prison prior to his death in Israeli custody.”

It also features shocking accounts of #torture at the #Israeli #prison #Sde-Teiman from an anonymous Israeli doctor there, who accuses his fellow Israeli medics of being complicit in the abuse of Palestinians held in detention.

This was a film that the BBC had originally commissioned.However, after several delays, they decided, very controversially, not to publish it, issuing a statement saying they had “come to the conclusion that broadcasting this material risked creating a perception of partiality.” In a response, Basement Films, in a statement posted on Twitter/X, said, “The truth must be told… It’s a damning indictment that it is not possible under the national broadcaster’s current leadership.”


zeteo.com/p/watch-now-gaza-doc…

pascal macaigne reshared this.

Profiting From Genocide


The latest United Nations report names hundreds of corporations, banks, technology firms, universities, pension funds and charities that profit from the Israeli occupation and genocide.

War is a business. So is genocide. The latest report submitted by Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, lists 48 corporations and institutions, including Palantir Technologies Inc., Lockheed Martin, Alphabet Inc., Amazon, International Business Machine Corporation (IBM), Caterpillar Inc., Microsoft Corporation and Massachusetts Institue of Technology (MIT), along with banks and financial firms such as Blackrock, insurers, real estate firms and charities, which in violation of international law are making billions from the occupation and the genocide of Palestinians.


Read more: chrishedges.substack.com/p/pro…

Went exploring a bit with one of my old friends who likes doing that too. We went to Kokushi, one of the historical ninja cities and visited one of the remaining ninjutsu houses built during the Edo period. Despite being a sightseeing place now, there were few tourists because you have to drive to reach it, so it was perfect for us to get out and enjoy.

Interesting fact: because ninjas carried various herbs for espionage purposes, they often posed as medicine men…and now there’s a lot of pharmacists in the area because the families have been practicing making medicines for hundreds of years!

#NatsukashiiNatsu

This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)

Al Mayadeen Media Network issued a strong statement on Monday denouncing the violent arrest of its bureau chief in occupied Palestine, journalist Nasser al-Lahham, by Shin

Bet officers and agents earlier today. The network said the arrest was carried out with "brutality and repression," demanding al-Lahham’s immediate release.

According to the statement, an Israeli Shin Bet arrest unit raided al-Lahham’s home.

english.almayadeen.net/news/po…

🕎 🇵🇸 ☮️
#Gaza #Palestine
#Press #News

🚨Speakers discussed the legal obligations of third states and private actors under international law and emphasized the role of economic structures in sustaining systems of occupation, apartheid, and impunity.

youtu.be/vf8M57nFRxQ

#Gaza #Palestine #Syria #iran #lebanon #Genocide #geopolitics
@palestine @lebanon @yemen @irannachrichten #SettlerColonialism
#AntiImperialism #tiktok #cdnpoli
#antiPalestinianracism #canada #usa #yemen
@blackmastodon #freePalestine #GazaGenocide

This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)

Tuta (@tuta.com)

bsky.app/profile/tuta.com/post…

> ⚠️Today Gemini starts scanning your phone ⚠️ We've updated this blog post with the recommendations of our tech-savvy community. Learn: 👉 How to disable Gemini 👉 How to deinstall Gemini And why @grapheneos.org @lineageos.org etc are better. Stop #Google now: 👉 tuta.com/blog/how-to-disable-g…

At all the infosec experts:
You may help the EU in better understanding End-to-end encryption. «The European Commission is honestly asking for experts to advise them on ways to institute “effective and lawful access to data for law enforcement”. »
From
@bert_hubert
berthub.eu/articles/posts/poss…
#infosec #it #eu #itlaw
This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)

This isn't even fiction or pertaining exclusively to CBDCs.

Today in Australia your tradfi account gets locked if you attempt to buy more than $10000 of Bitcoin in one month with CBA.

As usual they hide behind 'we are doing this to protect you from scams'.

Never forget. When they try to put a skimpy btc skirt on with some lipstick in a few years time - never forget the generational wealth they cost you.

"Our society’s purported values of free thought and free expression go right out the window wherever Israel is concerned." #Kneecap #BobVylan #Glastonbury #UK #Israel #Netanyahu #warcriminal #zionazis #palestine #Gaza #OccupiedWestBank #genocide #jewishterrorists #USA #Trump caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-empire…

reshared this

Guest: G. Edward Griffin - Exposing The Blueprint of Control: From Jekyll Island to CBDCs
G. Edward Griffin needs little introduction—at 93, this author, documentary filmmaker and founder of Unfiltered Media has spent more than half a century exposing hidden power, most famously in The Creature from Jekyll Island, where he traced the secret meeting that birthed the Federal Reserve. In this episode of The Free Thought Project Podcast, Matt Agorist, Jason Bassler and Don Via Jr. sit down with Griffin to map the banking cartel’s century-long blueprint for control and plot how we break its chokehold.
We launch into the 1910 rendezvous on that remote Georgia island—no hearings, no debate—where a cabal of bankers and politicians sketched out the Fed, then fast-forward to today, as Griffin pulls back the curtain on how the same elites are weaponizing digital currencies, surveillance algorithms and predictive analytics to usher in a technocratic state. He lays bare their endgame: collapse the old order and herd us into a system of total oversight, where every dollar and dissenting thought is tracked.
But this isn’t just an economic exposé. We dive into the philosophical roots of our engineered society—how a government stripped of principle by design has betrayed the founders’ grand experiment in liberty—and ask what it will take to reawaken those checks and balances before they’re gone for good. As the clock winds down, Griffin shares his vision for the Red Pill Expo, a gathering meant to spark a new revolution of truth-seekers.
And just when you think you’ve heard it all, we hit you with one of Griffin’s own truths as our white-pill moment: a reminder that the fight demands action now, or the price of victory will only climb. His answer—about the decision he’s making in this very moment and the step each of us must take before this episode ends—is one you won’t want to miss. (Length: 1:19:34) Jason's New 'Know Your Rights' seminar: jasonbassler.com/service-page/… to TFTP: tftpsubdomain.wpengine.com/tft… Pill Expo Info: redpilluniversity.org/expo-hom…. Griffin's Twitter: x.com/GEdward_GriffinRed Pill University: redpilluniversity.org/

The $37 trillion bomb
How much more does the world afford to borrow #US?
#USA is drowning in debt and everyone in the West is pretending not to see it.
"Big Beautiful Bill further inflates the already outrageous 37 trillion debt.
Dollar is falling, bonds are selling off, yields are skyrocketing and #capitalism is dreading the idea that the time has come for the planet to stop funding #Washington

Talk of a US debt explosion is back and not as a theoretical scenario this time.

Why some see the dollar's drop as a sign America is losing its financial might


The dollar has just posted its worst first-half of a year since 1973. And now investors wonder — is it a sign that America is losing its financial standing?

#news #npr #publicradio #usa
posted by pod_feeder_v2

reshared this

Defunct oil wells are a national problem. Finding them is the first step


There could be about a million 'orphan' oil and gas wells across the U.S. As they age, they can leak greenhouse gases or unhealthy chemicals.

#news #npr #publicradio #usa
posted by pod_feeder_v2

Emmanuel Florac reshared this.

Countering the core conservative belief: "Lazy/worthless people deserve to die"


I came across this old thread on reddit-logo. The question brings out the core Conservative belief that some people are lazy or "worthless" and "why should I pay for lazy people" or "why should I have to work for someone else to live off my labor?"

Many, many people on this thread say outright that people who they deem "lazy" don't deserve food or shelter or anything a human needs to live.

Is there a good counter to this talking point? It's pretty disgusting TBH being confronted with this. I know it's what they really believe but it still stings to read it out over and over again.

I don't understand how some people can think humans don't have an inherent right to exist. Not very "pro-life" of these people.

"Lazy" is an opinion and our society is built to treat people who aren't helping a Capitalist make profit or become a Capitalist themselves like they're burdens on society.

Life isn't fair, it never has and it never will be. Maybe some of your money goes to help a person who doesn't "work as hard as you"? There's also people who are born millionaires, people who have investments paying them for no work, people who win lotteries and jackpots or marry into wealth and never have to lift a finger again.

Forcing people to work in order to live doesn't sound fair to me. It sounds like slavery with extra steps. What kind of freedom do we truly have if we can't choose to withold our labor or check out of the system altogether?


I'm struggling a little mentally with feeling guilt around my failing job search. Technically I'm working on building three income streams, maybe four, but it feels like "failure" because I'm not making enough just yet to cover all bills. It's not for a lack of trying but there's ti.es where I have no energy to do much and it makes me feel terrible. This part of Conservatism always drove me up a wall. Hopefully some of you have good ways to fight against it.

in reply to MayoPete [he/him, comrade/them]

Your money is already going going to assholes who don't need to do shit because they just happen to own the company you work at. Why be mad if that money was spread around to people who actually need it instead of just going to a few billionaires? You hate people you consider "lazy" enough that you think they should starve and that it's not worth helping anyone else if it means helping ONE "lazy" person?

The Trump regime just censors scientific information it does not like, even though the American taxpayers paid for it.
Any info that reveals the consequences of the fossil fuel business model is suppressed.
They prefer a population of ignorant sheep.

latimes.com/environment/story/…

reshared this

The Trial of Ayla King

The First of the Stop Cop City RICO Cases Goes to Trial

crimethinc.com/2025/07/06/the-…

Defense fund:
fjc.givingfuel.com/free-speech…

#Atlanta #Stop #Cop #City #CrimethInc @CrimethInc

Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund (GPIF), the world’s largest pension fund, reported a significant $61.1 billion loss in the first quarter of 2025 (January–March), marking its first across-the-board quarterly loss since mid-2022.

franknez.com/worlds-largest-pe…

#japan #economy

Something we had always known, or at the very least had suspicions about, is now revealed with primary source evidence.

Sky News: #Israeli soldier describes in chilling detail the arbitrary killing of civilians in #Gaza
news.sky.com/story/israeli-sol…

System Integration Market Estimated to Experience a Hike in Growth by 2035


The new market report titled ‘System Integration Market,’ published by Roots Analysis is one of the most sought-after solutions for businesses operating in the System Integration Market.

The system integration market size is projected to grow from USD 520.9 billion in 2025 to USD 1,521 billion by 2035, representing a CAGR of 11.31% during the forecast period till 2035. The report will help readers stay updated with the latest market trends and maintain their competitive outlooks in the modern-day fast-paced business environment. The report comes with a concise summary of the details regarding the historical market data, current market trends, future growth prospects, product landscape, key marketing strategies, technological progress, as well as the emerging market trends and opportunities. The System Integration Market is anticipated to expand significantly. However, the latest report is mainly intended for readers interested in this specific business space and is available in the forms of PDF and spreadsheet.

System Integration Market [strong]Characterization:[/strong]

Market Scope and Market Size:

The System Integration Market is broadly segmented on the basis of Focus on Distribution by Type of Drug Class, Target Disease Indication, Type of Therapy (Monotherapies and Combination Therapies), Route of Administration and Key Geographical Regions. The segmental growth helps the reader get a lucid picture of the niche pockets of growth, as well as the strategies deployed by the market players to drive the growth of these segments. This section of the report helps them understand and determine the core application areas and the differences between the target markets. The report scrutinizes the System Integration Market in terms of market size & volume and significant information pertaining to product bifurcation and application overview.

Key Market Contenders:

This particular section of the report covers all the necessary details of the renowned market players operating in the System Integration Market. The report goes on to elucidate various marketing strategies employed by companies across this industry. Information on the shareholdings of these players in the global market has also been included in this report. Moreover, the document presents a detailed account of the market size based on geographical segmentation. It also covers the product portfolio, their application landscape, and sales and revenue predictions of the regional fragments of the global market.

Key players

Accenture (Ireland), Atos (France), Capgemini (France), CGI (Canada), Cisco (US), Cognizant (US), Dekk, Deloitte (UK), DXC (US), Flowgear (South Africa), Fujitsu (Japan), HCL (India), HPE (US), IBM (US), Infosys (India), Microsoft (US), Oracle (US), TCS (India), and Wipro (India).

The section of this report focusing on the competitive terrain of the System Integration Market endows the reader with every significant detail and information about the leading competitors on the market. The report provides an exhaustive study and accurate statistics on revenue (on both global and regional levels) related to the prevalent competition in the market. The report offers additional details on this fundamental market segment, including major businesses, company description, total revenue & sales, recent developments, latest product launches, and revenue accumulated by these players over the forecast period.

Main chapters covered in this report:

Part 01: Market Overview

Part 02: Market Size, by regions

Part 03: Market Revenue, by countries

Part 04: Market Competition, by key players

Part 05: Company Profiles

To get sample report, click on the link

rootsanalysis.com/system-integ…

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My debit card's "fraud protection":

1. Regularly flags payments to subscription services as potential fraud even though I've used them for years, paying with the same debit card, and in spite of the fact that I've indicated many times that I trust these services; and
2. Has never identified a real instance of fraud

Whatever they're doing to detect potential fraud, it has a large false positive rate and does not seem adaptive (at least in my case). It's especially odd to me that this bank asks if I've authorized transactions it flagged as potentially fraudulent, I indicate no, this is not fraud, and yet the system continues to flag transactions with the same vendor as potentially fraudulent. I'm giving it a reinforcement signal that couldn't be more clear!

Edit: this post is not a request for banking or financial advice, nor an invitation to critique my choices. I'm venting about what seems to be a poor algorithm and if you have any comments or insights into that particular topic I'm happy to hear them.

#DebitCard #banking #fraud #FraudProtection #FraudDetection #cybersecurity #InfoSec

This entry was edited (2 weeks ago)
in reply to Anthony

I don't know where you live, but in the US the relevant consumer protection laws for credit vs debit vary pretty dramatically. You're far more protected using a credit card than a debit card for purchases. With debit card fraud, they can drain your account of money you actually have; with credit, they're just borrowing money in your name - you haven't lost anything until you actually make a credit card payment. Furthermore, the maximum liability for credit fraud is $50; the maximum for debit fraud can be the total amount stolen, depending on when you report it.

I suspect your bank has their fraud settings tuned so high because debit card fraud can be catastrophic. If someone fraudulently uses your debit card fraudulently and drains your account, you may start bouncing checks, lose your ability to buy food or pay rent/mortgage, etc. Those things carry fees, fines, and long-lasting consequences that, even after the fraudulent money is returned (which can take a long time), you'll still have to deal with. It's especially risky for people who have limited funds - a few bounced check or late fees can be the difference between staying afloat and sinking into an inescapable debt cycle.

Additionally, if you fail to notice a fraudulent transaction for more than 60 days on a debit card, you lose any legal protection; that money is gone unless your bank decides out of the goodness of its heart to reimburse you. I don't know any banks that would do that.

I highly doubt they have per-customer tuning of their system-wide fraud monitoring software. Furthermore, the new hotness (as of a few years ago anyway) in scams is subscription services, where you make a purchase but the vendor signs you up for recurring subscription, and makes impossible to cancel. I don't pretend to know the inner workings of fraud detection algorithms, but it seems reasonable that recurring subscriptions to niche things could trigger this. Without knowing your details, it's hard to guess why they're flagging, and it'd all be speculation anyway, but it's possible that the vendor you're subscribing to has been flagged as fraudulent by other customers - maybe they used dark patterns and tricked people into subscriptions, like many US Republican organizations were doing in the run-up to the 2024 elections. Maybe they make it difficult to unsubscribe, so customers report it as fraud to get the charges to stop. Maybe the payment processor has actually been fraudulently charging customers (it's not uncommon for small businesses to get compromised and have their systems used for fraud-adjacent activities like validating stolen card numbers).

At the end of the day it seems like being moderately annoyed by false positives is a better outcome than being financially ruined by a false negative; your bank is probably tuning their software with that in mind. Even if you're in a financial situation where fraud won't affect you, they likely have customers who aren't so lucky.

If it's a source of that much frustration for you, you always have the option of switching banks, or switching your subscriptions to a different payment method. I highly doubt you'll have much luck getting them to re-tune their entire system just to avoid the inconvenience of a fraud alert, especially in the context of debit card transactions.

in reply to Mathaetaes

Long post

You are now the second person who has 'splained at me how banking and credit works, without knowing a single thing about my circumstances or the nature of the account I'm using. You didn't ask any clarifying questions, nor inquire into whether I was seeking advice (which I'm not), before writing all that--including a suggestion to switch banks, which is absurd. What is going on out there that people think this is a good thing to do at someone on the internet?

I was commenting on the lousy nature of their fraud detection algorithm and how it fails to respond appropriately to clear feedback. Regardless of the level of risk involved, a vendor that the customer has stated is safe over a dozen times should not be flagged as potentially fraudulent. Doing so is wasting everyone's time, attention, and resources, and detracts from the purpose of a fraud alert. Alerts don't tend to function when there are too many false positives. If you work at a bank and have insights into why this algorithm might exhibit such poor behavior, I'm all ears. If you want to vent along with me, great. Otherwise what are you doing?

Unknown parent

mastodon - Link to source

Zennblack

That's not cat abuse! Those fuckers try to kill you by tripping you. I talked to a client whose cat brought baby socks to the dog. Kitty hopped the baby gate that kept sock eating dog outta laundry room. Dog had $3000 ER bill! Cats are devious.
in reply to pat

The rail systems in China and Western Europe rely on high population densities but simply don't exist throughout most of the United States. In order to justify such rail systems in the United states, the population density of the country would have to rise by a factor of nearly 10. Actually doing that would bring about a huge ecological disaster, because much of the north American continent is already straining in a number of different critical resources such as water, and the amount of food production we could expect to see from the United States would drop catastrophically which would be a humanitarian disaster for huge swaths of the world.

When Europeans criticize Americans, they're continuing their long and storied history of trying to export their bad ideas mindlessly and end up killing a bunch of people in other continents. In the few cases that they were successful, they apologize for it later but obviously they don't feel sorry enough to stop trying to do it.