Federal Agencies Use Facial Recognition From Private Companies, But Almost Nobody Is Keeping Track | The Verge

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A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has revealed near-total lack of accountability from federal agencies using facial recognition built by private companies, like Clearview AI. Of the 14 federal agencies that said they used privately built facial recognition for criminal investigations, only Immigration and Customs Enforcement was in the process of implementing a list of approved facial recognition vendors and a log sheet for the technology’s use. Read full story here: Federal Agencies Use Facial Recognition From Private Companies, But Almost Nobody Is Keeping Track | The…

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Boosting Solar Adoption With The Powerlily App | PVBuzz

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The Canadian Federal government recently unveiled its latest budget, outlining additional funding to build on A Healthy Environment and a Healthy Economy. The budget clearly supports several policies that seek to reorient Canada’s economy away from fossil fuel dependence, of which a rising carbon tax (up to $170 by 2030) and $40,000 interest-free loans for home retrofits, including solar energy, are two of the most notable aspects. Read full story here: Boosting Solar Adoption With The Powerlily App | PVBuzz

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Google Is Finally Trying To Kill Passwords — Here’s How | Tom’s Guide

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Google will soon make two-factor authentication (2FA) mandatory for all Google accounts. From May 10, Google will ask people who have enrolled in two-step verification (2SV) (the abbreviation Google uses) to confirm it’s really them with just a tap of a Google prompt on their phone. “Soon we’ll start automatically enrolling users in 2SV if their accounts are appropriately configured,” added Mark Risher, director of Product Management, Identity and User Security at Google. Read full story here: Google Is Finally Trying To Kill Passwords — Here’s How | Tom’s Guide

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Inflation Is Coming: Signs That Everything Is About To Get Much More Expensive | National Post

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We have bad news for you, reader: Real estate is crazy expensive, your money isn’t going to do anything for you in a bank account, and now that $20 in your pocket may start hemorrhaging value just by virtue of existing. Below, a rundown of all the reasons that your loonies could soon be losing up to 5 cents of value every year. If you haven’t noticed, the price of virtually everything is skyrocketing. Read full story here: Inflation Is Coming: Signs That Everything Is About To Get Much More…

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Africa and the Americas Pay the Most for the Worst Internet Service | PC Magazine

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Internet connectivity can be expensive, especially when you upgrade your plan to get the best connection possible. Some areas in the United States pay as high as $7 per megabit. But what if you had a bad connection? How much would you still be willing to pay? According to Surfshark, the worst internet in the world is also the least affordable. Using information from the Digital Quality of Life index, Surfshark was able to determine that the regions that pay the most for internet also receive the worst-quality connections. Oceania…

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Tesla Bets Big On Bitcoin, Plans To Accept Cryptocurrency | Bloomberg

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Tesla Inc. invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and signaled its intent to begin accepting the cryptocurrency as a form of payment, sending prices to a new record after the vote of confidence from the electric-car market leader. The Palo Alto, California-based manufacturer said in a filing Monday it made the bet on Bitcoin after updating its investment policy last month to allow the company to invest in digital assets as well as gold bullion and gold exchange-traded funds. Read full story here: Tesla Bets Big On Bitcoin, Plans To Accept…

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President Biden Will Make Entire 645K Federal Vehicle Fleet Electric | Electrek

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President Joe Biden has just announced that he will replace the entire US federal fleet with electric vehicles made in the US. The US federal fleet consists of over 645,000 vehicles, according to the latest Federal Fleet Report. This includes 245k civilian vehicles, 173k military vehicles, and 225k post office vehicles. Biden talked a lot about American-made electric vehicles during the campaign, so an announcement to this effect is not unexpected, but campaign promises do not always translate to real action. Read full story here: President Biden Will Make Entire…

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More Than 200K Small Businesses Could Close Permanently Amid Pandemic: CFIB | Global News

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More than 200,000 Canadian small businesses could shut their doors permanently due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, jeopardizing close to three million private-sector jobs in the worst-case scenario, according to a recent survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB). The organization estimates 181,000 small entrepreneurs are seriously considering closing down their businesses after a spike in case counts prompted a new wave of government lockdowns and restrictions. Read full story here: More Than 200K Small Businesses Could Close Permanently Amid Pandemic: CFIB | Global News

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How Law Enforcement Gets Around Your Smartphone’s Encryption | Ars Technica

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Lawmakers and law enforcement agencies around the world, including in the United States, have increasingly called for backdoors in the encryption schemes that protect your data, arguing that national security is at stake. But new research indicates governments already have methods and tools that, for better or worse, let them access locked smartphones thanks to weaknesses in the security schemes of Android and iOS. Read full story here: How Law Enforcement Gets Around Your Smartphone’s Encryption | Ars Technica

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Stressed Out? Blame Bad Technology, New Study Suggests | CTV News

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NEW YORK — There is no question that we are all more dependent on technology than ever. So what happens when that tech does not work? In the past, Emily Dreyfuss used an old-school strategy: She yelled. When Amazon’s Alexa spat out wrong answers or misunderstood questions, Dreyfuss let the virtual assistant have it. “I used her as a scapegoat for my feelings,” said Dreyfuss, a writer and editor for Harvard’s Shorenstein Center. “When you have a non-sentient and annoying device in your home, who isn’t doing what you want,…

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