The Daily Valet. - 6/20/23, Tuesday
✔️ Uncle Sam Is Watching
Tuesday, June 20th Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
Welcome back, guys! Let's make it a great (short) week.
Today’s Big Story
Uncle Sam Is Watching
declassified report reveals that the government is buying troves of data about Americans
How much does the government know about you? You might think that the United States government would need a warrant to collect intimate data about you. Or perhaps you think that you'd, at least, have to be suspected of doing something wrong first, right? Well, not exactly.A newly released report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence details how the intelligence community routinely buys significant amounts of data about you from data brokers who track almost everything people do on their phones and computers. This is data the government wouldn't otherwise be able to obtain on a mass scale or without a court order. But because it's available to purchase, there's a legal gray area that the government happily takes advantage of. The real kicker? It's using your tax money to do it.According to Wired, Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, had first tasked her advisers in late 2021 with untangling a web of secretive business arrangements between commercial data brokers and U.S. intelligence community members. What that report ended up saying constitutes a nightmare scenario for privacy defenders. In the pre-internet era, this type of data was far less comprehensive (and invasive), so this practice was much less problematic. But we all willingly carry around trackers in our phones, use a slew of connected devices and leave digital breadcrumbs with the websites we visit. These can (and do) collect data about huge swaths of our personal lives. That includes things that most people would probably prefer random companies and the government not know—everything from sexual tastes and political beliefs to religion. Maybe whether you've followed Covid curfews or if you've had an abortion. As Patrick Toomey, deputy director of the ACLU's National Security Project, put it: “Intelligence agencies are buying massive amounts of our sensitive information from data brokers, giving the government the power to intrude on our private lives like never before.” But, really, this is a bit of a chicken and egg problem right? This unfettered access is unsettling to say the least, but do we expect anything less, when it's just out there for the taking, readily sold to anyone willing to pay?
FYI:
Want to protect your privacy from Uncle Sam as well as scammers? Here's what the experts suggest you do.
Titanic Vessel Goes Missing on Dive
THe Submersible lost contact with its mother ship after it Dove to the BOTTOM of the atlantic
A tourist submersible carrying five people has gone missing while on a diving trip to the wreck of the Titanic, sparking a massive search and rescue operation in the North Atlantic. The Coast Guard confirmed Monday that it was searching for the vessel during a dive about 900 miles east of Cape Cod.Possibly the world's most famous (or infamous) shipwreck, the Titanic's wreckage has been on the ocean floor, sunk in 12,500 feet of water since 1912. OceanGate Expeditions—which operates tours of the site, said in a statement that it's “mobilizing all options to bring the crew back safely.” The submersible disappeared in a portion of the ocean with a depth of roughly 13,000 feet. Admiral Rear Admiral John Mauger of the U.S. Coast Guard told the New York Times that the occupants would theoretically have between 70 to 96 hours of air as of Monday evening.Mauger said one pilot or sub-commander operator and four mission specialists were on board the submersible. British businessman and adventurer Hamish Harding is confirmed to be one of the five people onboard. CBS journalist David Pogue was invited to travel on OceanGate's Titan submersible on a press trip last year, and said he initially thought the sub seemed improvised: “You steer this sub with an Xbox game controller, some of the ballast is abandoned construction pipes.”
Conspiracy Theories:
TikTok is just the latest avenue for false narratives about the infamous shipwreck.
Are commitment issues impacting our ability to connect with the people who live around us? Relationship-building may involve a commitment to the belief that neighbors are worthy of getting to know.”
- The Atlantic on why we need to know our neighbors
Our Morality Remains Intact
Why Does every generation think people were so much nicer in the past?
Here's some good news to kick off our shortened week: Reports that we're becoming crappier humans over time are greatly exaggerated. Pretty much every generation seems to believe that morality is declining. And for the past two decades, surveys have shown that people in at least 60 countries around the globe believe that our ethics and general well-being are decaying right before our eyes.But that idea is just an illusion, according to a new paper published in Nature. Its lead author, the psychologist Adam Mastroianni, says the paper was born out of his own emotional reaction to constantly hearing people grumble about how humanity is going downhill—“Back in the day, you could leave your door unlocked at night,” “Used to be you could trust someone's word,” “These kids today!”—without any real evidence for thinking that. So he partnered with a Harvard psychologist to find out if it was true. Turns out, it wasn't.Of course, as Vox points out, “morality” means different things to different people. The scientists were using the word to mean something like everyday kindness, honesty and basic human decency. And there's no measuring device, like a thermometer, that we can use to objectively determine shifting levels of morality over the centuries. But last year, a separate research team published a meta-analysis of over 500 social experiments (where you make a generous choice or a greedy choice, like giving some money away or keeping it for yourself), going back to 1956. They suspected to find that cooperation rates had declined, with people becoming greedier over time. Instead, they found that cooperation rates have increased by about 10 percentage points over the past six decades. How about that?
Dig Deeper:
A simple reason why the past often seems better than the present? We’re able to look back with a complete sense of certainty about what is going to happen next.
The Reddit Crisis Is Getting Weird
Hackers threaten to leak stolen data
If you've been checking Reddit, you no doubt came across some inexplicable pics of John Oliver. But there's a reason for that. As the users' protest against the site's management takes a bizarre new turn, some popular subs lifted their blackouts only to share pics of the late-night host.Oliver, of course, loved the joke and joined the protest by sharing his own pictures so Reddit mods and members could use them. The decision to overshare the British comic's pics came after Reddit mods polled its members to see how they'd respond to CEO Steve Huffman's changes to the site's API. They could either vote to keep the forum going as they normally would or “only allow images of John Oliver looking sexy.” You already know which option won.Meanwhile, hackers from the BlackCat ransomware gang, also known as ALPHV, are threatening to leak 80 gigabytes of confidential data from Reddit that they claim to have stolen during a February breach, reports CNN. The group wants a $4.5 million payout in exchange for the data, but they've also demanded that Reddit roll back the controversial API pricing change.
FYI:
In 2018, hackers gained access to Reddit user data, including email addresses and passwords.
In Other News
But they immediately raise serious ethical questions.
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Buy Better Shoes
Don't you deserve quality footwear?
Shoes are something you don't want to skimp on. You get what you pay for and thus, a cheap pair of kicks could leave you limping by the end of the day. And while there are an overwhelming number of options out there, the nice thing about being a man is that you can go far on just a few classic styles. Which is why you should invest in quality pairs that will only get better looking (and more comfortable) as the years go on.We asked Kyle Rancourt of Rancourt & Co., who's been crafting fine American footwear for three generations, why men should invest in their shoes. His answer, in a word: Taste. “Most sub-$200 shoes have no taste ... every pair looks exactly the same and are made from dull, lifeless materials,” says Rancourt. “Our shoes, for example, are unique—each pair is slightly different and crafted from materials that will develop appealing character over time.”
Read:
Shopping
What We’re Buying
A summer skin saver
Want perfect skin this summer? This is your secret weapon. Onekind's newest product is a universally-flattering, lightweight serum ($48) that protects, brightens and hydrates skin while evening out your skin tone. Unlike some tinted moisturizers that can feel a little heavy, this is a smooth serum that absorbs into skin while also providing a solid SPF 55-level protection from UV rays. Meanwhile, naturally-derived squalane, prickly pear extract and desert date oil soothes and protects the skin barrier while keeping breakouts at bay. We've been testing this out and can confirm, this little tube does big things for your skin.
Want more?
The five stylish items you should be buying this week.
Morning Motto
New week, new you?
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