Another tax on the poor: Surrendering privacy for survival

Americans at the lower end of the economic ladder suffer from an ever-growing privacy divide, impacting more than just their personal dignity and autonomy. In 1969, a woman named Barbara James walked into a neighborhood legal services office in New York City in search of help to fight the city’s home visit policy. Her case…

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Food stamp “hunger cliff” looms as 32 states set to slash benefits – CBS News

A “hunger cliff” is looming for millions of Americans, with 32 states set to slash food-stamp benefits beginning on Wednesday. The cuts will impact more than 30 million people who are enrolled in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in those states, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Among the states…

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Inside the Industry That Unmasks People At Scale

Hacking. Disinformation. Surveillance. CYBER is Motherboard’s podcast and reporting on the dark underbelly of the internet.   Tech companies have repeatedly reassured the public that trackers used to follow smartphone users through apps are anonymous or at least pseudonymous, not directly identifying the person using the phone. But what they don’t mention is that an…

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Subway Got Too Big. Franchisees Paid a Price.

A Subway in Queens.CreditCreditAn Rong Xu for The New York Times Operators say they’ve lost their stores to conflicted managers over petty infractions, like cucumbers sliced too thick and sabotaged meatball bags. A Subway in Queens.CreditCreditAn Rong Xu for The New York Times Manoj Tripathi couldn’t shake the feeling that someone had a vendetta against…

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San Francisco’s Proposition C Passes Despite Tech Opposition

San Francisco police officers wait while homeless people collect their belongings Tuesday, March 1, 2016, in San Francisco. Photo: Ben Margot (AP) In spite of some public bellyaching over perceived fairness on behalf of several high-profile, wealthy technology company heads prior to election day, the voters of San Francisco have cast their ballots in favor…

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