iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Alan Butler

Nathaniel Rakich @baseballot.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The Supreme Court's ruling on the SAVE database shouldn't affect the 2026 election. Under federal law, you can't systematically remove voters from the rolls within 90 days of an election.

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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

JUST IN: The D.C. Circuit rules 2-1 that the Trump administration may not implement a new system for states to bulk search DHS and Social Security data to verify voter citizenship. Voting rights groups say the system is fraught with errors. s3.documentcloud.org/documents/28...

s3.documentcloud.org

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NPR @npr.org · 04/09/2026

The Trump administration is taking the unprecedented step of creating lists of adult citizens who are eligible to vote in each state – but will not meet its own deadline 60 days before Election Day. n.pr/4h9rzoj

n.pr

The Trump administration still aims to make state citizenship lists ahead of midterms

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Blake E. Reid @chup.blakereid.org · 16/07/2026

Happy to release (with Jerry Kang and @alanindc.bsky.social) Edition 9.0 of our Communications Law casebook. If you're reporting on or studying dense telecom topics like the fracas over broadcast TV licenses, this book is meant as a gentle, conceptual introduction to the field. (And it's free!)

jerrykang.net

Communications Law – Jerry Kang

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Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 10/06/2026

Some really crazy cases in here - cop looked up ex-girlfriend and family in Flock 100+ times - cop stalked wife giving "test" as reason - cop searched one plate 395 times in 10 months; was later fired Cops keep getting arrested for using Flock to stalk people www.404media.co/cops-keep-ge...

404media.co

Cops Keep Getting Arrested for Using Flock to Stalk People

There have been more than a dozen cases around the country where police use Flock to obsessively and illegally stalk people.

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Christina Ayiotis @christinaayiotis.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

"Links that are buried in fine print and missing from homepages. Consumers routed through multiple separate forms to complete a single request. And requirements that users create accounts or pay for subscriptions before opting out at all, among others." www.wired.com/story/data-b... @wired.com

wired.com

Data Brokers’ and AI Firms’ Opt-Out Forms Are Built to Fail, Report Finds

A new study finds AI companies, defense firms, and dating apps are among 38 data collectors allegedly using manipulative design to confuse users while collecting their data.

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Reposted by Alan Butler

EPIC @epic.org · 24/04/2026

Today, EPIC and a group of technical experts and legal scholars filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the petitioner in Salazar v. Paramount Global.

epic.org

PRESS RELEASE: EPIC Files Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Prioritize Consumers in Video Privacy Protection Act Case

Press Releases

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Reposted by Alan Butler

EPIC @epic.org · 16/04/2026

On Wednesday, EPIC Counsel Tom McBrien spoke at the National Association of Attorneys General’s Annual Conference on a panel about the data-driven pricing ecosystem. Learn more about EPIC’s efforts to combat surveillance pricing here: epic.org/issues/consu...

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Reposted by Alan Butler

EPIC @epic.org · 21/04/2026

On Monday, EPIC filed an amicus brief arguing that the Virginia city of Norfolk’s use of Flock’s Automated License Plate Reader system creates a warrantless mass surveillance program and constitutes an unreasonable search in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

epic.org

EPIC files amicus brief arguing city’s use of Flock ALPRs violated Fourth Amendment

Updates

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Roosevelt Institute @rooseveltinstitute.org · 24/03/2026

Your grocery bill should not be based on the personal data companies collect about you. Large retailers claim digital price labels reduce costs, but they can also enable surveillance pricing that charges people more.

cnbc.com

Walmart digital price labels are coming to every store shelf in U.S. by end of 2026

Walmart is rolling out digital shelf labels and expects it to be in all U.S. stores by year’s end. Is it surge pricing in disguise or just new tech efficiency?

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 18/03/2026

“‘Americans do not consent to biometric data collection simply by walking down a public street, entering a café, or standing in a crowd,’ the senators told Zuckerberg. Yet, the deployment of this technology would appear to do exactly that…”

biometricupdate.com

Senators press Meta on facial recognition plans for smart glasses | Biometric Update

Three U.S. Democratic senators are demanding answers from Meta over reports that the company plans to add facial recognition to its smart glasses.

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Reposted by Alan Butler

EPIC @epic.org · 10/03/2026

In a comment submitted to HHS last week, EPIC urged the Agency to prioritize privacy in the adoption of all technologies used in clinical settings.

epic.org

EPIC Urges HHS to Prioritize Patient Privacy in Clinical Care AI Uses

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 10/03/2026

“In a dozen instances, misreads by Flock's automated license plate readers, or a lack of verification by officers, resulted in people who hadn't committed crimes being stopped at gunpoint, sent to jail, or mauled by a police dog, among other outcomes.”

businessinsider.com

AI cameras are everywhere — and people are paying the price for their mistakes

Flock Safety's license plate readers are used by police in thousands of communities. When the cameras make mistakes, the consequences can be severe.

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Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

A Minnesota woman observing ICE agents in her car was cornered on one-way streets. An agent approached, called her by name—citing facial recognition. Days later, her Global Entry and TSA privileges were revoked, with no explanation.

nytimes.com

How ICE Already Knows Who Minneapolis Protesters Are

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Orin Kerr @orinkerr.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

BIG IN THE 4A WORLD: The Supreme Court has granted cert in Chatrie, the geofence warrant case, to decide the following Q: "Whether the execution of the geofence warrant violated the Fourth Amendment." (I assume this includes both whether a "search" happened and whether the warrant was lawful.)

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

It’s been clear for years now that anonymized cellphone location data could produce this kind of information, so I guess I shouldn’t be surprised someone made a tool to sell this capability to LEOs.

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Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Big Tech firms have been complaining about the “patchwork” of state laws ever since Californians adopted their landmark privacy law in 2020, Alan Butler writes. Trump's AI executive order is thus an escalation of a fight that has been brewing for years.

buff.ly

The Preemption Fight Goes Far Beyond AI. States Must Persist. | TechPolicy.Press

Trump's AI executive order is an escalation of a fight that has been brewing for years, Alan Butler writes.

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EPIC @epic.org · 12/12/2025

President Trump's Executive Order attempting to stop states from regulating AI is "exactly the opposite of what our country needs right now," said EPIC Executive Director @alanindc.bsky.social.

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Erin Maye Quade @erinmayequade.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

A Trump supporter started murdering his way through an assassination list of Democratic law makers FIVE MONTHS AGO. He murdered my colleague Melissa Hortman, and her husband Mark — and attempted to assassinate my dear friend John Hoffman and his wife Yvette. I was also on the hit list. WTF

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Jameel Jaffer @jameeljaffer.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

It’s a sign of the times that the only Americans who will be able to obtain damages for constitutional violations are these corrupt Senators whose rights weren’t violated at all. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/10/u...

nytimes.com

Spending Bill Would Pave Way for Senators to Sue Over Phone Searches

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Dave Karpf @davekarpf.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

My biggest concern about TikTok being sold to Trump-aligned American investors is that, at this point, there is far more cause for alarm from domestic surveillance than from foreign adversaries. www.theatlantic.com/technology/2...

theatlantic.com

The MAGA Media Takeover

Trump and his powerful friends are creating a dangerous moment for free speech.

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Reposted by Alan Butler

EPIC @epic.org · 30/07/2025

This afternoon, EPIC Executive Director Alan Butler (@alanindc.bsky.social) will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on the importance of strong federal data regulations to protect the privacy of American consumers. ➡️ Tune in at 2:30 pm ET: www.judiciary.senate.gov/committee-ac...

judiciary.senate.gov

TIME CHANGE: Protecting the Virtual You: Safeguarding Americans' Online Data | United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 29/07/2025

The Senate just passed my bill by UC to release this report to the public, to end this cover-up by CISA. Now the House needs to pass my bill so the public can see how shockingly insecure our phone system is. Then the government must hold phone companies accountable for failing cybersecurity 101.

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Blake E. Reid @chup.blakereid.org · 18/07/2025

Interested in the First Amendment, the FCC, and telecom law? The new edition of Jerry Kang's, @alanindc.bsky.social's, and my Communications Law and Policy casebook is freely available. It's aimed at students, but may be of interest to practitioners, profs, journalists, and others too!

jerrykang.net

Communications Law – Jerry Kang

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Elizabeth Joh @elizabethjoh.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

lifetime suspects without any basis of suspicion

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Justin Hendrix @justinhendrix.bsky.social · 15/07/2025

Brandi Collins-Dexter, an intellectual and an activist, will be missed first and foremost by her family and friends, but also by overlapping communities of scholars and advocates. Her work was brilliant, sharp, funny, empathetic, prescient. I regret that we won't benefit from more of it.

freepress.net

Remembering Brandi Collins-Dexter

Brandi Collins-Dexter was a force of nature who spent her entire career serving others.

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Reposted by Alan Butler

the Mountain Goats @themountaingoats.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

There must be zero compliance with this. Patient confidentiality is the heart and soul of care. Care without confidentiality isn’t care at all. No “but our hands are tied, we need federal funding.” There must be a brick wall. Confidentiality is a no-compromise zone.

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Reposted by Alan Butler

EPIC @epic.org · 16/06/2025

🗓️⚠️ Happening TODAY, join us here: epic.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 06/06/2025

This Senate proposal advanced by Sen Cruz would cancel new and existing State laws on any aspect of tech use including civil rights, consumer protection, privacy, fraud, safety for kids, accessibility, and more. In short, we’d lose the few laws we have that ensure responsible AI use. #killthebill

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Will Oremus @willoremus.com · 19/05/2025

After records requests from The Washington Post, officials paused the first known, widespread live facial recognition program used by U.S. police. www.washingtonpost.com/business/202... Important investigative work by @douglasmac.bsky.social & @aaronschaffer.com:

washingtonpost.com

Police secretly monitored New Orleans with facial recognition cameras

Following records requests from The Post, officials paused the first known, widespread live facial recognition program used by police in the United States.

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Reposted by Alan Butler

EPIC @epic.org · 23/04/2025

Yesterday, EPIC—represented by Harvard's Cyberlaw Clinic—filed an amicus brief in Kohls v. Bonta, a case about an important issue: How to balance free speech with regulating misleading elections-focused deepfakes that threaten election integrity? 🧵 epic.org/documents/ko...

epic.org

Kohls v. Bonta

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Steve Vladeck @stevevladeck.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

No, you really don't "have to ask yourself" this. The right to criticize the government, even for *lawful* policies (let alone what Trump is trying to do), is not just central to the First Amendment's protection of free speech; it is one of the most critically important features of *any* democracy.

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Robert Maguire @robertmaguire.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

It's a high bar, but this from @radleybalko.bsky.social might be one of the most fucked up things I've read in the new Trump era. For context, this TX lawyer had just had an informal conversation with a family caught up in ICE raids. Seriously. Read this. radleybalko.substack.com/p/the-courag...

“A couple days later, on March 6, I was working from home at around 11:30 when I got a notice that my VPN had gone down,” he says. “I didn’t think much about it. It can cut out from time to time. About 10 minutes later, I got a knock at the door.”

Two men were outside Jackson’s door, dressed in slacks and polos. They were not wearing badges.

“I first thought they were going to try to sell me something. But as soon as I opened the door they said, ‘Are you Clayton Jackson?’ I think I shook my head or said ‘yeah,’ and then I heard, ‘We have information that you are obstructing an ongoing immigration investigation.’”

Jackson says alarms went off in his head. “My first instinct was to want to know what this was about. That it must be a misunderstanding. So I started to tell them about how I’ve been involved in some pro bono work. Then this voice in my head kicked in and just said, you need to shut the fuck up — don’t say anything.”

The officers never identified themselves. They did ask if they could come inside.

“I said absolutely not,” Jackson says. “I asked for their names and badge numbers. They said they didn’t have to provide that information at this time. So I told them I’d be calling my lawyer and I shut the door behind me.”

Jackson says his mind started racing. “I needed to know who they were, what agency they were with. Then I remembered that I have the Ring camera. Maybe I could watch the video of the incident and figure out who they were from that.”

There was no video. “That’s when I learned why my VPN had gone down. It wasn’t the VPN. Someone had shut off my Wifi.”

About 15 minutes after the interaction at his front door, Jackson’s Wifi was up and running again.

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

Hours ago, @politico.com revealed that DOGE is working with DHS on automating mass deportation efforts — likely explaining why many US citizens, green card holders, and even a Canadian (in Canada) got threatening emails last night terminating “your parole” and telling them to leave the US in 7 days.

Bike_pimp88 • 21h ago
10:48
..•
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528
04/11/2025
Notice of Termination of Parole
it is time for you to leave the United States.
You are currently here because the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) paroled you into the United States for a limited period. Pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A) and 8 C.F.R. § 212.5(e), DHS is now exercising its discretion to terminate your parole. Unless it expires sooner, your parole will terminate 7 days from the date of this notice.
If you do not depart the United States immediately you will be subject to potential law enforcement actions that will result in your removal from the United States - unless you have otherwise obtained a lawful basis to remain here. Any benefits you receive in the United States connected with your parole - such as work authorization — will also terminate. You will be subject to potential criminal prosecution, civil fines, and penalties, and any other lawful options available to the federal government.
DHS encourages you to leave immediately on your own.
You can use the CBP Home mobile app on your phone to make arrangements for your departure. If you are departing the United States via land, you should report your departure once outside the United States via that same app. If you are having trouble reporting your departure via land, visit https://194.cbp.dhs.gov/home for more information about voluntarily reporting your departure.
Again, DHS is terminating your parole. Do not attempt to remain in the United States - the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately.
I just got this 5 minutes and I'm not even in the United States or have been for months. I'm in Canada and a Canadian resident. I fly to Vegas tomorrow morning for the weekend and a little concerned? Does this look legit

SpellWild110 • 2 points 17 hours ago
I just got this email too and I am a US citizen? Born and raised in the US. So confused.
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+ [-Potential_Travel_294 • 2 points 17 hours ago
Yeah, so confusing
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+ [H] ramoros1865 • 2 points 13 hours ago
I go this email last night as well and I have a green card

[-| ihatemensomuchursick • 2 points 10 hours ago
<image>
Got this today at 6ame9the thing is I was born here this is the email that sent it: [automatedmessage@cbp.dhs.gov]
(mailto:automatedmessage@cbp.dhs.gov)
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+ [-| ihatemensomuchursick • 2 points 10 hours ago
Has anyone clicked the link?

+ |-]PossibleLast3277 • 1 point 20 hours ago
I just got this same email right now
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+ [-JOk-Comfortable948 • 1 point 20 hours ago
Me too. I am an LPR since an year now and def concerns me seeing this. I got the email from cbpnoreply@cbp.dhs.gov and email looked legit due to its domain though, hope its a scam email. Crazy idiots not sure what they keep doing. permalink embed save parent report reply
+ |-]PossibleLast3277 • 1 point 20 hours ago
I have daca and i am wondering if i got it because I did advance parole in 2023
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+ |-] Potential_Travel_294 • 1 point 19 hours ago
I got the same email twice to my two different email adresses, I think its's a scam.
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+ [-]Ok-Comfortable948 • 1 point 19 hours ago
I got it twice to my same email.
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+ [-]Potential_Travel_294 • 1 point 19 hours ago
Yeah, me too, I got twice too to a kind of personal email address, it's even not my work email address. permalink embed save parent report reply
+ [-]thawk1986 • 1 point 11 hours ago
It's legit:
https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/mi
grants-cbp-one-app-legal-status-stripped-dhs/
permalink embed save parent report reply

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Waldo Jaquith @waldo.net · 10/04/2025

Right, so two things will happen as a result of this: Americans who have been the victims of identity theft will be declared dead (this is extremely inconvenient), and immigrants will start using other people's SSNs in order to survive.

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Peter Sterne @petersterne.com · 10/04/2025

The Trump administration is now canceling people's Social Security Numbers, treating them as if they are legally dead. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/10/u...

Now, the administration is taking drastic steps to pressure some of those immigrants and others who had legal status to “self-deport” by effectively canceling the Social Security numbers they had lawfully obtained, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times and interviews with six people familiar with the plans.

The goal is to cut those people off from using crucial financial services like bank accounts and credit cards, along with their access to government benefits.

The effort hinges on a surprising new tactic: repurposing Social Security’s “death master file,” which for years has been used to track dead people who should no longer receive benefits, to include the names of living people who the government believes should be treated as if they are dead. As a result, they would be blacklisted from a coveted form of identity that allows them to make and spend money.

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EPIC @epic.org · 07/04/2025

@motherjones.com shared the most comprehensive investigation to date on #ClearviewAI's surveillance tech used in federal immigration enforcement. The investigation cited government records obtained in EPIC’s #FOIA suit. www.motherjones.com/politics/202...

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Alvaro M. Bedoya @bedoyausa.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

In 2023, FTC alleged that Amazon Alexa kept recordings of little kids’ voices *forever.* Even when parents asked it to delete them, Amazon *still* kept the transcripts. FTC sued and stopped that. What happens to these cases when tech CEOs have unlimited power in our government?

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Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

One of the best explanations I’ve seen of the stakes of the disregard of data laws intended to prevent wholesale surveillance of the US public by its govt. The DOGE one-two punch is to disregard or dissolve the data regulations that protect us and then use AI to consolidate info about each of us.

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Joshua Holland @joshuaholland.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

RS’s head properly sums up the story: An unconfirmed Trump lackey is threatening to shut down Social Security and impoverish millions in a tantrum over a judge’s ruling. Bloomberg went with, “Social Security Says DOGE Ruling Could Force Agency to Shut Down,” as if it’s an unintended consequence.

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Alvaro M. Bedoya @bedoyausa.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

I am a commissioner at the Federal Trade Commission. Earlier today, the president attempted to illegally fire me. This is corruption, plain and simple. I will see the president in court. My full statement:

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Reposted by Alan Butler

Mark Joseph Stern @mjsdc.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Just so we’re all clear, the Supreme Court *expressly ruled* that the president cannot fire FTC commissioners without cause in 1935’s Humphrey’s Executor. Trump’s action here is brazenly illegal under any interpretation of the law as it stands. www.reuters.com/world/us/tru...

reuters.com

Exclusive: Trump fires both Democratic commissioners at FTC, sources say

President Donald Trump fired the two Democratic commissioners at the U.S. Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the situation said, in another major test of the independence of regulatory agencies.

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