Sign in

Mark Welch

@markwelch.bsky.social
10K followers 365 following 1.9K posts

• ex-reporter ex-teacher ex-attorney, he/him • law, journalism, education, security, privacy, surveillance tech, AI fairness, bias, face recognition, Blue Dot, LFL steward • Springfield MO <NorCal <NH <MA <WI • UC Berkeley JD'89; UMass Amherst BA'83

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Mark Welch
Laura Bassett @lebassett.bsky.social · 15h
This strikes me as really fuckin bad
401056228
Reposted by Mark Welch
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 15h
More than 500 U.S. citizens have been detained by ICE, according to ProPublica. 70% of ICE detainees have no criminal conviction. Trump’s promise to go after the “worst of the worst” was always a lie. It was always a pretext to terrorize Black and brown communities. Remember this.
projects.propublica.org
More Than 500 U.S. Citizens Have Been Detained, Including Handcuffed or Held at Gunpoint, in Trump’s Immigration Crackdown — ProPublica
The government doesn’t track how often immigration officers detain U.S. citizens. So ProPublica did. We’ve found more th
11639592014
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
30 days to Election Day (Nov. 3)! Register to vote by October 7. Vote early: Oct. 20 to Nov. 2.
000
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I finally read Neuromancer last month, and now I see this.
010
Reposted by Mark Welch
Drew Harwell @drewharwell.com · 03/10/2026
Federal judge: "Freedom from persistent, dragnet-style surveillance while in public is not a foreign concept in our society & it is a reasonable expectation that society already accepts ... Why is it the govt's business where everyone goes all the time?" www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2...
washingtonpost.com
A police search using Flock was a form of ‘mass surveillance,’ judge rules
A federal judge said that police conducted an “unconstitutional warrantless search” by using Flock cameras to reconstruct a woman’s travels without probable cause.
414154
Reposted by Mark Welch
Sarah Szalavitz💡 @dearsarah.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
👏Federal Judge (in OK!!!) Rules 1) “use of ALPR Systems was an Unconstitutional Warrantless Search” & 2) Flock Search Was ‘Indiscriminate Mass Surveillance” that violates the 4th A & thus unconstitutional www.404media.co/federal-judg... This isn’t limited to Flock—expect Taser’s stock to drop?
404media.co
Federal Judge Rules a Flock Search Was ‘Indiscriminate Mass Surveillance’ and Unconstitutional
Flock’s nationwide network is quickly “approaching dragnet-type law enforcement practice” and the cop should have got a warrant, the judge wrote.
17538
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Today's reading distraction: "American Caesar: How Theocrats and Tech Lords Are Turning America into a Monarchy" (2026) by Bradley B. Onishi. link.amazon/B0ft7Ezde @bradleyonishi.bsky.social
link.amazon
Amazon.com
010
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Bribes for red state residents only. www.newsweek.com/obamacare-50...
newsweek.com
Obamacare $500 refund checks are here. Map shows where payouts are coming
Trump's $500 Obamacare refund checks are rolling out to 950,000 Americans in 30 states. Here's where the payments are going.
231
Reposted by Mark Welch
Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I tend to joke that a lot of bad decisions made both by the U.S. government and corporate America seem like leaders getting bad ideas from Claude. I was wrong. It’s bad ideas from Grok.
916318
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Vote early.
032
Reposted by Mark Welch
Norman @noaasm.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Baltics are among the biggest spenders in NATO and we have some of the best intelligence agencies. Furthermore, Poland is also one of the strongest US allies. But hell, what do we know right? Pathetic play by Trump administration, which helps only Kremlin regime www.politico.com/news/2026/09...
politico.com
Pentagon excludes key allies from NATO meeting
Some of Europe’s biggest defense spenders — and U.S. allies — were not invited to a Pentagon-led meeting to discuss the alliance.
2101
Reposted by Mark Welch
Paul Bernal @paulbernal.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Of *course* the ‘AI boom’ will make us poorer. It’s a ‘boom’ created by tech bros for tech bros, and they’re pretty much the worst human beings on the planet. How could it possibly do anything else?
1327673
Reposted by Mark Welch
Meta is the Torment Nexus @priva.cat · 01/10/2026
In my younger days, there were multiple times where my well-tuned 'this is not safe, and will probably escalate' alarm went off, and I left, rather than be assaulted. Sometimes, I'd even tell my male friends and colleagues exactly why. None of them ever asked, much less helped.
181
Reposted by Mark Welch
Protos @protos.com · 29/09/2026
Ari Paul says Coinbase lost his $25M, covered up $1B in hacks protos.com/ari-paul-say...
protos.com
Ari Paul says Coinbase lost his $25M, covered up $1B in hacks
BlockTower Capital founder Ari Paul alleged Coinbase "lost" $25M of his company funds while covering up “massive and repeated hacks.”
132
Reposted by Mark Welch
Jon Keegan @jonkeegan.com · 29/09/2026
Imagine going back in time and showing this headline to someone in 2015
How militarizing the triumphal arch could backfire for Trump
041
Reposted by Mark Welch
Alexandra Petri @petridishes.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
absolutely gutting
214532
Reposted by Mark Welch
Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 29/09/2026
automakers are some of the worst on privacy and security of any industry in America, which makes their push to ban Chinese EVs "for privacy and security" extra fucking annoying
theverge.com
Your car’s data privacy problems are worse than you think
“There’s a lot to be worried about,” the project lead said.
724768
Reposted by Mark Welch
Ben Winters @benwinters.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
that chatbot doing that unsafe/violative thing is not it 'going rogue' or an 'unfortunate incident of unintended consequences,' it’s the logical and devastating consequences of an unsafe product put out by irresponsible companies that have been conditioned to believe consequences dont exist for them
7790253
Reposted by Mark Welch
Catalin Cimpanu @campuscodi.risky.biz · 29/09/2026
Meta pulled down Brazilian President Lula's Facebook page and blocked his campaign from running political ads but allows paid ads calling for a military coup It also didn't take down any of the right-wing disinformation campaigns reported in August novaramedia.com/2026/09/28/f...
novaramedia.com
Facebook Blocks Lula’s Campaign Ads Just Days Before Brazil Election
Meta briefly disabled ads on the Facebook page of Brazil’s leftwing president on Friday – just days before he faces a far-right challenger in national elections.
110056
Reposted by Mark Welch
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 29/09/2026
This doesn't seem that much different from the trials of #facialrecognition 25 years ago in London.... #surveillance
031
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Today's reading distraction: "Meanwhile, In My Uterus: A Memoir of Endometriosis and Medical Gaslighting" (2025) by Amanda East. link.amazon/B052myRFH @thewriteamanda.bsky.social
link.amazon
Meanwhile, In My Uterus: A Memoir of Endometriosis and Medical Gaslighting
Meanwhile, In My Uterus: A Memoir of Endometriosis and Medical Gaslighting [East, Amanda] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Meanwhile, In My Uterus: A Memoir of Endometriosis and Medical Gaslighting
000
Reposted by Mark Welch
Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
WAPO: The architect quit “after warning repeatedly that Trump was insisting on a preliminary design that did not provide adequate emergency exit routes or fire-containment measures .. .. ‘I am the code,” Trump said.” @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
28325511041
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Can anyone share insight on the relative party affiliation of apartment dwellers vs others? My guess would be that they'd be more likely to be Democrats, but also less likely to vote, in general.
000
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Remember: "the cloud" is just somebody else's computer. futurism.com/artificial-i...
futurism.com
Iran Drone Strikes on Amazon Data Centers Are Permanently Deleting Customer Data
As the US Iran war shows no signs of letting up, strikes on data centers are putting customer data in serious peril.
021
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Today's reading distraction: "Testament of Leaves" (2026) by Carolyn Ives Gilman. link.amazon/B0ei2xY5Z
link.amazon
Testament of Leaves
Amazon.com: Testament of Leaves eBook : Gilman, Carolyn Ives: Kindle Store
000
Reposted by Mark Welch
Shobita Parthasarathy @shobitap.org · 19/09/2026
Older adults, people with accents, and people with disabilities struggle to be understood by AI agents. This affects their access to health care, transit, and other essential services. This is an existential risk for them. It is happening NOW. And it needs to be regulated.
37622
Reposted by Mark Welch
Karen Attiah @karenattiah.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
My father died, I was fired from my job for speaking out against Charlie Kirk, lost a teaching gig because I critiqued Israel. And yet, I’ve managed to not publicly crashout and ruthlessly attack other free speech voices. The amount of personal restraint people expect of Black women is wild.
1471581
Reposted by Mark Welch
Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 19/09/2026
California should be going after social media services’ harmful surveillance business practices and giving all users, regardless of age, more choices. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
eff.org
California’s “Addictive Feeds” Law Violates Teens’ First Amendment
A California law that prohibits teens from receiving recommended social media content from other social media users violates their First Amendment rights, EFF argued this week.The case, Meta v.
09236
Reposted by Mark Welch
Jason Leopold @jasonleopold.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
HUGE EXCLUSIVE from @bloomberg.com Inside the US ‘Kill Chain’ That Destroyed an Iranian School Pentagon investigators discovered that flawed intel, outdated imagery & overreliance on AI contributed to a missile strike that killed 123 children in Minab 🎁 www.bloomberg.com/graphics/202...
bloomberg.com
Inside the US ‘Kill Chain’ That Destroyed an Iranian School
Pentagon investigators have discovered that flawed intelligence, outdated imagery and an overreliance on AI contributed to a missile strike that killed 123 children in Minab.
11026681410
Reposted by Mark Welch
Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Sam Gregory analyzes Apple's new Reference Image feature on the iPhone 18 Pro — "a serious piece of engineering, and a genuine response to the epistemic crisis of AI" — and the unanswered questions it raises.
buff.ly
Will Apple’s ‘Reference Image’ Feature Help Defend Against AI Manipulation?
Apple’s Reference Image addresses some serious challenges raised by the epistemic crisis of AI and presents some unanswered questions, writes Sam Gregory.
1144
Reposted by Mark Welch
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Wow: quite a "content warning" to encounter in a book. Dreamslayer (2026) by A. K. Mulford link.amazon/B070Y3xCe @akmulford.com
"CONTENT WARNINGS:

"Suicide, violence, murder, gore, body horror, grief, death, abuse, imprisonment, coercive control, homophobia, drug use, addiction, hallucinations, domestic violence, spiders, monsters, disease, infection, drowning, cults, religious trauma, sexually explicit scenes and allusions to rape, forced pregnancy, and infanticide (not on page)."

Dreamslayer (2026) by A. K. Mulford.
101
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Today's reading distraction: "Chasm City" (2001) by Alastair Reynolds. link.amazon/B04G4dgxx
link.amazon
Amazon.com
000
Reposted by Mark Welch
Taniel @taniel.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
NEW: Organizers in Montana and Missouri have faced years of attacks against popular initiatives. So they're going on the offense—they've qualified 2 measures for November that would amend their state constitutions and significantly strengthen direct democracy. Fascinating pro-voter maneuver:
boltsmag.org
To Protect Direct Democracy, Two States Are Mulling a New Approach: Name It As a Right - Bolts
After years of attacks on voters’ power to take matters into their own hands, democracy advocates are going on the offensive in Montana and Missouri. They’ve placed constitutional amendments on... Rea...
7863252
Reposted by Mark Welch
Will Jennings📉🗳️ @drjennings.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
We live in a poll-driven political age, but it's important for all politicians to remember that they can lead/influence public opinion through leadership and communication.
614517
Reposted by Mark Welch
Tom McKay @catturd2.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
oh hell no www.wsj.com/business/air...
wsj.com
Exclusive | The FAA’s $875 Million Plan to Use AI to Ease Air-Traffic Woes
The air-traffic tool is expected to debut in the Washington, D.C., area as soon as Monday.
26375104
Reposted by Mark Welch
Jason Kint @kint.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Eye popping. Court just unsealed Summary Judgment motions in New York Times v OpenAI / Microsoft. Easy to see why the AI companies had so many redactions (pink). Their own people wrote the lede for NYT, the "largest theft of labor in human history"... "more and more substitutive..." /1
4253892351
Reposted by Mark Welch
Stardust 🌏🎬 @stardustbluepr.com · 18/09/2026
“For years, Microsoft and OpenAI have fought to keep certain information out of the public eye in their fight with news organizations that have accused the AI firms of teaming up to violate copyright laws by stealing tons of news content to train AI.”
arstechnica.com
Microsoft exec called AI scraping the “largest theft of labor in human history”
Microsoft, OpenAI emails reveal fear of AI “doom loop” killing news orgs.
0187
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Wow: quite a "content warning" to encounter in a book. Dreamslayer (2026) by A. K. Mulford link.amazon/B070Y3xCe @akmulford.com
"CONTENT WARNINGS:

"Suicide, violence, murder, gore, body horror, grief, death, abuse, imprisonment, coercive control, homophobia, drug use, addiction, hallucinations, domestic violence, spiders, monsters, disease, infection, drowning, cults, religious trauma, sexually explicit scenes and allusions to rape, forced pregnancy, and infanticide (not on page)."

Dreamslayer (2026) by A. K. Mulford.
101
Reposted by Mark Welch
404 Media @404media.co · 16/09/2026
NEW: Hackers ripped down a Flock camera above a roadway, made a near-complete copy of the data stored inside it, and shared the files with 404 Media and @wired.com, revealing in new detail how exactly Flock Safety’s cameras track the movements of both vehicles and people.
404media.co
Hackers Stole Flock’s Camera Software, Revealing How the Company Tracks Cars and People
While people around the U.S. are tearing down Flock cameras, one group of hackers went a step further: extracting the camera's software too.
13770773269
Reposted by Mark Welch
alice e marwick @alicetiara.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Note: They are going to teach people how to use ChatGPT to spot scams. Yet another "AI literacy" / AI education campaign that just comes down to "figure out how to use our tools more"
081
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Today's reading distraction: "Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture" (2018 anthology) Edited by Roxanne Gay. link.amazon/B05BXcq7n
000
Reposted by Mark Welch
keep your electric eye on me @ubisurv.net · 15/09/2026
We all know that there are weapons of various kinds in orbit. But saying this out loud is a choice, and it's one that is inevitably going to provoke a response. This is extraordinarily dangerous and stupid. #war #orbitalspace #space www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
theguardian.com
US confirms for first time it has deployed weapons in space
Analysts warn of an acceleration in high-risk arms race with Russia and China in Earth’s orbit
051
Reposted by Mark Welch
Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 12/09/2026
If you’re confused about the difference between “age verification,” “age estimation,” “age assurance,” and “age gate” — you’re not alone. Let’s help you make sense of it all. www.eff.org/deeplinks/2...
eff.org
Age Verification, Estimation, Assurance, Oh My! A Guide to the
Age verification, age assurance, age estimation, age gating—they get thrown around interchangeably, but they technically mean different things. And those differences matter a lot when we're talking
212544
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Today's reading distraction (via Hoopla): "Mission Earth Volume 2: Black Genesis" by L. Ron Hubbard. amzn.to/4A7Dpqo Yesterday, I read the first volume,which I'd received from a GoodReads contest. "Mission Earth, Volume 1: The Invaders Plan" (1985) by L. Ron Hubbard. amzn.to/4hles3r
amzn.to
001
Reposted by Mark Welch
Dan Froomkin/Press Watch/Heads Up News @froomkin.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
On a 10-point scale, how close is the U.S. to autocracy? More than a 4, that’s for sure. presswatchers.org/2026/09/new-...
presswatchers.org
New York Times editors don’t get how close we are to autocracy | Press Watch
On a 10-point scale, how close are we to autocracy? More than a 4, that’s for sure.
23413
Reposted by Mark Welch
AILA @aila.org · 08/09/2026
"Immigration judges across the United States have been instructed to deny some of the most vulnerable people appearing in court the time needed for their visas or green cards to arrive." bit.ly/4gJhTRu
bit.ly
US immigration judges told to slash time given to people awaiting visas or green cards before being deported
Exclusive: Mandatory training for judges also urged them to threaten attorneys who accept too many cases
2129
Reposted by Mark Welch
Alejandra Caraballo @esqueer.net · 08/09/2026
The Pentagon is purging all trans people in the military. They're going after those who didn't even transition by searching through medical records to find any evidence someone had gender dysphoria. They're purging those who detransitioned to save their jobs. federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main...
federalnewsnetwork.com
Pentagon searching medical records to identify transgender troops | Federal News Network
Military officials are using medical and personnel data to uncover troops with current or past gender dysphoria as the Pentagon moves ahead with separations.
36960421
Mark Welch @markwelch.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Today's reading distraction: "The Hunt for Atlantis" (2007, Wilde & Chase #1) by Andy McDermott. amzn.to/4A1vivE @andymcdermott.bsky.social
amzn.to
The Hunt for Atlantis: A Novel (Nina Wilde & Eddie Chase series Book 1)
The Hunt for Atlantis: A Novel (Nina Wilde & Eddie Chase series Book 1) - Kindle edition by McDermott, Andy. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or tablets. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading The Hunt for Atlantis: A Novel (Nina Wilde & Eddie Chase series Book 1).
001
Reposted by Mark Welch
Damon Kiesow @kiesow.net · 07/09/2026
So you are telling me the plagiarism machine is a tautology? www.scientificamerican.com/article/open...
scientificamerican.com
OpenAI’s latest math breakthroughs commit research misconduct, experts say
OpenAI released 10 AI-generated results over the weekend. Some mathematicians are unhappy with their approach
252
Reposted by Mark Welch
Resist authoritarianism @thewolverine.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Trump's jackbooted thugs have no legitimate need to access voter data. There should already be laws on the books to prevent this sort of access. #Privacy #DataPrivacy fedscoop.com/ice-voter-da...
fedscoop.com
ICE tabs millions for analytics help to comb through voter data
The Department of Homeland Security component plans to spend up to $5 million on procuring services to support its “fraud detection” and “data segmentation” efforts.
063