Author name: Shannon Garcia

windows-11-24h2-goes-from-“unsupported”-to-“unbootable”-on-some-older-pcs

Windows 11 24H2 goes from “unsupported” to “unbootable” on some older PCs

Tech, Windows, Windows 11, windows 11 24h2 / /

is anyone still reading this using a Core 2 Duo? —

New Windows version needs CPU features that became common in the late 00s.

–

We've installed Windows 11 on systems as old as this Core 2 Duo Inspiron tower. As of version 24H2, the OS may no longer be bootable on these systems.

Enlarge / We’ve installed Windows 11 on systems as old as this Core 2 Duo Inspiron tower. As of version 24H2, the OS may no longer be bootable on these systems.

Andrew Cunningham

Officially, Windows 11 has higher system requirements than Windows 10. But to date, once you’ve bypassed those requirement checks, there have been few consequences to running Windows 11 on old hardware. Unsupported or not, Windows 11 would run on pretty much any 64-bit PC that could boot Windows 10—we’ve run it on PCs as old as a Windows XP-era Core 2 Duo desktop.

That’s apparently changing a bit in Windows 11’s 24H2 update, which Microsoft began testing earlier this month. According to posts from a user named Bob Pony on X, formerly Twitter, the latest Windows 11 builds refuse to boot on older processors that don’t support a relatively obscure instruction called “POPCNT.” Short for “population count,” it’s used for “counting the number of bits in a machine word,” according to an explainer by programmer Vaibhav Sagar.

It’s unclear why POPCNT has become the load-bearing CPU instruction for a whole bunch of Windows components, but it looks like the Windows kernel, the system’s USB and network drivers, and other core system files now require the instruction as of Windows 11 24H2.

In modern x86 CPUs, POPCNT is implemented as part of the SSE4 instruction set. For Intel’s chips, it was added as part of SSE4.2 in the original first-generation Core architecture, codenamed Nehalem. In AMD’s processors, it’s included in SSE4a, first used in Phenom, Athlon, and Sempron CPUs based on the K10 architecture. These architectures date back to 2008 and 2007, respectively.

That effectively bars mid-2000s Intel Core 2 Duo systems and early Athlon 64-era PCs from booting Windows 11 at all, not that they officially supported it in the first place. This means the change should mainly affect retro-computing enthusiasts who spend their days making YouTube videos in the “we installed Windows 11 on a potato, let’s see how it runs” genre rather than users of actual systems. Even if you upgraded these PCs with 4 or 8GB of RAM and changed out the creaky old hard drives for SSDs, these are not PCs that will run Windows 10, Windows 11, or any modern apps particularly well.

These same retro-computing enthusiasts may also find a way around this requirement eventually. Windows 10 and 11 won’t boot on systems without SSE2 support, for example, but that hasn’t stopped people from finding a way to do it anyway.

Though Windows 11’s system requirements suggest CPU clock speed and the amounts of RAM and storage your PC has, system requirements in the modern era have become more granular and esoteric. For example, it seems as though Windows 11’s CPU requirement (an 8th-gen Intel Core CPU or newer, or an AMD Ryzen 2000-series CPU or newer) is driven at least partly by support for “mode-based execution control” (MBEC), a security feature that accelerates some of the operating system’s memory integrity protections. No CPU manufacturer is including stuff like POPCNT or MBEC in their marketing materials, but modern Windows support is increasingly dictated by these kinds of features.

Listing image by Microsoft

Windows 11 24H2 goes from “unsupported” to “unbootable” on some older PCs Read More »

judge-tosses-big-pharma-suit-claiming-drug-price-negotiation-is-unconstitutional

Judge tosses Big Pharma suit claiming drug price negotiation is unconstitutional

Astrazeneca, drug pricing, health, medicare, Pharmaceutical industry, PhRMA, Science / /

tossed —

The judge ruled that the court lacks jurisdiction.

–

Stephen Ubl, president and chief executive officer of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), speaks during a Bloomberg Live discussion in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017.

Enlarge / Stephen Ubl, president and chief executive officer of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), speaks during a Bloomberg Live discussion in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017.

A federal judge in Texas dismissed a lawsuit Monday brought by a heavy-hitting pharmaceutical trade group, which argued that forcing drug makers to negotiate Medicare drug prices is unconstitutional.

The dismissal is a small win for the Biden administration, which is defending the price negotiations on multiple fronts. The lawsuit dismissed Monday is just one of nine from the pharmaceutical industry, all claiming in some way that the price negotiations laid out in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 are unconstitutional. The big pharmaceutical companies suing the government directly over the negotiations include Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, Novo Nordisk, Merck, and AstraZeneca.

Last month, a federal judge in Delaware heard arguments from AstraZeneca’s lawyers, which reportedly went poorly. AstraZeneca argued that Medicare’s new power to negotiate drug prices violates the company’s rights under the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause. The forced negotiations deprive the company of “property rights in their drug products and their patent rights” without due process, AstraZeneca claimed. But Colm Connolly, chief judge of the US District Court of Delaware, was skeptical of how that could be the case, according to a Stat reporter who was present for the hearing. Connolly noted that AstraZeneca doesn’t have to sell drugs to Medicare. “You’re free to do what you want,” Connolly reportedly said. “You may not make as much money.”

At a later point, Connolly bluntly commented: “I don’t find their argument compelling.”

Though the plaintiffs in the now-dismissed Texas also made an argument based on the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause, the case didn’t make it that far. US District Judge David Ezra in Austin, Texas, dismissed the case brought by one of the case’s three plaintiffs, saying the court lacked jurisdiction. And, because that one plaintiff is the only one based in the Western District of Texas, where the lawsuit was filed, he dismissed the case completely.

The three plaintiffs in the case were PhRMA, a powerful drug industry trade group representing high-profile drug makers, including Pfizer, GSK, Eli Lilly, and Sanofi; the Global Colon Cancer Association (GCCA); and the Texas-based National Infusion Center Association (NICA). Lawyers for the Biden administration filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that NICA is not a proper plaintiff.

Ezra found that for NICA to bring constitutional claims against Medicare’s price negotiations in a court, it is first required under federal rules to bring those claims through an administrative review process under the Medicare Act or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Without a prior administrative review, the court has no jurisdiction.

“The Court lacks jurisdiction over NICA’s claims because the claims here ‘arise under’ the Medicare Act and the claims do not fall under the exception carved out for when claims may completely avoid judicial or administrative review. Therefore, NICA’s claims are dismissed without prejudice,” Ezra wrote in his ruling.

And, with the one Texas-based plaintiff, NICA, knocked out of the case, the Western Texas district is now the “improper venue” for a case brought by the remaining two plaintiffs, PhRMA and GCCA.

Ezra noted that in such situations, a judge can transfer the case to a court that would be considered a proper venue. But Ezra declined, noting that neither the plaintiffs nor defendants suggested a proper venue. And, even if they did, it likely wouldn’t matter, Ezra reasoned, because PhRMA and GCCA also haven’t gone through an administrative review.

“[T]he same federal jurisdictional defect likely exists for PhRMA and GCCA, as nothing suggests that either party has presented its claims to the [Health] Secretary,” Ezra wrote.

Ezra dismissed the case “without prejudice,” meaning the claims could be refiled. A spokesperson for PhRMA told FiercePharma: “We are disappointed with the court’s decision, which does not address the merits of our lawsuit, and we are weighing our next legal steps.”

Meanwhile, the first round of Medicare drug price negotiations is underway. Earlier this month, the federal government sent out its opening offers in the price negotiation process for the first 10 drugs selected. The bargaining will continue through the coming months, with an ending deadline of August 1, 2024. The prices will go into effect at the beginning of 2026.

Judge tosses Big Pharma suit claiming drug price negotiation is unconstitutional Read More »

apple’s-imessage-is-not-a-“core-platform”-in-eu,-so-it-can-stay-walled-off

Apple’s iMessage is not a “core platform” in EU, so it can stay walled off

Apple, beeper, beeper mini, brendan carr, Digital Markets Act, European Union, FCC, federal communications commission, iMessage, IPhone, messaging, Policy, SMS, Tech / /

Too core to fail —

Microsoft’s Edge browser, Bing search, and ad business also avoid regulations.

–

Apple Messages in a Mac dock

Getty Images

Apple’s iMessage service is not a “gatekeeper” prone to unfair business practices and will thus not be required under the Fair Markets Act to open up to messages, files, and video calls from other services, the European Commission announced earlier today.

Apple was one of many companies, including Google, Amazon, Alphabet (Google’s parent company), Meta, and Microsoft to have its “gatekeeper” status investigated by the European Union. The iMessage service did meet the definition of a “core platform,” serving at least 45 million EU users monthly and being controlled by a firm with at least 75 billion euros in market capitalization. But after “a thorough assessment of all arguments” during a five-month investigation, the Commission found that iMessage and Microsoft’s Bing search, Edge browser, and ad platform “do not qualify as gatekeeper services.” The unlikelihood of EU demands on iMessage was apparent in early December when Bloomberg reported that the service didn’t have enough sway with business users to demand more regulation.

Had the Commission ruled otherwise, Apple would have had until August to open its service. It would have been interesting to see how the company would have complied, given that it provides end-to-end encryption and registers senders based on information from their registered Apple devices.

Google had pushed the Commission to force Apple into “gatekeeper status,” part of Google’s larger campaign to make Apple treat Android users better when they trade SMS messages with iPhone users. While Apple has agreed to take up RCS, an upgraded form of carrier messaging with typing indicators and better image and video quality, it will not provide encryption for Android-to-iPhone SMS, nor remove the harsh green coloring that particularly resonates with younger users.

Apple is still obligated to comply with the Digital Markets Act’s other implications on its iOS operating system, its App Store, and its Safari browser. The European Union version of iOS 17.4, due in March, will offer “alternative app marketplaces,” or sideloading, along with the tools so that those other app stores can provide updates and other services. Browsers on iOS will also be able to use their own rendering engines rather than providing features only on top of mobile Safari rendering. Microsoft, among other firms, will make similar concessions in certain areas of Europe with Windows 11 and other products.

While it’s unlikely to result in the same kind of action, Brendan Carr, a commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission, said at a conference yesterday that the FCC “has a role to play” in investigating whether Apple’s blocking of the Beeper Mini app violated Part 14 rules regarding accessibility and usability. “I think the FCC should launch an investigation to look at whether Apple’s decision to degrade the Beeper Mini functionality… was a step that violated the FCC’s rules in Part 14,” Carr said at the State of the Net policy conference in Washington, DC.

Beeper Mini launched with the ability for Android users to send fully encrypted iMessage messages to Apple users, based on reverse-engineering of its protocol and registration. Days after its launch, Apple blocked its users and issued a statement saying that it was working to stop exploits and spam. The blocking and workarounds continued until Beeper announced that it was shifting its focus away from iMessage and back to being a multi-service chat app, minus one particular service. Beeper’s experience had previously garnered recognition from Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

Ars has reached out to Apple, Microsoft, and Google for comment and will update this post if we receive responses.

Apple’s iMessage is not a “core platform” in EU, so it can stay walled off Read More »

encrypted-email-service-skiff-gets-acquired,-will-shut-down-in-six-months

Encrypted email service Skiff gets acquired, will shut down in six months

Tech / /

You are no longer needed —

Skiff users will lose their @skiff.com email addresses, need to export data ASAP.

–

The Skiff email app.

Enlarge / The Skiff email app.

Skiff, an encrypted email and productivity startup, is being acquired and shut down by another productivity suite company, Notion. Skiff users have just six months before their email and all other data are wiped out. If you set up forwarding before the shutdown date, Skiff says it will keep forwarding your email to another service for the next year.

Skiff’s website has been replaced with the purchase notice and a link to a data migration page, which says, “We will be closing down Skiff’s product suite after a 6-month sunset period.” Acquisitions happen all the time, but in this case, there will be no transfer or continuation of service over to Notion. Users will lose their @skiff.com email address and all data will be deleted, so export your mail soon. Skiff has export services available at https://app.skiff.com/dashboard/?settingTab=export.

Losing your email address can be a nightmare, as it can feel almost impossible to chase down every service you’ve tied to your account. Based on the pile of posts inundating Skiff’s account on X, Skiff users seem pretty upset by the move. The main page of skiff.com doesn’t even mention the impending shutdown. A sign-off reads, “We look forward to continuing to serve you,” so it’s easy to assume that the service will keep running.

You only learn about the impending shutdown after scrolling down, clicking the small “migrate your data” link at the bottom of the page, and opening the first FAQ answer. In the fourth paragraph, you finally learn about the six-month warning. Burying the lede under all the self-congratulatory acquisition news makes Skiff users look like a disposable afterthought.

After receiving complaints, Skiff responded by saying, “We deeply apologize for the inconveniences caused,” and the company will now keep email forwarding running “through 2025 for one year going forward.” Skiff was a public service for just two years and had 2 million users; it was seen by some as a growing competitor to services like Proton Mail. Skiff started at $0 per month but had several premium plans that added more storage, email addresses, and custom domains for $3–$12 per month.

Skiff had raised $14 million from various big-name venture capital investors like Sequoia Capital, Alphabet chairman John Hennessy, and Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang. Publicly, the company is committed to users and privacy, but those VCs needed a return on their investment. Notion doesn’t have the privacy focus that Skiff had, so that whole idea seems dead.

Notion started as a note-taking app that competed with products like Evernote but now seems to be acquiring its way into offering a full-blown productivity suite. The company has a calendar app, a docs app, a wiki editor, an AI chatbot, and project management software. With Skiff, there will now presumably be an email service, putting Notion pretty close to Google Workspace or Office 365.

Encrypted email service Skiff gets acquired, will shut down in six months Read More »

more-on-the-apple-vision-pro

More on the Apple Vision Pro

Apple / /

Previously: On the Apple Vision Pro

The reviews are coming in. What say the people, other than the complaining about the two to three hour battery life?

Then later I’ll get to my own thoughts after the demo.

Ben Thompson reviews the Apple Vision Pro. He continues to find it a technical marvel, but is ultimately disappointed for uses other than entertainment. There is no support for multiple users beyond a highly unwieldy guest mode. There is insufficient width of coverage and inability to support multiple large screens, which is severely limiting to productivity. The eye tracking is a huge improvement over earlier attempts but not ready for such applications.

Ben anticipates that Apple will fail over time to evolve the product to support the things that would enable it to be a killer productivity app, which is what he was most excited about. He loves it for movies and watching sports (and presumably television), especially if new offerings support its features, but especially when the device is hard to share the $3,500 price tag is a tough sell.

Ben frames this as an intentional trade-off to maximize the entertainment experience. I do not get this claim. I see no reason the Vision Pro could not in the future support the entertainment experience it offers now, while also offering a distinct productivity experience that allows streaming multiple screens and using more precise controls and letting you use an iPhone or iPad as an additional control panel and navigation guide.

Andrej Karpathy offers his thoughts on the Vision Pro. Amazingly great in some ways, jank in other ways, including overly long setup. Several complaints here gave me hope, since they are concerns that won’t much matter over time, either you get through it or it gets fixed. Device weight is clearly a major issue. The review was essentially saying this is a device that will be great but has not yet handled the last mile.

Vanity Fair on why Tim Cook bet on the Apple Vision Pro, I would not call it ‘all-in’ since Apple will be fine no matter what. A strange article, worried about future versions being essentially too good. Like Thompson’s review, makes clear that the entertainment mode is well ahead of the productivity mode, although its motives lie elsewhere. The anecdote about having trouble finding apps after moving rooms is telling.

Aaron Slodov says ‘it’s amazing and this is the future’ as he moves objects around a room.

Senior Editior Devindra Hardawar of EnGadget calls it ‘beta testing the future.’ Her first warning is of eye strain. Her second is to not even think of buying one unless you are either a developer or an Apple fanatic. Her view is this is the beta, the real version will come a few years later. For now, it’s buggy, heavy, has a very short battery life and lacks native apps. She does find the interface intuitive and easy, and she praises both the ability to watch movies and the Mac integration.

She also notes the iPad Steam Link app works, so yes you can play at least many games on it. Similarly, it seems Sony’s Remote Play app will work for casting a PlayStation. For a Nintendo Switch and full portability, you will need to do more work, with a video capture card with HDMI input and then a USB-C output for the Vision Pro.

ZdNet’s Matthew Miller tried it for a workday. He recommends sticking to MacOS apps (what happened to ‘programs’?) because iPad ones aren’t ready yet, notes that you will need a Bluetooth keyboard to do any real work in practice, finds the ‘personas’ unplayable in practice, and found it hard to do productivity while traveling because of movement constraints and the lenses fogging up. He notes Microsoft’s apps (Word, Excel and so on) work but are currently bare bones.

He thinks it can work for those whose workflows only have 1-3 apps or content creators. He also oddly mentions day traders, from my experience trading no way in hell, you want precision above all, if you are tempted to day trade with the Vision Pro I am going to tell you to quit day trading.

Their editor-in-chief Jason Hiner says try it for yourself, but most people should pass. Cheaper alternatives are coming or already here, and the ecosystem isn’t ready.

Mark Spoonauer of Tom’s Guide emphasizes how good the device is for watching movies, and likes the spatial video and photos features and ability to view photos in a new light, as well. He doesn’t talk about productivity.

Tim Urban, who like many others keeps having holy smoments with VR devices and then getting disappointed that they are not there yet and not finding sustained worthwhile uses, goes through that cycle once again. He is excited for the future, and finds the present super cool already, but thinks that the costs still exceed benefits for now. He expects that we are soon to be on the part of the development curve, like iPhones 3G to 5, where new models are importantly better and you start to get a lot of additional surplus each cycle.

Sam Altman thinks this is big. Point, counterpoint:

Sam Altman: Vision pro is second most impressive tech since the iPhone.

Peter Wildeford: Disagree, vision pro is the seventh best and the ranking is:

1.) LLMs 2.) CRISPR 3.) mRNA vaccines 4.) semaglutide 5.) Perovskite solar cell 6.) Faster internet 7.) Apple Vision Pro

I have mRNA vaccines at least at #2 here, and I think you can argue #1. Gemini splits LLMs into several discoveries and also suggests EVs, Starlink, self-driving cars, wearable health tech, cloud computing, internet of things, 3D printing, robotics and more. The Apple Vision Pro has potential, but it is hard to put it that high on such a list.

Grimes and derek guy emphasize the importance of aesthetics.

The giant Apple vision Pro is a look. It can be a good look, but if you want that you have to do the work. Which I agree is worth doing if you intend to do this on the regular. Also, she’s in Tokyo, so double cyberpunk points all around.

derek guy: Aesthetically, this is basically how you have to dress to make things like the Vision Pro and Cybertruck look cool. These things mainly look bad in public because there’s no congruity between the business casual gear most ppl wear and these futuristic designs.

Grimes: Good aesthetics are a moral good and directly related to the health of society.

The difference this woman and me? She makes this look good.

So what about my experience? On Thursday, I had the chance to do the demo at the Apple Store at Grand Central. It is about a 20 minute experience, with an employee walking you through various things they want to show off. You can try a few things, but your freedom of movement is highly limited in every sense, and there is no time for you to play around, although they will answer your questions.

There was an attempt to sell me the device, but he didn’t press when I made it clear it was a no on putting down $4k on the spot.

Like most others, I was impressed and disappointed, inspired and frustrated.

The great stuff is really great. The hardware itself is amazing. A true marvel. Visuals are off the charts. All the issues are about the software, and of course the price, except for questions of weight and battery life.

The killer app right now is as a video screen. If you want to watch movies or television, this is a damn good, movie theater level experience. Top notch, and a lot of customization, although I couldn’t make it quite as big as I would have liked during the demo. They didn’t show us the Apple TV+ theater experience, but I assume that is great. If I was richer I would buy purely for this.

The native software support is not there for all the uses of that screen. They will hook up your Mac, but they will not make it easy for your PC, PlayStation or Switch. The good news is there are workarounds.

But why not make this native? If you are selling me a four thousand dollar screen, let me use it with whatever I want, and do not make me work for it, this is 2024.

There are native games, but Apple did not even try to demo those. I assume they are not exciting yet, and Apple historically hates fun anyway.

The sound is very good natively, but it does leak a bit. They said you can use any headphones with it, and that even the big Bose-style ones can physically work, so that part looks good. I would appreciate the ability to watch things without disturbing those around me. For audio-only, of course, this is massive overkill.

Even better than a video screen were the panoramas, the full 180-degree experiences. The moment of being in the ballpark was fantastic. However, in order to get value, these have to be supported. There is no sign that anyone plans to actually offer MLB or other games in this mode. If and when they do for the Mets, if this is the only way to get that service and the additional costs aren’t too obscene, I think this would put me over the top. Going out to the ballgame is pretty great.

The other immersive environments also looked great, and I would love if we had lots of designed media experiences like that. It would be ten times better if you could meaningfully move around as well. There is a version of this, that is presumably coming within the decade, that will be worth paying a lot to get if necessary.

The special photos and personal video shots are nice, but not vital or killer apps.

The other killer app people mention is Mac integration, but that was not available during the demo.

Reading a book via Kindle seemed highly viable, including highlighting, but is it better than reading on a phone or tablet? My guess is no.

Playing board games with other humans via Tabletop Simulator, or playing Magic: The Gathering against someone who is not there, or other similar activities? Yes, please. That too could be the killer app for me. First they have to get there. For now, you can chat with someone’s avatar, but that is a totally different thing than simulating being in the same location.

What about productivity?

The virtual keyboard is password-entry only. They only track at most two fingers, so you cannot properly type even if you don’t need keys to do so. Effectively this is much slower than on a phone. You can dictate if you want, when that would work. It got regular English sentences reliably, as you would expect. For my name it thought I had a very different (and very Asian) name, whoops. You will 100% need a Bluetooth keyboard to do any real work.

The choice of what to include in the demo reveals what Apple thinks are the strong selling points. They lead with photos and personal videos and panoramas and watching movies. They give almost no attention to productivity of any kind, beyond showing you how to scroll through a web page. No mention of help with physical navigation or helping you with activities like cooking or shopping. No mention of AI of any kind, despite some very obvious things you would want to do there.

The navigation system relies on your eyes and their precision. I definitely worry about eye strain, and I had trouble hitting precise targets reliably. Meanwhile, my brain kept trying to use my hand to navigate like a mouse, which is totally supported once you start a movement, but unsupported otherwise. So they have the technology, but have chosen to deploy it differently than I would like.

Similarly, the Guest mechanism right now is rather poor and broken. You have to configure every time, it does not last, all your work gets lost and so on. It would be a big help if they would outright support multiple profiles.

Where I do see potential for productivity, and also for entertainment to shine as well, is while traveling. If you are on an airplane or a train, and you can suddenly work or watch on a real theater screen, that would be a big game. Travel enough and it is well worth paying for that, or it could even enable more travel.

So overall, yes. I see the potential. This could be an insanely great device with proper software support, both from Apple and support from others. Already it is likely a great device for watching movies. For other purposes, the software and ecosystem are not there yet.

I said in my previous post that I expect the Apple Vision Pro is either worth far more than the price, or it is worth very little, but it was unlikely to be something in between.

Could this still be a dud? Absolutely. What I do not expect is something I’d have been happy to pay $500 or $1,000 for, but not $3,500. Either the game will be changed, or it won’t be changed quite yet. I can’t wait to find out.

What I neglected to think about was the possibility that it would be a great device for narrow use cases, while not being good enough for other uses cases.

In this case, That One Killer App that I am confident in, right now, is as a way to watch movies. Also television or YouTube or other video, potentially, but especially movies where you want to give your full attention and they are designed for the biggest possible screen.

Meanwhile, it is plausible that the other uses are still stuck at zero value until they get a lot better, given the costs of the mode shift involved, the extent to which Apple is protecting its ecosystem, and the potential isolation effects.

It is also plausible they are not zero value at all. I can see a MacBook Air plus a Vision Pro being very good for productivity, and I can see a lot of value in gaming as well. And if they ever get the sports panoramas online, we’re golden.

If you are buying an at-home movie theater level experience, including watching other things if they are high enough resolution to support that, what is that worth on its own?

So here we are, where I know I would pay $1,000 for the device, but am unsure whether I am willing to pay approximately $5,000, on the assumption that this implies being willing to also buy a MacBook Air.

What say you, dear readers? Should I take the plunge?

And what about you? Will you take the plunge?

More on the Apple Vision Pro Read More »

ai-cannot-be-used-to-deny-health-care-coverage,-feds-clarify-to-insurers

AI cannot be used to deny health care coverage, feds clarify to insurers

AI, algorithm, Artificial Intelligence, CMS, health, healthcare, humana, medicare advantage, NaviHealth, nH Predict, Science, unitedhealth / /

On Notice —

CMS worries AI could wrongfully deny care for those on Medicare Advantage plans.

–

A nursing home resident is pushed along a corridor by a nurse.

Enlarge / A nursing home resident is pushed along a corridor by a nurse.

Health insurance companies cannot use algorithms or artificial intelligence to determine care or deny coverage to members on Medicare Advantage plans, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) clarified in a memo sent to all Medicare Advantage insurers.

The memo—formatted like an FAQ on Medicare Advantage (MA) plan rules—comes just months after patients filed lawsuits claiming that UnitedHealth and Humana have been using a deeply flawed, AI-powered tool to deny care to elderly patients on MA plans. The lawsuits, which seek class-action status, center on the same AI tool, called nH Predict, used by both insurers and developed by NaviHealth, a UnitedHealth subsidiary.

According to the lawsuits, nH Predict produces draconian estimates for how long a patient will need post-acute care in facilities like skilled nursing homes and rehabilitation centers after an acute injury, illness, or event, like a fall or a stroke. And NaviHealth employees face discipline for deviating from the estimates, even though they often don’t match prescribing physicians’ recommendations or Medicare coverage rules. For instance, while MA plans typically provide up to 100 days of covered care in a nursing home after a three-day hospital stay, using nH Predict, patients on UnitedHealth’s MA plan rarely stay in nursing homes for more than 14 days before receiving payment denials, the lawsuits allege.

Specific warning

It’s unclear how nH Predict works exactly, but it reportedly uses a database of 6 million patients to develop its predictions. Still, according to people familiar with the software, it only accounts for a small set of patient factors, not a full look at a patient’s individual circumstances.

This is a clear no-no, according to the CMS’s memo. For coverage decisions, insurers must “base the decision on the individual patient’s circumstances, so an algorithm that determines coverage based on a larger data set instead of the individual patient’s medical history, the physician’s recommendations, or clinical notes would not be compliant,” the CMS wrote.

The CMS then provided a hypothetical that matches the circumstances laid out in the lawsuits, writing:

In an example involving a decision to terminate post-acute care services, an algorithm or software tool can be used to assist providers or MA plans in predicting a potential length of stay, but that prediction alone cannot be used as the basis to terminate post-acute care services.

Instead, the CMS wrote, in order for an insurer to end coverage, the individual patient’s condition must be reassessed, and denial must be based on coverage criteria that is publicly posted on a website that is not password protected. In addition, insurers who deny care “must supply a specific and detailed explanation why services are either no longer reasonable and necessary or are no longer covered, including a description of the applicable coverage criteria and rules.”

In the lawsuits, patients claimed that when coverage of their physician-recommended care was unexpectedly wrongfully denied, insurers didn’t give them full explanations.

Fidelity

In all, the CMS finds that AI tools can be used by insurers when evaluating coverage—but really only as a check to make sure the insurer is following the rules. An “algorithm or software tool should only be used to ensure fidelity,” with coverage criteria, the CMS wrote. And, because “publicly posted coverage criteria are static and unchanging, artificial intelligence cannot be used to shift the coverage criteria over time” or apply hidden coverage criteria.

The CMS sidesteps any debate about what qualifies as artificial intelligence by offering a broad warning about algorithms and artificial intelligence. “There are many overlapping terms used in the context of rapidly developing software tools,” the CMS wrote.

Algorithms can imply a decisional flow chart of a series of if-then statements (i.e., if the patient has a certain diagnosis, they should be able to receive a test), as well as predictive algorithms (predicting the likelihood of a future admission, for example). Artificial intelligence has been defined as a machine-based system that can, for a given set of human-defined objectives, make predictions, recommendations, or decisions influencing real or virtual environments. Artificial intelligence systems use machine- and human-based inputs to perceive real and virtual environments; abstract such perceptions into models through analysis in an automated manner; and use model inference to formulate options for information or action.

The CMS also openly worried that the use of either of these types of tools can reinforce discrimination and biases—which has already happened with racial bias. The CMS warned insurers to ensure any AI tool or algorithm they use “is not perpetuating or exacerbating existing bias, or introducing new biases.”

While the memo overall was an explicit clarification of existing MA rules, the CMS ended by putting insurers on notice that it is increasing its audit activities and “will be monitoring closely whether MA plans are utilizing and applying internal coverage criteria that are not found in Medicare laws.” Non-compliance can result in warning letters, corrective action plans, monetary penalties, and enrollment and marketing sanctions.

AI cannot be used to deny health care coverage, feds clarify to insurers Read More »

these-states-are-basically-begging-you-to-get-a-heat-pump

These states are basically begging you to get a heat pump

heat pump, Policy, Science, syndication / /

feel the heat —

Nine states are teaming up to accelerate adoption of this climate-friendly device.

–

Thermal imaging of two heat pumps and fan units, showing red and orange areas with elevated temperatures.

Death is coming for the old-school gas furnace—and its killer is the humble heat pump. They’re already outselling gas furnaces in the US, and now a coalition of states has signed an agreement to supercharge the gas-to-electric transition by making it as cheap and easy as possible for their residents to switch.

Nine states have signed a memorandum of understanding that says that heat pumps should make up at least 65 percent of residential heating, air conditioning, and water-heating shipments by 2030. (“Shipments” here means systems manufactured, a proxy for how many are actually sold.) By 2040, these states—California, Colorado, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island—are aiming for 90 percent of those shipments to be heat pumps.

“It’s a really strong signal from states that they’re committed to accelerating this transition to zero-emissions residential buildings,” says Emily Levin, senior policy adviser at the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM), an association of air-quality agencies, which facilitated the agreement. The states will collaborate, for instance, in pursuing federal funding, developing standards for the rollout of heat pumps, and laying out an overarching plan “with priority actions to support widespread electrification of residential buildings.”

Instead of burning planet-warming natural gas, a heat pump warms a building by transferring heat from the outdoor air into the interior space. Run it in the opposite direction, and it can cool the inside of a building—a heat pump is both a heater and AC unit. Because the system is electric, it can run off a grid increasingly powered by renewables like wind and solar. Even if you have to run a heat pump with electricity from fossil-fuel power plants, it’s much more efficient than a furnace, because it’s moving heat instead of creating it.

A heat pump can save an average American household over $550 a year, according to one estimate. They’ve gotten so efficient that even when it’s freezing out, they can still extract warmth from the air to heat a home. You can even install a heat pump system that also warms your water. “We really need consumers to move away from dirty to clean heat, and we really want to get the message out that heat pumps are really the way to go,” says Serena McIlwain, Maryland’s secretary of the environment. “We have homeowners who are getting ready to replace their furnaces, and if they’re not aware, they are not going to replace it with a heat pump.”

The coalition’s announcement comes just months after the federal government doubled down on its own commitment to heat pumps, announcing $169 million in funding for the domestic production of the systems. That money comes from 2022’s Inflation Reduction Act, which also provides an American household with thousands of dollars in rebates or tax credits to switch to a heat pump.

These states are aiming to further collaborate with those heat pump manufacturers by tracking sales and overall progress, sending a signal to the industry to ramp up production to meet the ensuing demand. They’ll also collaborate with each other on research and generally share information, working toward the best strategies for realizing the transition from gas to electric. Basically, they’re pursuing a sort of standardization of the policies and regulations for getting more heat pumps built, bought, and installed, which other states outside of the coalition might eventually tap into.

“A consistent approach between states helps to ease the market transition,” says Matt Casale, senior manager of appliance standards at the Building Decarbonization Coalition, which is collaborating with the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management. “There are all of these manufacturers, and all of these contractors, all along the supply chain, trying to plan out their next several years. They want to know: What is it going to look like?”

There’s also the less-talked-about challenge of the green energy revolution: training enough technicians to actually install the heat pumps. To that end, the memorandum calls for workforce development and contractor training. “If we’re pushing heat pumps and more installations, and we don’t have enough electricians to do the job, we’re not going to meet the goal—period,” says McIlwain. “We do need to put a lot of money and energy and resources into making sure that we have the workforce available to do it.”

In addition to the technicians working with the systems, the country needs way more electricians to retrofit homes to go fully electric beyond heat pumps, with solar panels and induction stoves and home batteries. To help there, last year the White House announced the formation of the American Climate Corps, which aims to put more than 20,000 people to work in clean energy and overall climate resilience.

With states collaborating like this on heat pumps, the idea is to lift the device from an obscure technology cherished by climate nerds into ubiquity, for the good of consumers and the planet. “We need to be sending these unmistakable signals to the marketplace that heat pumps and zero-emission homes are the future,” says Casale. “This agreement between this many states really sets the stage for doing that.”

This story originally appeared on wired.com.

These states are basically begging you to get a heat pump Read More »

a-password-manager-lastpass-calls-“fraudulent”-booted-from-app-store

A password manager LastPass calls “fraudulent” booted from App Store

App Store, Apple, Biz & IT, lastpass, Security / /

GREAT PRETENDER —

“LassPass” mimicked the name and logo of real LastPass password manager.

–

A password manager LastPass calls “fraudulent” booted from App Store

Getty Images

As Apple has stepped up its promotion of its App Store as a safer and more trustworthy source of apps, its operators scrambled Thursday to correct a major threat to that narrative: a listing that password manager maker LastPass said was a “fraudulent app impersonating” its brand.

At the time this article on Ars went live, Apple had removed the app—titled LassPass and bearing a logo strikingly similar to the one used by LastPass—from its App Store. At the same time, Apple allowed a separate app submitted by the same developer to remain. Apple provided no explanation for the reason for removing the former app or for allowing the latter one to remain.

Apple warns of “new risks” from competition

The move comes as Apple has beefed up its efforts to promote the App Store as a safer alternative to competing sources of iOS apps mandated recently by the European Union. In an interview with App Store head Phil Schiller published this month by FastCompany, Schiller said the new app stores will “bring new risks”—including pornography, hate speech, and other forms of objectionable content—that Apple has long kept at bay.

“I have no qualms in saying that our goal is going to always be to make the App Store the safest, best place for users to get apps,” he told writer Michael Grothaus. “I think users—and the whole developer ecosystem—have benefited from that work that we’ve done together with them. And we’re going to keep doing that.”

Somehow, Apple’s app vetting process—long vaunted even though Apple has provided few specifics—failed to spot the LastPass lookalike. Apple removed LassPass Thursday morning, two days, LastPass said, after it flagged the app to Apple and one day after warning its users the app was fraudulent.

“We are raising this to our customers’ attention to avoid potential confusion and/or loss of personal data,” LastPass Senior Principal Intelligence Analyst Mike Kosak wrote.

There’s no denying that the logo and name were strikingly similar to the official ones. Below is a screenshot of how LassPass appeared, followed by the official LastPass listing:

The LassPass entry as it appeared in the App Store.

Enlarge / The LassPass entry as it appeared in the App Store.

The official LastPass entry.

Enlarge / The official LastPass entry.

Here yesterday, gone today

Thomas Reed, director of Mac offerings at security firm Malwarebytes, noted that the LassPass entry in the App Store said the app’s privacy policy was available on bluneel[.]com, but that the page was gone by Thursday, and the main page shows a generic landing page. Whois records indicated the domain was registered five months ago.

There’s no indication that LassPass collected users’ LastPass credentials or copied any of the data it stored. The app did, however, provide fields for users to enter a wealth of sensitive personal information, including passwords, email and physical addresses, and bank, credit, and debit card data. The app had an option for paid subscriptions.

A LastPass representative said the company learned of the app on Tuesday and focused its efforts on getting it removed rather than analyzing its behavior. Company officials don’t have information about precisely what LassPass did when it was installed or when it first appeared in the App Store.

The App Store continues to host a separate app from the same developer who is listed simply as Parvati Patel. (A quick Internet search reveals many individuals with the same name. At the moment, it wasn’t possible to identify the specific one.) The separate app is named PRAJAPATI SAMAJ 42 Gor ABD-GNR, and a corresponding privacy policy (at psag42[.]in/policy.html) is dated December 2023. It’s described as an “application for Ahmedabad-Gandhinager Prajapati Samaj app” and further as a “platform for community.” The app was also recently listed on Google Play but was no longer available for download at the time of publication. Attempts to contact the developer were unsuccessful.

There’s no indication the separate app violates any App Store policy. Apple representatives didn’t respond to an email asking questions about the incident or its vetting process or policies.

A password manager LastPass calls “fraudulent” booted from App Store Read More »

sony-is-erasing-digital-libraries-that-were-supposed-to-be-accessible-“forever”

Sony is erasing digital libraries that were supposed to be accessible “forever”

anime, culture, Sony, streaming / /
one piece

A shot from One Piece, one of the animes that Funimation made DVDs for.

How long is “forever”? When it comes to digital media, forever could be as close as a couple of months away.

Funimation, a Sony-owned streaming service for anime, recently announced that subscribers’ digital libraries on the platform will be unavailable after April 2. For years, Funimation had been telling subscribers that they could keep streaming these digital copies of purchased movies and shows, but qualifying it: “forever, but there are some restrictions.”

Funimation’s parent company, Sony, bought rival anime streaming service Crunchyroll in 2021. Since then, it was suspected that Sony would merge the offerings together somehow. This week, we learned how, as Funimation announced that its app and website would close on April 2, and Funimation accounts will become Crunchyroll accounts. Most of Funimation’s catalog is already on Crunchyroll, Funimation’s announcement claimed.

But in addition to offering video streaming, Funimation also dubbed and released anime as physical media, and sometimes those DVDs or Blu-rays would feature a digital code. Subscribers to the Funimation streaming service could add those digital codes to Funimation and then stream the content from the platform.

With Funimation claiming that customers could access these digital copies “forever,” I could see why someone might have thought this was a reliable way to access their purchased media. For people lacking the space, resources, or interest in maintaining a library of physical media, this was a good way to preserve treasured shows and movies without spending more money. It also provided a simple way to access purchased media online if you were, for example, away on a trip and had a hankering to watch some anime DVDs you bought.

But soon, people who may have discarded or lost their physical media or lack a way to play DVDs and Blu-rays won’t have a way to access the digital copies that they were entitled to through their physical copy purchase.

Funimation’s announcement says:

Please note that Crunchyroll does not currently support Funimation Digital copies, which means that access to previously available digital copies will not be supported. However, we are continuously working to enhance our content offerings and provide you with an exceptional anime streaming experience. We appreciate your understanding and encourage you to explore the extensive anime library available on Crunchyroll.

Regarding refunds, Funimation’s announcement directed customers to its support team “to see the available options based on your payment method,” but there’s no mention of getting money back from a DVD or Blu-ray that you might not have purchased had you known you couldn’t stream it “forever.”

Sony is erasing digital libraries that were supposed to be accessible “forever” Read More »

plex,-where-people-typically-avoid-hollywood-fees,-now-offers-movie-rentals

Plex, where people typically avoid Hollywood fees, now offers movie rentals

culture, Hollywood, Movie rentals, Plex, plex media server, streaming is just cable now, streaming media, streaming services, Tech / /

Streaming is just cable again, Ch. 27 —

Users have one more place to turn when their usual options don’t pan out.

–

Movie rental offerings on Plex platform

Enlarge / Because sometimes your friend Tim, the one with all the legal media, is having server issues, but it’s movie night and the popcorn is already made.

Plex

Plex, the media center largely known as a hub for TV and movies that you and your friends obtained one way or another, now lets you pay for movie rentals. It’s both a convenient way to watch movies without having to hunt across multiple services, and yet another shift by Plex to be closer to the mainstream.

Plex’s first set of available films is more than 1,000 titles, with some notable recent-run offerings: Barbie, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Wonka, PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, and so forth. As is typical of digital rentals, you have 30 days to start watching a movie and then 48 hours to finish it.

Prices at the moment range from $3.99 to $5.99. Conveniently, movies you rent on one platform can be played on any other. Even on Apple devices, or, as Plex puts it, “devices that don’t allow direct rentals on their platform.” Rentals are only available in the US, however.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Develop an audience of paying movie renters on a platform not exactly known for paid media.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it: Develop an audience of paying movie renters on a platform not exactly known for paid media.

Plex

Interestingly, Plex doesn’t offer movie purchases, and there is a reason why. Plex CEO Keith Valory told TechCrunch that a purchase option “creates some additional wrinkles—now you’ve got to keep this locker for people long-term and does that really make sense [for us]?” It’s true that platforms brokering purchases between users and media conglomerates can find themselves in awkward spots, like Sony almost having deleted all Discovery content bought by PlayStation users. That kind of scenario is also, of course, the kind of thing that initially made Plex appealing to people with their own content to store.

Plex had originally planned to offer media rentals as far back as 2020 but shifted priorities when the pandemic, and its seismic shift toward streaming, gave it new targets. As a company, Plex pivoted to becoming a kind of collector of streaming services so that when you wanted to watch something, you could head to Plex and head out from there. It has previously added free ad-supported streaming of TV and movies to its platform, along with support for over-the-air antenna TV.

In that view of Plex, movie rentals make total sense; you might see that Apple TV+ or Disney+ subscribers can see a certain movie for free, but rather than set up a new cancellation reminder on your calendar, you can just pay one time and watch it.

For lots of Plex users, however, movie rentals are likely to be something nice to have, if not essential. The service today serves as a refuge from app-switching, unreliable media availability, and rapidly escalating subscription prices. It can play your own legally rendered backups of media you rightfully own, or it can connect you to friends or superusers who have… a huge number of legally rendered backups of media they rightfully own.

Given a choice, however, Plex users might be glad to throw their fancy-coffee-plus-tip rental fees to Plex rather than any one streaming silo just to keep the service funded and updated.

Plex, where people typically avoid Hollywood fees, now offers movie rentals Read More »

what-would-an-xbox-without-console-exclusives-even-look-like?

What would an Xbox without console exclusives even look like?

console wars, exclusives, gaming, Halo, microsoft, PlayStation, ps5, rumor, Sony / /
The world's most expensive domino set.

Enlarge / The world’s most expensive domino set.

Aurich Lawson

It’s been a busy time in the Xbox rumor mill of late. Last weekend, the Verge reported that Microsoft was considering launching a version of Bethesda’s upcoming Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on PlayStation 5, alongside plans to port last year’s Hi-Fi Rush to other consoles. That same weekend, Xbox Eras published more lightly sourced rumors suggesting that prominent Xbox exclusive Starfield would be getting a PS5 port.

While Microsoft hasn’t directly commented on these reports, Xbox chief Phil Spencer wrote on social media that Microsoft is “planning a business update event for next week, where we look forward to sharing more details with you about our vision for the future of Xbox.”

The churning rumor mill has set off something of an existential crisis among some Xbox superfans, content creators, and influencers, who are worried that Microsoft is planning to essentially abandon their favored console. “Genuinely feel terrible for convincing my sister to get an Xbox instead of a PS5,” XboxYoda posted in a representative social media take. “Like I actually feel like I let her down… .”

“If you like being lied to that’s a you thing,” social media user XcloudTimdog posted. “I have a set of standards, that’s all. Cross them and, well, I respond.”

These and other more apocalyptic reactions might seem like hyperbolic whining from territorial console misanthropes. But they also have the germ of a point. Exclusive games have long been the primary way console makers argue for players to choose their console over the competition. If Microsoft effectively changes that argument in the middle of the current console generation, Xbox owners will have some legitimate reason to be upset.

A world without Xbox exclusives

To see why, start with a simple thought experiment. Say it’s early 2020 and Microsoft announces that it is abandoning the idea of console exclusives entirely. Upcoming Xbox Game Studios titles like Halo Infinite and Starfield would still be released on the upcoming Xbox Series X/S, of course, but they’d also all see equivalent versions launch on the PS5 (and sometimes the Switch) on the same day. Sony does not respond in kind and keeps major franchises like God of War and Spider-Man exclusive to the PS5.

Spider-Man 2 on the same console?” height=”427″ src=”https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Starfield_03_ExploringPlanets-800-1024×683-1-640×427.jpg” width=”640″>

Enlarge / You mean I could have visited this planet and played Spider-Man 2 on the same console?

In this hypothetical world, convincing someone to buy an Xbox becomes much more difficult. On the one hand, you have a PlayStation console that can play all of the major big-budget games published by both Microsoft and Sony. On the other, you have an Xbox that doesn’t have access to the significant Sony half of that gaming equation.

There are other reasons you might still consider an Xbox in this world. Maybe you think the reduced price of the Xbox Series S delivers more “bang for the buck.” Maybe you prefer the Xbox controller layout or some of Xbox’s system-level OS features. Maybe you’re convinced cross-platform games will look or play better on Microsoft’s machine.

But in the console market, these kinds of concerns often take a back seat to the prospect of a system’s exclusive games and franchises. The biggest exclusive titles are called “system sellers” for a reason—they’re the games that make many gamers plunk down hundreds of dollars on hardware just for the possibility of spending more on this must-have software.

In this hypothetical, Microsoft would essentially be trying to sell the Xbox without any exclusive system sellers.

What would an Xbox without console exclusives even look like? Read More »

some-calif.-cops-still-sharing-license-plate-info-with-anti-abortion-states

Some Calif. cops still sharing license plate info with anti-abortion states

automated license plate readers, California, First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, license plate data, license plate info, Location Data, location tracking, Online Privacy, police associations, Policy, rob bonta / /
Some Calif. cops still sharing license plate info with anti-abortion states

Dozens of California police agencies are still sharing automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with out-of-state authorities without a warrant, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has revealed. This is occurring despite guidance issued by State Attorney General Rob Bonta last year.

Clarifying a state law that limits state public agencies to sharing ALPR data only with other public agencies, Bonta’s guidance pointed out that “importantly,” the law’s definition of “public agency” “does not include out-of-state or federal law enforcement agencies.”

Bonta’s guidance came after EFF uncovered more than 70 California law enforcement agencies sharing ALPR data with cops in other states, including anti-abortion states. After Bonta clarified the statute, approximately half of these agencies told EFF that they updated their practices to fall in line with Bonta’s reading of the law. Some states could not verify that the practice had ended yet, though.

In a letter to Bonta, EFF praised the guidance as protecting Californians’ privacy but also flagged more than 30 police agencies that either expressly rejected Bonta’s guidance or else refused to confirm that they’ve stopped sharing data with out-of-state authorities. EFF staff attorney Jennifer Pinsof told Ars that it’s likely that additional agencies are also failing to comply, such as agencies that EFF never contacted or that recently acquired ALPR technology.

“We think it is very likely other agencies in the state remain out of compliance with the law,” EFF’s letter said.

EFF is hoping that making Bonta aware of the ongoing non-compliance will end sharing of highly sensitive location data with police agencies in states that do not provide as many privacy protections as California does. If Bonta “takes initiative” to enforce compliance, Pinsof said that police may be more willing to consider the privacy risks involved, since Bonta can “communicate more easily with the law enforcement community” than privacy advocates can.

However, even Bonta may struggle, as some agencies “have dug their heels in,” Pinsof said.

Many state police agencies simply do not agree with Bonta’s interpretation of the law, which they claim does allow sharing ALPR data with cops in other states. In a November letter, a lawyer representing the California State Sheriffs’ Association, California Police Chiefs Association, and California Peace Officers’ Association urged Bonta to “revisit” his position that the law “precludes sharing ALPR data with out-of-state governmental entities for legitimate law enforcement purposes.”

The cops argued that sharing ALPR data with cops in other states assists “in the apprehension and prosecution of child abductors, narcotics traffickers, human traffickers, extremist hate groups, and other cross-state criminal enterprises.”

They told Bonta that the law “was not designed to block law enforcement from sharing ALPR data outside California where the information could be used to intercede with criminal offenders moving from state to state.” As they see it, cooperation between state authorities is “absolutely imperative to effective policing.”

Here’s where cops say the ambiguity lies. The law defines public agency as “the state, any city, county, or city and county, or any agency or political subdivision of the state or a city, county, or city and county, including, but not limited to, a law enforcement agency.” According to cops, because the law does not “specifically refer to the State of California” or “this state,” it could be referring to agencies in any state.

“Had the legislation referred to ‘a State’ rather than ‘the State,’ there would be no debate about whether sharing was prohibited,” the police associations’ letter said. “We see no basis to read such a limitation into the legislation based on the word ‘the’ rather than ‘a.'”

The police associations also reminded Bonta that the California Legislature considered passing a bill that would have explicitly “prohibited the out-of-state sharing of ALPR information” with states interfering with “the right to seek abortion services” but “rejected it.” They told Bonta that “the Legislature’s refusal to adopt a position consistent with the position” he is “advancing is troubling.”

EFF said that California police can still share ALPR data with out-of-state police in situations permitted by law, like when out-of-state cops have a “warrant for ALPR information based on probable cause and particularity.” Instead, EFF alleged that cops are “dragnet sharing through commercial cloud storage systems” without warrants, which could be violating Californians’ right to privacy, as well as First and Fourth Amendment rights.

EFF urged Bonta to reject the police associations’ “crabbed interpretation” of the statute, but it’s unclear if Bonta will ever respond. Pinsof told Ars that Bonta did not directly respond to EFF’s initial investigation, but the guidance he later issued seemed to suggest that he got EFF’s message.

Police associations and Bonta’s office did not respond to Ars’ request to comment.

Some Calif. cops still sharing license plate info with anti-abortion states Read More »