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Michigan Votes to Require Warrants for Police to Seize and Search Digital Devices
Michigan votes to require warrants for police to seize and search digital devices:
Voters in the US state of Michigan have decided that searches of laptop, phones, and associated electronic data will require a search warrant going forward.
Michigan Proposal 20-2 to require a search warrant to access a person's electronic data and electronic communications passed overwhelmingly, with 88.7 percent (nearly four million people) voting "yes," and only 11.3 percent voting "no."
At the same time, the proposal amends the Michigan Constitution to bring the existing protections from unlawful and unreasonable searches of homes, documents, and other personal possessions up to date, and include electronic data and communications on people's devices.
The goal of Proposal 2 was to make sure the new rules explicitly state a private citizen's electronic data is equally protected, thus removing any vagueness and various interpretations. Currently, law enforcement must have a warrant before searching a home and somebody's personal belongings, including papers and other items, but electronic versions of these stored on devices like phones and laptops are not mentioned in the language of the legal solutions that far predate the technological transformation of society.
Massachusetts Voters Approve Ballot Expanding Open Repair Data in Blow to Auto Industry
Massachusetts voters approve ballot expanding open repair data in blow to auto industry:
(Reuters) - Voters in Massachusetts on Tuesday overwhelmingly passed a ballot measure forcing automakers to provide expanded access to mechanical and electronic repair data and allow independent shops to repair increasingly sophisticated technology.
The decision delivers the first significant win in a fight over who will control the $390 billion U.S. auto data aftermarket in the digital age.
[...] "This referendum...means that despite advances in technology, owners will be able to have their repair data shared directly with their trusted independent shops," Bill Hanvey, president and CEO of the Auto Care Association said in a statement, adding the group worked with cybersecurity experts to ensure privacy during data transfers.
Under the state's ballot measure, approved by 75% of voters, on-board diagnostic and mechanical data will have to be made available via an open-platform app for 2022 vehicle models and beyond.
Four states vote to legalize marijuana.
Arizona, New Jersey, South Dakota and Montana all passed legislation Tuesday permitting the possession of weed by adults, which means 15 states have legalized recreational weed or voted to legalize it.
See more on the story here.
As a life long resident of the red state of South Dakota, I'm glad to see people who need this for medical purposes can have access and the police can spend their time on serious crimes instead of wasting it on recreational marijuana users.
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(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Monday November 09 2020, @04:59PM (1 child)
And we've already done a lot of that.
We've done a rather poor job of it.
1. There's tons of older homes in the US with terrible or non-existent insulation. Adding insulation to an old house isn't cheap, because of labor costs.
1a. Our houses have grown larger and larger, so even with better insulation and windows, our McMansions still require an enormous amount of energy to heat and cool. Doubling efficiency with insulation isn't all that helpful when you triple or quadruple the size of the house.
1b. We could be living in more multi-unit buildings, instead of freestanding houses, but we don't want to do that. It's a lot more energy-efficient to have multiple living units packed into a single building (like a mid-rise condo), because of the smaller building envelope. Not to mention the energy savings from not needing to drive around as much because of better density.
2. Geothermal still isn't used much. It's quite a bit more expensive to install than a regular HVAC unit, so house builders don't bother, and home-buyers don't want to spend more money up-front for less square footage, since that metric ($/s.f.) is the *only* thing that matters to American homebuyers.
3./4. We're not doing this one at all. Even "compact" cars now are over 3000 lbs., and much larger than they were in decades past. But they're hard to sell because everyone wants a huge SUV. Engines are more efficient than they used to be, but it doesn't help when the vehicle weighs twice as much and has the aerodynamics of a brick.
So, no, I don't believe "we've already done a lot of that". The gains we've made have been more than made up for by bigger losses, because we're greedy and always want more.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Monday November 09 2020, @05:11PM
So you claim. The obvious rebuttal are those diminishing returns. And what exactly is wrong with what people want? I certainly would prioritize it over nebulous climate change alarmism, for example.