Critics argue the new framework, which comes into force Aug. 1, doesn't go far enough, that consumer protections are not strong enough and that the possibility of blanket surveillance from U.S. agencies remains. Concerns over data transfers had been stoked by the spying revelations made by Edward Snowden. Snowden's revelations prompted the complaint to the court from Max Schrems, an Austrian law student. "This deal is bad for users, which will not enjoy proper privacy protections..." he said.   read more

“Absent a search warrant,” wrote the judge, “the government may not turn a citizen’s cellphone into a tracking device.” Lawyer Nathan Wessler said the ruling was the first by a federal judge to suppress evidence obtained through the warrantless use of a cell-site simulator. “A federal court has finally held the authorities to account,” Wessler said, adding that the opinion “strongly reinforces the strength of our constitutional privacy rights in the digital age.”   read more

While some deported veterans believe they earned citizenship by signing up for military service, others were misinformed. "That's one of the greatest tragedies of this. People didn't realize that they weren't already a citizen," Pasquarella said. "I think that the fact that a veteran who serves in our armed forces and goes to fight our wars could come home from service and then be deported is news to most Americans. I think most Americans would be shocked to learn that that is happening."   read more

Plumbing the reasons behind the woeful numbers, the Pew researchers found -- no surprise, really -- that this year's presidential contest is widely viewed as being excessively negative with little, if any focus on the concerns of real Americans. Just 27% of voters feel the campaign is "focused on important policy debates." Large numbers of supporters of both Trump and Clinton view their choice as more of a vote against the opposing candidate than an expression of support for their candidate.   read more

The Bahamas on Friday issued a rare travel advisory for any of its citizens visiting the U.S., recommending that young men in particular take care in cities affected by recent tensions over police shootings. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs warns visitors to "exercise appropriate caution" in light of recent episodes involving police officers and black men. "In particular young males are asked to exercise extreme caution... Do not be confrontational and cooperate," said the statement.   read more

Police arrest more than 1.2 million people a year in the U.S. on charges of illegal drug possession. Field tests help them move quickly from suspicion to conviction. But the kits are far from reliable. The tests seem simple, but a lot can go wrong. Some use a chemical which turns blue when exposed to cocaine. But it also turns blue when exposed to more than 80 other compounds, including certain acne medications and common household cleaners.   read more

“This isn’t an estimate, this is the answer,” said the VA's Dr. Shulkin. Hardest hit were young veterans. The suicide rate for vets age 18-29 was 86 deaths per 100,000 for men and 33 per 100,000 for women — much higher than previous estimates, and almost twice as high as other age groups. Women were also disproportionately hit. Though female vets commit suicide at lower rates than males, those under 30 are more than six times as likely to take their own lives as women in the civilian world.   read more

The misconduct involved psychiatrists seducing the emotionally fragile; doctors fondling minors; anesthesiologists molesting sedated patients; obstetricians raping women. They include some of the country's most accomplished physicians, including the doctor for a basketball franchise, the president of a medical society, and pioneering researchers. The scale and scope of misdeeds varied from lewd comments during intimate exams, to rapes of mentally and physically disabled patients.   read more

The DEA has been ordered to release a list of other government agencies that use the so-called Hemisphere Project—a secret program started in 2007 in which the U.S. government collects data on nearly four billion telephone calls a day. However, the bulk of the requested documents sought by privacy group Electronic Privacy Information Center —including other possible private corporations besides AT&T that cooperate with the government on the program— remain under lock and key.   read more

The groups said they documented 19 coalition attacks involving internationally banned cluster munitions, including in civilian areas. The rights groups argued that if Saudi Arabia is found guilty of war crimes, the U.S. could be complicit because it provides airstrike targeting information as part of its support for the Saudi-led coalition. A U.S. State Department spokesman would not comment on allegations of potential U.S. complicity in war crimes in Yemen.   read more

Drug coupons are a clever marketing tactic increasingly used by pharmaceutical companies for a counterintuitive purpose: to keep drug prices high. By forgoing or reducing patients’ payments for pricier brand-name drugs, they ensure more sales for which insurers foot the bulk of the bill. In essence, it’s a war between two big industries trying to maximize their bottom lines: insurers vs. drug manufacturers. Patients, who often have no clue which drug is best, are stuck in the middle.   read more

The White House is to disclose the casualties with numbers indicating an estimated 100 civilians have been inadvertently killed by 500 drone strikes since 2009. Reprieve claims Obama's previous drone statements have been proven false even by the U.S. government's own internal documents. "But more importantly, it has to be asked what bare numbers will mean if they omit even basic details such as the names of those killed and the areas, even the countries, they live in," said Reprieve.   read more

President Barack Obama signed into law Thursday measures to give the public greater access to government documents and records under the nearly half-century-old Freedom of Information Act. The new law will require federal agencies to consider releasing records under a “presumption of openness” standard, instead of presuming that the information is secret. Supporters say the shift will make it harder for agencies to withhold information.   read more

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) paid Romania “millions of dollars” to host secret prisons, a rights lawyer said Wednesday as the European Court of Human Rights heard accusations that Romania allowed the agency to torture terrorism suspects in a secret renditions program under President George W. Bush.   read more

Monday’s 5-3 ruling, striking down strict regulations on Texas abortion clinics, is the court’s most significant abortion ruling in more than 20 years and likely to reverberate well beyond the state’s borders. Justice Breyer rejected arguments that the Texas law was needed to safeguard women, saying the state had “no significant health-related [abortion] problem for the new law to cure.” He added that states may not unduly burden the ability of women to exercise their rights under Roe.   read more

The theft, involving millions of dollars of weapons, highlights the messy, unplanned consequences of programs to arm and train rebels — the kind of program the C.I.A. and Pentagon have conducted for decades. The theft and resale of the arms have led to a flood of new weapons available on the black arms market. A disparate collection of groups, including criminal networks and rural Jordanian tribes, use the arms bazaars to build their arsenals.   read more