TechDirt – The Answer (Sadly) Will Not Surprise You – “Clearview’s facial recognition app links to a database of 4 billion pictures. And those photos are linked to all the data that got scraped up with them, culled (without permission) from sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn… pretty much anywhere people post photos and personal information. There’s no opting-out of this collection either, even as Clearview packages and sells access to this scraped data to law enforcement agencies in the US, as well as government agencies in countries known for their human rights abuses. Fun, fun, fun and all just a click away from exploitation by anyone with an account. That includes demo accounts operated by the super-rich and law enforcement officers told to test drive the software by running searches on friends and family members. How much does Clearview gather on the average person? It’s tough to tell. Asking Clearview directly — at least in most of the US — will get you nothing. However, California’s privacy law (the California Consumer Privacy Act) mandates the disclosure of gathered personal data to requesters. That’s what Thomas Smith of OneZero did. And here’s what he got back…”

Republican officials in several states are trying to ban abortion during the coronavirus pandemic to preserve medical supplies.

The New York Times – After an inquiry from Times reporters, Zoom said it would disable a data-mining feature that could be used to snoop on participants during meetings without their knowledge. “For Americans sheltering at home during the coronavirus pandemic, the Zoom videoconferencing platform has become a lifeline, enabling millions of people to easily keep in touch with family members, friends, students, teachers and work colleagues. But what many people may not know is that, until Thursday, a data-mining feature on Zoom allowed some participants to surreptitiously have access to LinkedIn profile data about other users — without Zoom asking for their permission during the meeting or even notifying them that someone else was snooping on them. The undisclosed data mining adds to growing concerns about Zoom’s business practices at a moment when public schools, health providers, employers, fitness trainers, prime ministers and queer dance parties are embracing the platform. An analysis by The New York Times found that when people signed in to a meeting, Zoom’s software automatically sent their names and email addresses to a company system it used to match them with their LinkedIn profiles…”

Hundreds of crew members from the USS Theodore Roosevelt are being quarantined at hotels in the U.S. territory. Some residents say that's putting them at risk.

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Capt. Brett Crozier was relieved of his command of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier after a highly critical letter he wrote to his superiors went public.

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While limited in-person voting will take place on April 7, absentee ballots won't be due to election offices until April 13.

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NPR reached out to the public health departments serving some of the largest cities in the U.S. Most did not have their most current pandemic response plan posted publicly and many were out of date.

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Tennessee has followed neighboring states in ordering residents to remain at home. Tennessee had looser coronavirus restrictions but new data show residents have not adhered to those warnings.

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Henry Paulson, who served during the 2008 financial crisis, says sending money rapidly to people and businesses will be the key to limiting damage to the economy.

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Roughly 10 million people have filed for unemployment in the last two weeks, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. Watch the briefing live.

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The British government is under fire for only testing a tiny percentage of National Health Service staff as deaths from COVID-19 in the United Kingdom quickly rise to nearly 3,000.

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Federal rules had made such donors wait 12 months before donating. That wait is now three months. The coronavirus outbreak has caused donor centers to be closed and blood drives canceled.

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The US is short of ventilators to help Covid-19 patients breathe. Ford, GM, and satellite-launch company Virgin Orbit are trying to fill the gap.

At least 20 refugees in a camp outside Athens have tested positive for COVID-19. Some 60,000 refugees live in camps in Greece, some crammed into tight quarters with little access to water or soap.

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"This virus, which was unknown to us three months ago, has exposed the weaknesses and inequities in our health systems and societies," World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says.

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Ventilators can be lifesaving for some critically ill patients, but they're no panacea. The experience so far with COVID-19 is that the majority of patients put on ventilators don't survive.

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A program in the Democratic Republic of Congo has helped survivors mourn the loss of a loved one to Ebola — and may be relevant for families coping with death in the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Florida relents and will allow a Carnival cruise ship with sick passengers and crew to dock in Fort Lauderdale. The Zaandam has been at sea for weeks after leaving Argentina.

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Usually quiet Israeli government agencies and contractors are going public with their battle against COVID-19.

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