The Markup
@themarkup.org
Challenging technology to serve the public good.
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The Markup
@themarkup.org
· Jun 17
We caught 4 more states sharing personal health data with Big Tech – The Markup
Healthcare exchanges in Nevada, Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island shared users’ sensitive health data with companies like Google and LinkedIn
themarkup.org
NEW: State healthcare sites around the country have been quietly sending sensitive user data to Google and LinkedIn. themarkup.org/pixel-hunt/2...
[email protected]’s “On Borrowed Time,” series explores why there is so much mistrust among Black folks toward the organ donation process. Experts break down the top questions about how the transplant system works — and why equity matters. 1/6
November 20, 2025 at 10:12 PM
[email protected]’s “On Borrowed Time,” series explores why there is so much mistrust among Black folks toward the organ donation process. Experts break down the top questions about how the transplant system works — and why equity matters. 1/6
Keeping up with students’ methods of cheating has always been a cat-and-mouse game for teachers. But some now say that AI tools, particularly Google Lens, have made it impossible to enforce academic integrity in the classroom. themarkup.org/artificial-i...
📸 iStock
📸 iStock
November 11, 2025 at 12:44 AM
Keeping up with students’ methods of cheating has always been a cat-and-mouse game for teachers. But some now say that AI tools, particularly Google Lens, have made it impossible to enforce academic integrity in the classroom. themarkup.org/artificial-i...
📸 iStock
📸 iStock
A new California law could change how all Americans control their data when using the internet, according to experts. Here’s what it does:
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November 7, 2025 at 10:35 PM
A new California law could change how all Americans control their data when using the internet, according to experts. Here’s what it does:
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In July 2022, the United Network for Organ Sharing prohibited transplant hospitals from using race-based eGFR calculations. But many physicians and hospital systems are fighting to keep race-adjusted algorithms. https://bit.ly/4he6pUC
📝 @wordinblacknews.bsky.social
📝 @wordinblacknews.bsky.social
October 20, 2025 at 12:59 PM
In July 2022, the United Network for Organ Sharing prohibited transplant hospitals from using race-based eGFR calculations. But many physicians and hospital systems are fighting to keep race-adjusted algorithms. https://bit.ly/4he6pUC
📝 @wordinblacknews.bsky.social
📝 @wordinblacknews.bsky.social
Millions of people across the United States are expected to take part in “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration Saturday. Whether you’re going to protest, counter-protest or just watch, here are some simple steps to take to prepare your phone https://bit.ly/3JaiGwG
How Do I Prepare My Phone for a Protest? – The Markup
Simple steps to take before hitting the streets
bit.ly
October 17, 2025 at 8:37 PM
Millions of people across the United States are expected to take part in “No Kings” protests against the Trump administration Saturday. Whether you’re going to protest, counter-protest or just watch, here are some simple steps to take to prepare your phone https://bit.ly/3JaiGwG
As of March 2025, there are 42 risk calculators, 15 medications, five medical devices, five lab test results, and one therapy recommendation that still use race and ethnicity to some capacity in medical decision making. https://bit.ly/4he6pUC
📝 @wordinblacknews.bsky.social
📝 @wordinblacknews.bsky.social
October 17, 2025 at 6:30 PM
As of March 2025, there are 42 risk calculators, 15 medications, five medical devices, five lab test results, and one therapy recommendation that still use race and ethnicity to some capacity in medical decision making. https://bit.ly/4he6pUC
📝 @wordinblacknews.bsky.social
📝 @wordinblacknews.bsky.social
The eGFR, or estimated glomerular filtration rate, is an equation that estimates the percentage of kidney function someone has. For Black people, doctors would increase the value by a few points, simply based on race. https://bit.ly/4he6pUC
📝 @wordinblacknews.bsky.social
📸 Rita Harper
📝 @wordinblacknews.bsky.social
📸 Rita Harper
October 16, 2025 at 4:00 PM
The eGFR, or estimated glomerular filtration rate, is an equation that estimates the percentage of kidney function someone has. For Black people, doctors would increase the value by a few points, simply based on race. https://bit.ly/4he6pUC
📝 @wordinblacknews.bsky.social
📸 Rita Harper
📝 @wordinblacknews.bsky.social
📸 Rita Harper
Former and current high school students in Kansas are speaking out about Gaggle, an AI-powered surveillance tool that their school used to scan everything from emails to reporting notes to college entrance essays, reports the @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
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AI safety tool sparks student backlash after flagging art as porn, deleting emails
The tool, called Gaggle, uses artificial intelligence to search student documents for signs of unsafe behavior, such as substance abuse or threats of violence.
www.washingtonpost.com
October 9, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Former and current high school students in Kansas are speaking out about Gaggle, an AI-powered surveillance tool that their school used to scan everything from emails to reporting notes to college entrance essays, reports the @washingtonpost.com www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
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This week, @stateline.org reported on how a Biden-era project to expand high-speed broadband to rural regions is being significantly changed by the Trump administration, disqualifying hundreds of thousands of locations from access: stateline.org/2025/09/22/w...
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Fewer households, businesses will get high-speed internet under revamped federal plan • Stateline
Tens of thousands of homes and businesses without internet access will not receive it.
stateline.org
September 26, 2025 at 10:55 PM
This week, @stateline.org reported on how a Biden-era project to expand high-speed broadband to rural regions is being significantly changed by the Trump administration, disqualifying hundreds of thousands of locations from access: stateline.org/2025/09/22/w...
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Black Americans made up more than a quarter of the national transplant list, yet they are far less likely to receive the organs they need to survive. They also account for just 13% of donors. Why?
Word in Black has a short survey on barriers to donation: https://bit.ly/41C3RJg
Word in Black has a short survey on barriers to donation: https://bit.ly/41C3RJg
We Want to Hear From You on Organ Donation
Take our short survey to help identify barriers, inform policy, and ensure our community has a fair chance at life-saving transplants.
bit.ly
September 4, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Black Americans made up more than a quarter of the national transplant list, yet they are far less likely to receive the organs they need to survive. They also account for just 13% of donors. Why?
Word in Black has a short survey on barriers to donation: https://bit.ly/41C3RJg
Word in Black has a short survey on barriers to donation: https://bit.ly/41C3RJg
Earlier this month, the @nytimes.com revealed that Uber received a report of sexual assault or sexual misconduct in the U.S. almost every eight minutes on average between 2017 and 2022. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/b...
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Uber’s Festering Sexual Assault Problem
www.nytimes.com
August 22, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Earlier this month, the @nytimes.com revealed that Uber received a report of sexual assault or sexual misconduct in the U.S. almost every eight minutes on average between 2017 and 2022. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/b...
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Dozens of companies are hiding how you can delete your personal data, The Markup and CalMatters found. After our reporters reached out for comment, multiple companies have stopped the practice.
We caught companies making it harder to delete your personal data online – The Markup
Dozens of companies are hiding how you can delete your personal data, The Markup and CalMatters found. After our reporters reached out for comment, multiple companies have stopped the practice.
themarkup.org
August 15, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Dozens of companies are hiding how you can delete your personal data, The Markup and CalMatters found. After our reporters reached out for comment, multiple companies have stopped the practice.
Data brokers are required by California law to provide ways for consumers to request their data be deleted. But good luck finding them.
We caught companies making it harder to delete your personal data online – The Markup
Dozens of companies are hiding how you can delete your personal data, The Markup and CalMatters found. After our reporters reached out for comment, multiple companies have stopped the practice.
themarkup.org
August 13, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Data brokers are required by California law to provide ways for consumers to request their data be deleted. But good luck finding them.
Have you ever posted support for Palestine on Instagram, and then saw engagement on your subsequent posts drop? Last year, we published an investigation that found the platform demoted images of the war, deleted captions without warning, and denied users the option to appeal.
Demoted, Deleted, and Denied: There’s More Than Just Shadowbanning on Instagram – The Markup
An investigation by The Markup found that the platform demoted images of the Israel–Hamas war, deleted captions without warning, and denied users the option to appeal
themarkup.org
August 6, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Have you ever posted support for Palestine on Instagram, and then saw engagement on your subsequent posts drop? Last year, we published an investigation that found the platform demoted images of the war, deleted captions without warning, and denied users the option to appeal.
California lawmakers want to ban companies from using data about consumers’ devices like battery life, model and geolocation to set fluctuating prices. Proponents say such “surveillance pricing” is discriminatory. bit.ly/45AErhq
📝 @mayacmiller.bsky.social
📝 @mayacmiller.bsky.social
CA could ban use of consumer location data to set prices – The Markup
A proposed bill would bar companies from using data like a phone’s battery life, what apps are installed and where its user is to set prices.
themarkup.org
August 5, 2025 at 6:02 PM
California lawmakers want to ban companies from using data about consumers’ devices like battery life, model and geolocation to set fluctuating prices. Proponents say such “surveillance pricing” is discriminatory. bit.ly/45AErhq
📝 @mayacmiller.bsky.social
📝 @mayacmiller.bsky.social
California State Sen. Aisha Wahab's SB 259 would prevent retailers from using artificial intelligence to jack up prices using the information stored on customers’ phones. That could include the phone’s battery life, whether it’s an older model and more: bit.ly/45AErhq
📝 @mayacmiller.bsky.social
📝 @mayacmiller.bsky.social
CA could ban use of consumer location data to set prices – The Markup
A proposed bill would bar companies from using data like a phone’s battery life, what apps are installed and where its user is to set prices.
bit.ly
August 5, 2025 at 2:35 PM
California State Sen. Aisha Wahab's SB 259 would prevent retailers from using artificial intelligence to jack up prices using the information stored on customers’ phones. That could include the phone’s battery life, whether it’s an older model and more: bit.ly/45AErhq
📝 @mayacmiller.bsky.social
📝 @mayacmiller.bsky.social
As colleges further embed ChatGPT and other chatbots into campus life, experts warn lost relationships may become a devastating unintended consequence. themarkup.org/artificial-i...
AI is helping students be more independent, but the isolation could be career poison – The Markup
Chatbots may give students quick answers when they have questions, but they won’t help students form relationships that matter for college and life success.
themarkup.org
August 1, 2025 at 5:57 PM
As colleges further embed ChatGPT and other chatbots into campus life, experts warn lost relationships may become a devastating unintended consequence. themarkup.org/artificial-i...
Remember that time when you had to sign a bunch of consent forms on a hospital iPad, with no idea what you are agreeing with? Digitizing paperwork could sometimes make it harder to opt out of data sharing or simply accessing your own records. themarkup.org/hello-world/...
During my kid’s surgery, I was denied a copy of my consent form — then sent to a ghost office – The Markup
Help us understand the challenges patients face opting out of voluntary uses of their data, or getting access to their records.
themarkup.org
July 31, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Remember that time when you had to sign a bunch of consent forms on a hospital iPad, with no idea what you are agreeing with? Digitizing paperwork could sometimes make it harder to opt out of data sharing or simply accessing your own records. themarkup.org/hello-world/...
The technical blueprint obtained by ProPublica shows that engineers at the agency are preparing to give DHS what it wants: a system that enables massive automated data sharing.
By @propublica.org: www.propublica.org/article/trum...
By @propublica.org: www.propublica.org/article/trum...
The IRS Is Building a Vast System to Share Millions of Taxpayers’ Data With ICE
ProPublica has obtained the blueprint for the Trump administration’s unprecedented plan to turn over IRS records to Homeland Security in order to speed up the agency’s mass deportation efforts.
www.propublica.org
July 29, 2025 at 6:00 PM
The technical blueprint obtained by ProPublica shows that engineers at the agency are preparing to give DHS what it wants: a system that enables massive automated data sharing.
By @propublica.org: www.propublica.org/article/trum...
By @propublica.org: www.propublica.org/article/trum...
Is your home police department partnering with ICE? Find out: themarkup.org/tools/2025/0...
Here’s Every Local Police Agency Enforcing for ICE – The Markup
Partnerships more than doubled during the first months of Trump's current term under a program known as 287(g)
themarkup.org
July 29, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Is your home police department partnering with ICE? Find out: themarkup.org/tools/2025/0...
During her toddler’s surgery, a researcher wanted copies of the consent forms she just signed, but the staff was preventing her from getting it. What followed was a maze of refusals, misinformation, and dead ends that exposed just how broken the process really is themarkup.org/hello-world/...
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During my kid’s surgery, I was denied a copy of my consent form — then sent to a ghost office – The Markup
Help us understand the challenges patients face opting out of voluntary uses of their data, or getting access to their records.
themarkup.org
July 23, 2025 at 7:01 PM
During her toddler’s surgery, a researcher wanted copies of the consent forms she just signed, but the staff was preventing her from getting it. What followed was a maze of refusals, misinformation, and dead ends that exposed just how broken the process really is themarkup.org/hello-world/...
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While most agree there should be consequences for youth offenders, there’s less consensus about what those consequences should be — and a push for reeducation over extreme charges. themarkup.org/artificial-i...
Kids are making deepfakes of each other, and laws aren’t keeping up – The Markup
Schools and lawmakers are grappling with how to address a new form of peer-on-peer image-based sexual abuse that disproportionately targets girls.
themarkup.org
July 22, 2025 at 7:57 PM
While most agree there should be consequences for youth offenders, there’s less consensus about what those consequences should be — and a push for reeducation over extreme charges. themarkup.org/artificial-i...
Cal Fire said it’s working on the fixes, but experts said the process of kicking the tires on a chatbot should happen long before procurement begins.
California's fire protection agency made an AI chatbot. It can’t answer one crucial question – The Markup
The bot fails at some basic questions about fires. Cal Fire says it is working on fixes.
themarkup.org
July 18, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Cal Fire said it’s working on the fixes, but experts said the process of kicking the tires on a chatbot should happen long before procurement begins.
Students don’t have the same incentives to talk to their professors or even their classmates anymore — Instead, they are asking AI for help. What could go wrong? themarkup.org/artificial-i...
AI is helping students be more independent, but the isolation could be career poison – The Markup
Chatbots may give students quick answers when they have questions, but they won’t help students form relationships that matter for college and life success.
themarkup.org
July 17, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Students don’t have the same incentives to talk to their professors or even their classmates anymore — Instead, they are asking AI for help. What could go wrong? themarkup.org/artificial-i...
While some states have developed penal codes that factor a perpetrator’s age into their punishment, most do not. themarkup.org/artificial-i...
Kids are making deepfakes of each other, and laws aren’t keeping up – The Markup
Schools and lawmakers are grappling with how to address a new form of peer-on-peer image-based sexual abuse that disproportionately targets girls.
themarkup.org
July 16, 2025 at 3:18 PM
While some states have developed penal codes that factor a perpetrator’s age into their punishment, most do not. themarkup.org/artificial-i...