Fans attending this year’ Australian Open (AO) tennis tournament must agree to be monitored by facial recognition cameras, under a new clause added to the Grand Slam’s terms and conditions. “By entering the tournament site,” says a report in The Age, “patrons acknowledge that security cameras which ‘may incorporate facial recognition technology’ will be used in order to ‘enhance security and patron safety’.” The terms and conditions specify that the latter includes, “without limitation, to assist in identifying and denying entry to, or ejecting, persons who have been removed or denied entry to the AO under these conditions (including persons who M&OP and TA reasonably believe it is in the best interests of the safety, security or integrity of the AO to do so), for other law enforcement purposes and contact tracing.” https://www.biometricupdate.com/202501/australian-open-gets-wicket-face-biometrics-for-express-entry

The Biden administration is expected to issue an executive order instructing U.S. federal agencies to work towards adopting mobile driver’s licenses (mDLs) and other forms of digital identity. Nextgov/FCW has seen a draft of the executive order, and notes expectations that it will be signed by President Biden this week. Deputy National Security Director for Cybersecurity and Emerging Technology Anne Neuberger said publicly that an executive action on cybersecurity has been in the works for months. The draft order instructs the Social Security Administration to consider offering attribute validation services, providing a yes or no response to queries for identity verification to government systems and benefits programs. Such services could replace those offered by data brokers and credit bureaus. https://www.biometricupdate.com/202501/us-executive-order-on-mobile-drivers-licenses-expected-this-week

The Supreme Court of British Columbia dismissed a petition by Clearview AI to overturn an order of the Information and Privacy Commissioner, barring the company from collecting face biometrics of individuals in the province without gaining their consent. It orders Clearview to “make best efforts to cease the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information collected from individuals in British Columbia without their consent.” https://www.biometricupdate.com/202501/canadian-court-upholds-clearview-biometric-data-ban

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Curly Dock Chocolate Chip Cookies Yes, I made chocolate chip cookies using curly dock seed flour! Of course there was more to it than that, when you learn to cook with wild provisions, there's always more to it. This is a great recipe to have if don't or can't have eggs in the house, don't or can't have milk in the house, and you still want a cookie! If you can't have gluten either due to glyphosate sensitivities (such as chron's or colitis), you can try the alternative flour the original author recommends in addition to the curly dock. The author also suggests that if you want to reduce the fat (something no longer recommended due to the body's use of dietary fat to create the various hormones your body uses, nerve health, etc) you can replace a quarter cup of fat with apple sauce and reduce some of the water as well. I have made applesauce cake and cake muffins in the past, so I know this can work with regular flour, I haven't tried it with wild flour yet. Click through for the recipe and the experiment that successfully led to it: https://naturalhealthgodsway.ca/2025/01/08/curly-dock-chocolate-chip-cookies/

With the New Year kicking in, the City of Ottawa reminded the plebs that new idling times for all automobiles on private or public land were now in effect: Ottawa is the Canadian capital, where average temperatures range from -9C (15F) in December, -14C (6F) in January and Febuary, to -7C (19F) in March. The new time limits on pre-heating your car will allow one minute of idle time per hour for unoccupied vehicles. That means using the remote starter to melt off the ice and warm the car up before piling into it for the morning commute is now verboten. It’ll also mean you’ll have to get out there in the -14C weather with your ice-scraper because there’s no way a minute of idle time is enough to defrost or de-ice your windshield. https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2025-01-04/ottawa-outlaws-remote-car-starters-save-climate

2024 was an Amazing Year! We could also call it "The Year of Expansion"! Selling our teas by the cup this year was a major hit! Sales of our teas went so well over the course of 2024, that we are doing our first ever Top Five Tea Report!!! We are now looking at our calendar and figuring out just how much more foraging will need to be done to prepare for the fairs we want to attend this year! As it is, some of our ingredients got dangerously low that we harvested last year, which may mean putting various limited-run teas on our table if the growing season starts out slow again. Do keep an eye on our web calendar. There are a number of fairs pencilled in offline that will begin appearing once they are registered for. We were asked multiple times about advanced foraging workshops, which will be headed up by Marilynn from her Biblical Natural Health Coaching website, if this interests you, drop her a line at bnhc@naturalhealthcoaching.ca and she'll send you the draft list that you can share your feedback and months you'd like to attend. Various homeschooling parents have also shown interest in our introductory foraging workshop as well. If those interest you too, send an email to Marilynn as well. We have a feeling that 2025 is going to be a busy year for Ashtree Wildcrafting! We wish you the best of health this year, and look forward to seeing you in person at a fair or event. Click through to read the full report and see a few pics: https://ashtreewildcrafting.ca/wp/blog/2025/01/04/2024-year-in-review/

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has launched a new biometric border management app it calls ReportIn that allows permanent residents, foreign nationals, and refugee claimants to meet reporting obligations remotely. This includes individuals who must report to border agents while awaiting deportation or final decisions on their immigration status in Canada. CBSA’s ReportIn app is similar to U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) also relatively new CBP One app, in that both apps aim to enhance efficiency in immigration processes and overall border security. However, both apps also present strikingly similar privacy and civil rights concerns. https://www.biometricupdate.com/202412/reportin-and-cbp-one-a-tale-of-two-biometric-border-apps

🚨 Putain de merde. Les juifs guatémaltèques qui pratiquent le trafic d'enfants ont essayé de kidnapper à nouveau les 160 enfants qui leur avaient été enlevés par les autorités guatémaltèques. « Les autorités guatémaltèques ont résisté aux efforts déployés par les membres d’une secte juive pour récupérer 160 enfants sauvés de leurs locaux. Dimanche, des membres de la secte ont fait irruption dans un centre d'accueil où [les enfants] étaient détenus pour tenter de les récupérer, ce qui a donné lieu à des échauffourées avec la police. La secte accuse les autorités guatémaltèques de persécution religieuse. https://x.com/realstewpeters/status/1871347827881787470

Andrew N. Ferguson is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to head the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). If approved by the Republican-controlled Senate, his selection could indicate an inclination by the incoming Trump administration to deprioritize FTC rulemaking and enforcement activities related to data privacy and AI. This also could indicate a broader regulatory philosophy that emphasizes legislative action over administrative rulemaking. Ferguson’s stated regulatory philosophy and strategic priorities, if implemented as FTC chair, would have profound implications for industry and consumers. Critics argue that this shift would mean that critical privacy issues will be given short shrift as technologies like AI and data analytics rapidly evolve and outpace regulatory schema. https://www.biometricupdate.com/202412/will-trumps-pick-to-lead-the-ftc-halt-privacy-rulemaking-ai-enforcement