A county in Washington inadvertently released nearly half a million partial Social Security Numbers when responding to a routine public records request in December, according to county officials. The Pierce County Auditor’s Office, which mistakenly released the sensitive data, said in a news release that the human error was quickly spotted and that the…
Investigators on Thursday released the identity of the person who was shot and killed by law enforcement officers who were trying to clear protesters camping at the site of a planned Atlanta-area public safety training center that opponents have dubbed “Cop City.” Manuel Esteban Paez Teran, 26, was shot and killed Wednesday morning, according…
The South Carolina insurance department director has extended the life of the state windstorm association’s expanded coverage area for another two years. In a bulletin posted last week, Acting Director Michael Wise renewed the expanded territory, as allowed by law. The South Carolina Hail and Wind Underwriting Association, commonly known as the Wind Pool, includes…
Juul Labs Inc. won preliminary approval of a settlement aimed at resolving thousands of lawsuits targeting the e-cigarette maker as a major cause of a US youth-vaping epidemic. U.S. District Judge William Orrick said on Friday the deal to settle almost 10,000 lawsuits filed by local governments across the US seemed to be “fair…
A company, Allstate Corp plans to tap the pool of recently fired tech workers to help the insurer overhaul its business. The company—best known for auto and home policies—is investing in technology including artificial intelligence and telematics, which sets premiums based on customers’ driving habits, to help it tap new clients and markets. Massive…
Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued fines in December totaling $55,500 against insurance companies, producers, brokers, and individuals who violated state insurance laws and regulations. See list of insurance companies that were fined LifeWise Assurance Co., Mountlake Terrace, Wash.; fined $25,000 LifeWise didn’t provide the required transparency tools for student insurance plans, failed to…
The Texas Windstorm Insurance Associated (TWIA) board of directors voted Thursday to authorize broker Gallagher Re to pursue $2.92 billion in reinsurance for the 2023 storm season. The TWIA board also voted to establish $4.5 billion as the 1:100 probable maximum loss for this year’s storm season. The reinsurance in addition to TWIA’s $2.28…
Countless artists have taken inspiration from “The Starry Night” since Vincent Van Gogh painted the swirling scene in 1889. Now artificial intelligence systems are doing the same, training themselves on a vast collection of digitized artworks to produce new images you can conjure in seconds from a smartphone app. The images generated by tools…
U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile said on Thursday it was investigating a data breach involving 37 million postpaid and prepaid accounts and that it expected to incur significant costs related to the incident. The company said it identified malicious activity on January 5 and contained it within a day, adding that no sensitive data such…
Copper is all around us. Metal is both ever-present and invisible in our world. Copper makes reading the words on this screen possible. And the global spread of artificial light, electric power and telecommunications all required ever-increasing quantities of copper. Where does all of this copper come from? How was it produced, distributed, controlled,…
