US District Court Judge Karin Immergut has denied a motion to delay the implementation of Ballot Measure 114. Judge Immergut was appointed by President Donald Trump in 2019.

Judge Immergut did agree with the state’s request to delay the permitting process for 30 days -- a process the state assured the court will be ready by Thursday.

According to Kevin Starrett of Oregon Firearms Federation, that will provide no protection for anyone who currently owns a standard capacity magazine or anyone who owns a common shotgun which will now be contraband. It also does nothing for anyone waiting to take possession of a firearm they paid for but have not received, if that gun comes with a standard magazine.

Furthermore, according to Starrett, come Thursday even security guards and off duty police will be breaking the law if they are in possession of a standard magazine.

According to the Opinion and Order produced by the court:

[B]ased on the record before this Court at this early stage in the litigation, this Court finds that Plaintiffs have failed to meet their burden showing that they are entitled to the extraordinary relief they seek. Plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that they will suffer immediate and irreparable harm if this Court does not block Measure 114 from taking effect on December 8, 2022. Plaintiffs have not produced sufficient evidence at this stage to demonstrate a likelihood of success on the merits of their challenge to Measure 114’s restrictions on large-capacity magazines. Plaintiffs have also failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on their facial challenge to Measure 114’s permitting provisions. With respect to any as-applied challenge, Defendants have stated that they are not ready to implement the permitting requirements and have asked this Court to “enter an order providing a limited window in which Oregonians will be able to purchase firearms even though they do not have a permit, while also allowing Oregonians to apply for and be issued permits.” Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ Motion for a TRO, ECF 5, is DENIED

“This is a lengthy and obviously disappointing decision,” said Starrett, “and we will have more information soon. But for now, unless something really unexpected happens, understand that your rights will be, once again, seriously eroded starting Thursday.”

‌
--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2022-12-06 13:26:30

Last Update: 2022-12-06 17:21:51

Over the last three years many were shocked by the heavy-handedness of unelected officials from government bureaucracies such as the Oregon Health Authority and Oregon OSHA. This last week it became apparent that our local government appears willing subvert our free market economy under a small council with two employees.

On November 30th, the Tillamook County Commissioners held a public hearing on Ordinance #88 Business License Fee for Unincorporated Tillamook County. This new fee for businesses outside of cities in the county was so vague in its language that it included definitions such as “‘Doing business’ means to engage in any activity in pursuit of profit, gain, livelihood or any other purpose” [emphasis added]. Worse still was the “Violations and Penalties” section of this ordinance included a “$600.00 for any one offense. . . Each day constituting a separate offence” and “Inspection and Right of Entry.” This means that individuals with home-based businesses believed to be in noncompliance could be forcibly entered by a warrant: Selling firewood or eggs without a license would become a risky business.

Why did the Board of Commissioners consider a hearing on this ordinance? That will have to be answered by the commissioners, but specifically Commissioner Bell. Commissioner Bell sits on the Economic Development Committee of Tillamook County that recommended this ordinance. Reviewing the minutes of the EDCTC back to 2020 reveals Commissioner Bell had primary role in the formation of this ordinance. Bell did not work alone. Bill Sargent, County Counsel, stated during the public hearing that past commissioners refused to hold a hearing for this ordinance. How long has this ordinance been under consideration? That is unclear at this time, due to the amount of documentation that must be obtained and sorted through. What is clear is that in September 2020 Terre Cooper, EDCTC Director, presented this ordinance to the EDCTC Board for drafting.

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Why all the concern about private individuals pursuing economic freedom through various means, many of which are already under multiple state and federal regulatory bodies? Why did Ordinance #88 give the EDCTC the ability to raise fees at any time and be solely responsible for approving licenses and violation fees? How much does the EDCTC need beyond its multiple grants and their $108,000 county budget? According to their website most of their accomplishments include sitting on other bureaucratic boards throughout the county and state and administering small business grants. So young men selling firewood and families selling a litter of puppies in a year need to fund EDCTC staff attendance of Zoom meetings?

Democracy may die in darkness, but economic security dies under the bureaucracy of unelected administrators. The response from the citizenry was sufficient to lay Ordinance #88 to rest temporarily, but it needs to be given a proper burial at sea. Forget a threatening China, communism just came to Tillamook County from the office of an administrator paid by us, rented from our community college.

The second public hearing scheduled for December 14 regarding proposed Ordinance #88 in the matter of a business license fee within unincorporated Tillamook County has been cancelled. Links to Ordinance #88 on the county website to this ordinance are broken.


--April Bailey

Post Date: 2022-12-06 12:46:54

Last Update: 2022-12-06 13:26:30

Several grassroots groups have joined forces to inform Oregon lawmakers of the importance of parental rights for their families. The grassroots coalition is called Unite Oregon Now. According to a press release put out by the group, their mission is to help Oregonians engage more fully with the legislative process regarding issues affecting parental rights.

Legislators are gathering in Salem at the capitol building for Legislative Committee Days this week, December 7-9, 2022. They are preparing for the 2023 long legislative session which begins next month -- January 17 through June 25. The committees will be meeting throughout the three days to discuss topics that may lead to legislation in upcoming sessions, hearing updates on previous bill implementations, hearing reports from state agencies and task forces, and keeping current on the subject areas affecting Oregonians.

The Unite Oregon Now coalition will be offering tours of the capitol building each day during Legislative Days -- Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, December 6-8. Tours will begin a couple short blocks away at the Ike Box coffee shop, 299 Cottage Street NE in Salem, and will start at 11am and 1pm each day. Also from 10:30am-2:00pm at the Ike Box, there will be written materials including schedules showing which committee meetings are most likely to interest people looking to protect parental rights. Breanna Jarmer, Executive Director of Oregonians for Medical Freedom explains, “Sitting in on a relevant committee meeting is a great way to get your feet wet if you haven’t engaged at the capitol before. This is also a fabulous opportunity to meet leaders and members of the grassroots organizations who have been fighting for parental rights and more for years.”

The grassroots coalition consists of: Oregonians For Medical Freedom; Children's Health Defense, Oregon Chapter; Moms For Liberty; Oregon Moms Union; and People's Rights.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2022-12-06 11:07:00

Last Update: 2022-12-06 14:49:14

The Bend, Oregon City Council plans to declare a vacancy on the Council on Jan. 4, 2023, when Melanie Kebler becomes Mayor. Because Kebler was elected as Mayor in the middle of her four-year Council term, her move to the Mayor’s seat vacates the remaining two years of her seat on the Council (Position 1). The Council Position 1 term expires in December 2024.

  The Bend Charter requires that a vacancy on the Council be filled within 30 days of declaring the vacancy by a Council appointment. Council Rules describe the process for filling a vacancy.

In consideration of the timeline, Council started accepting applications on Dec. 2, 2022.  

Applicants can complete an online application and submit a letter of interest which may address such areas as reasons for wanting to serve on the Council, working as a part of a team and representing various areas of the community. A description of the application process and application will be available on the “Council vacancy” tab on the Bend City Council webpage.  

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Applicants can also come to City Hall, 710 NW Wall Street, Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. to fill out an application. Please contact Melissa Mitsch to set up an appointment at 541-388-5505 or by email.

  Completed applications are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. The Council will review the applications then can select candidates for interviews. The Council anticipates conducting interviews the week of January 9 and expects to make an appointment at the regular Council meeting on Wednesday, January 18.

  The Council aims to have the appointment made prior to the start of its goal-setting process, which takes place in late January. Dates, times and locations for all meetings will be available on the City Calendar once scheduled.


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2022-12-05 17:15:19

Last Update: 2022-12-05 17:44:26

According to the Secretary of State’s office, counties have until December 15 to turn in their certified election results. As of this writing, six counties, Crook, Curry, Gilliam, Grant, Lake, Malheur and Wallowa, have submitted certified election results.

The Secretary of State Vote by Mail Procedures Manual includes a schedule for county clerks.

• The first item after the election is to date stamp and forward any returned ballot envelopes misdelivered to the correct Oregon county within 8 days.
• Within 21 days, resolve all signature challenged ballots.
• Before certification, resolve all provisional ballots, and reconcile totals by comparing the number of ballots processed to the return identification ballot envelope counts or computer voter history log for the precinct or batch.
• Within 27 days, file an abstract of votes.
• Within 35 days, electronically transmit to the Secretary of State the results for each contest by precinct, and ballot count report.
• Within 45 days, notify voters of the reason their ballot was not counted including not signed and the ballot postmarked to late or postmarked on time but received too late.

The voter manual timeline gives the county 21 days to notify the elector, and the elector has the same 21 days after election day to make corrections or they will be inactive. How does making a non-responsive elector "inactive" coordinate with not cleaning voter rolls?

• ORS 254.431(b) If the elector does not provide evidence sufficient to disprove a challenge alleging that the signature of the elector on a return identification envelope does not match the signature in the voter registration record for the elector by the 21st calendar day after the date of the election, the registration of the elector shall be considered inactive.

The manual does not include requirements for opening and scanning returned envelopes where the public is allowed to monitor the process. ORS 254.478 allows county clerks to begin opening returned ballots and begin scanning seven days prior to election day. Secretary Fagan took it upon her own authority to bypass statute and extended the law to allow county clerks to begin opening 14 days prior to election day. As she did when she sent out 7,767 ballots to non-registered voters.

Secretary of State Shemia Fagan testified in favor of SB 249, which didn’t pass. She wants to allow ballots to be opened and counted when they are received rather than forcing County Clerks to wait until 7 days before the day of the election. She claims the flexibility will allow County Clerks to avoid a backlog of ballots on election day. Added time after the election day has increased nefarious activities in ballot harvesting. Added count time prior to election day will allow unscrupulous people to direct their activities. This proposal is certain to return in the 2023 legislative session.

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ORS 254.470 (6) requires a ballot to have a “postal indicator showing that the ballot was mailed not later than the date of the election.” The manual suggested the county use a fluorescent scanner, if available. The postmaster at the Airport Distribution Center said their ballots are sprayed with a date code that can be tracked every place it goes. Eugene also uses spray codes, but experienced smudging. Lacking a postal indicator on a returned ballot, the county election clerk is allowed to decide whether it is counted or not. There doesn’t seem to be uniform treatment across the state on the use of spray coding or if counties have fluorescent scanners, or how they treat late returns with no postmark or unreadable postmarks.

General opinion on social media is that Secretary Fagan has created a crisis of confidence. She admits that people received two or more ballots, and she says counties issuing duplicate ballots cross-check with other counties. However, several counties, including Lane County, admit they don’t check with other counties for duplicate votes. Marion and Lane Counties have admitted they can print ballots at will without change of custody.

Secretary Fagan also claims that the ballots involved in lawsuits are held separately, however, county clerks knew nothing about needing to separate ballots. In one county, litigation is being used as an excuse for not releasing counts that also gives opportunity to add ballots. Further, it is an option of the county clerk if a secrecy envelope is included.

Oregon is one of 31 states that allows some kind of ballot harvesting. Most states have restrictions for family members, but there are several like Oregon that have no restriction except they must be turned in within two days, and an election official may not collect ballots. In this 2022 election, Tina Kotek hired 400 ballot harvesters that targeted the Gen-Z generation. Some would say that Oregon is grooming a generation of 30 and under that are activists, but not thinkers.

There is no limit to how imaginative politics can be. For some, Oregon seems to draw on the worst ideas and has been very good at selling them to voters. We can look to other states for their inspiration. Oregon has tried to expand voters to include 16-year-olds and prisoners. Now, a new idea, the Public Interest Legal Foundation is suing Howard County, Maryland to block its law allowing a member of the school board to be elected by sixth through 11th-grade students, typically 11- or 12-year-olds. If Oregon voters don’t pay attention to election processes, the state will end up in a more oppressive government.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2022-12-03 06:04:07

Last Update: 2022-12-04 18:39:27

In 2012 the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) was formed as a membership organization by the Soros Open Society to clean voter rolls. Oregon is one of 33 states that reports to ERIC.

In order to run cross checks on voters, ERIC collects details on inactive and active voters every 60 days, including the states Motor Vehicle licensed and ID databases. ERIC’s database provides a wide base source to influence an election and generate voter registrations by providing states with a list of people that are not registered to vote. In 2020 they located 17 million new voters. The ERIC membership bylaws require the state to solicit at least 95% of these people to register. It has been called a “left wing voter registration drive all paid for by the States.” Their rules further explain that “Under no circumstances shall the members transmit any record indicating an individual is a non-citizen of the U.S.”

You ask, how many voters were removed in the last four years? Oregon has fourteen counties that removed five or fewer voter registrations.

Deborah Scroggin, Oregon Director of Elections, serves on the ERIC Board for Oregon. She was appointed after nearly a decade with the Portland City Auditor’s Office where she oversaw city elections. Her office had close ties with Multnomah County Elections Division orchestrating an Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Portland and the Multnomah County Elections Division. The Director Tim Scott, is also the president of the Oregon Association of County Clerks (OACC). The association is not transparent with meetings or records, and it appears the president does not agree with their lawyer. OACC lawyer stated to Secretary Fagan that the clerks are “very concerned” about the centralized voter registration system and the software used that is no longer supported. Bids for a new system didn’t take place as scheduled.

Dr. Frank, speaking at Gathering of the Eagles in Oregon, said most County Clerks are not qualified for the job they are elected or appointed to do. Clerks are elected or appointed with clerical/administrative skills and that may do for their day-to-day function, but they don’t have the skills to recognize insecure election data, faulty technology or out-of-line algorithms.

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Kat Stansell, Grassroots Outreach Director for the American Policy Center, said “I now believe that the ERIC system was part of the coup; hardly anyone, myself included, had heard of ERIC then (prior to the 2020 election). Now, teams of investigators have unearthed reams of evidence, of irrefutable proof of irregularities, of dark money, of hired ballot runners and poll workers, of thousands of cartons of ballots brought in from ineligible sources, et. al. A lot of the highest profile cheating occurred in ERIC member states. All of this has created blow back from those states.”

There is ample evidence that ERIC, who purports to clean Oregon’s voter registrations, does not. The passing of HB 2681 in 2021, which changed retention of voter registration to indefinitely, appears to be a calculated part of ERIC adding new members to their database. Legislation that ignores purging voter rolls is a form of purging voters of their voice, and evidence of collusive activity. The state of Louisiana has cut its ties with ERIC for similar reasons.

U.S. Census Bureau shows that in 2021 26.4 million people moved in the U.S.. ERIC reported in-state movers in the ERIC system showed 4,911,198, in-state duplicate ballots for 281,996, and another 111,923 for deceased voters. Oregon reported that more people moved out than in with a population decline of approximately 10% according to PSU Population Research Center. Portland lost 11,000 residents for the year ending July 2021, and Multnomah County had their greatest decline of -2,321 in 2022.

Secretary Fagan recently announced voter registrations reaching an all-time high of 3 million. The decline in population doesn’t coordinate with the increase of voter registrations as those moving out-of-state remain as registered voters unless they take individual action to have their name removed. Until the voter rolls are cleaned, there isn't a chance for honest elections.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2022-12-02 16:56:47

Last Update: 2022-12-02 18:07:42

Oregon’s Ballot Measure 110, which reduced some drug possession charges from felonies to misdemeanors and offered counseling as an alternative to jail time, also created unintended consequences when it comes to dealing with juveniles, Commissioners Roger Nyquist and Will Tucker were told Tuesday morning.

Linn County Juvenile Director Torri Linn said the law does not provide any differentiation between adults and juveniles, so it makes it difficult if not impossible to get services to young people when their drug offenses are in their early stages.

During the recent gubernatorial campaign, all three candidates said Measure 110 was not working and two — Republican Christine Drazan and independent Betsy Johnson — wanted to see it repealed. Incoming Gov. Tina Kotek said she wants to keep it in place, but with fixes. 

Ballot Measure 110 provides funding for such things as subsidizing housing for drug offenders or needle exchanges, but those measures are directed at people who are well into their addictions, not early on like teenagers, Lynn said.

Oregon voters passed Ballot Measure 110 by 58% to 42% in November 2020. It decriminalized possession of consumption amounts of cocaine and heroin among other hard drugs. The new law went into effect in February 2021.

Lynn pointed out that teenagers can be charged with Minor In Possession if found with alcohol, but not if they have cocaine or heroin on them.

Both Nyquist and Tucker — who was participating by telephone — voiced strong concerns about the new law, seeing it as flawed and unsuccessful in decreasing drug use statewide. Commissioner Sprenger did not attend Tuesday’s meeting.

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The commissioners plan to engage members of the Legislature addressing several key issues, especially on how the new law is affecting juvenile offenders and the county’s ability to help them early on.

Nyquist said, “We will go full-court press on this if we have to.”

“At the very least, they need to address the MIP discrepancy issue, a kid getting an MIP for alcohol but not hard drugs” Nyquist said. “It should include federal Class I drugs that the state just legalized.”

Commissioner Tucker said he is, “Adamantly against Measure 110.

“There is no stick and no carrot,” Tucker added.

He said Oregon voters had only one choice to deal with a “horrible problem” when the measure was on the ballot.

Nyquist said he supports the will of the voters, but he emphasized the measure is filled with gaping holes.


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2022-11-30 21:09:59

Last Update: 2022-12-01 17:45:30

An Oregon Government Ethics Commission complaint was filed today against Yamhill County Commissioner Casey Kulla alleging that he used county resources for personal, financial gain in his new role as lobbyist for the activist group Oregon Wild.

The complaint shows how Kulla registered on November 29, 2022 as a lobbyist using his county email, office and phone number. The use of resources that are paid for by the public is prohibited for personal, financial gain by a public official. The complaint also alleges that Commissioner Kulla received the paid gig because he’s a commissioner.

Oregon Wild’s website features Casey Kulla under the Staff directory and lists him as the “State Forest Policy Coordinator”. It also refers to his position as a county commissioner as being in the past, despite the fact that Kulla is still an active, paid commissioner until December 31, 2022.

Kulla is no stranger to controversy, unseating an incumbent commissioner in 2018 by convincing the majority of voters that he represented the Yamhill County farming community and shared their values. Once in office, he defied the farming community and orchestrated the reckless push for the Yamhelas Westsider Trail. The YWT was a controversial and illegal bicycle/pedestrian path that cut through active farmland and violated the property rights of numerous farmers. After a lengthy legal battle, the farmers prevailed against the county and Commissioners Mary Starrett and Lindsay Berschauer voted to withdraw the trail’s land use application in 2021.

Commissioner Kulla earned a reputation as the lone Progressive on the Board of Commissioners, regularly voting against Starrett and Berschauer on big issues like protecting the Second Amendment with a county SASO (Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinance) and pushing back against the Governor’s restrictive and punitive COVID emergency orders. He also openly supported the progressive recall attempt of Commissioner Lindsay Berschauer, his colleague, for her vote to end the Yamhelas Trail project. Not only did Commissioner Berschauer prevail in the recall election, she received more votes of support than in the May 2020 Primary election when she won outright.

Yamhill County voters replaced Kulla with Kit Johnston in the November 2022 election. Kit is a businessman and farmer who opposed the Yamhelas Westsider Trail and shares the traditional agricultural values that have historically defined Yamhill County.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2022-11-30 17:13:54

After five years of analyzing, planning and a feasibility study, adjoining cities of Monmouth and Independence saw results by the arrival of the first of the three Trolleys to their community. The project is scheduled to begin service early in 2023 as a pilot project. Representative Paul Evans (D-Monmouth) provided $3 million in American Rescue Plan grant funds through the state budget to support the local transit service that will link downtown Independence, downtown Monmouth and the Western Oregon University campus. The plan is to start operating with transit fares and then find long-term funding to keep ridership free.

The trolley is intended to be fun for all ages. It will be a novelty attracting tourists, visitors, and locals. Planners modeled the pilot after the King Street Trolley in Alexandria, VA, that operates in the historic district, providing mobility for visitors, as well as supporting business. Other trolleys have revitalized downtowns playing a significant role in promoting community identity and economic development, while keeping the traditional urban values alive. That is the hope for Monmouth and Independence.

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Community surveys found favorable support for the trolley service over other options. Eventually, the vision is that the trolleys will become a daily transit service for people living in the cities of Independence and Monmouth. This new service will be managed and operated by Cherriots and will link CARTS (Chemeketa Area Regional Transit System) with the Cherriots system in Salem.

The pilot will operate for two years to provide evidence of long-term viability of the service. The trolleys will be a hybrid gas-electric vehicle with plans to move to a 100 percent battery electric vehicle in the future. Two vehicles will operate each service day with a third to serve as a spare and used as rotation. The main route will travel along Main Street in Monmouth, and Monmouth Street in Independence with three trips per hour. The City of Monmouth has a complete schedule on their webpage. It is also possible to make reservations for off-route pickups and drop-offs if it is within 0.75 miles of the main route.

There is some discussion to have special trips for events. Might want to put one of the Independence City events in Riverview Park on your schedule and ride the trolley for free and see your tax-dollars at work.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2022-11-30 00:08:20

Last Update: 2022-11-30 20:06:46

The Department of Administrative Services alongside commissioned BBC Research & Consulting, will be hosting six stakeholder engagement sessions in early December to provide information about Oregon’s disparity study, to seek feedback and be available for questions. These meetings will provide information about the project team, the purpose of the study, the project approach, and how business owners and stakeholders can participate directly in the study. The project team will also answer any questions attendees have regarding the study. In addition, attendees will have an opportunity to share any comments or insights about working with the state. This feedback will be integrated into the analysis and report.

BBC Research itself, does not appear to have any blacks or Hispanics among its own directors or employees.

The disparity study, which will examine contracting by state government agencies. The study will seek information about businesses that are owned by people of color, women and service-disabled veterans. The project team will assess whether there are disparities between contracts and procurements awarded and the availability of those types of businesses for the work requested. The study will also assess marketplace conditions for businesses owned by people of color, women and service-disabled veterans throughout Oregon to determine whether any barriers make it more difficult for those businesses to compete for or perform state work.

Public Comment Zoom Meetings

December 6, 11:30 a.m.

December 6, 5:30 p.m.

December 7, 11:30 a.m.

December 7, 5:30 p.m.

December 8, 11:30 a.m.

December 8, 5:30 p.m.

Stakeholder engagement sessions will take place in early December, with two sessions a day over the course of three days. Public participation and feedback are crucial to a successful study, please join any of the following sessions:

“We highly encourage anyone interested in state contracting or procurement to participate in these engagement sessions,” said Christopher D. Wilson, Disparity Study Manager. “We hope to hear about all experiences, your insights will help the state better encourage the participation of small businesses, service-disabled veteran-owned businesses, person of color-owned businesses, and woman-owned businesses in state work.”

The disparity study began in October 2022, and the project team expects to submit a draft report to the state in June 2023 and a final report in August 2023.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2022-11-25 06:28:05

Last Update: 2022-11-26 09:34:04

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, along with 39 other state attorney generals, announced a historic $391.5 million settlement with Google over its location tracking practices. The settlement, which was led by Oregon AG Rosenblum and Nebraska AG Doug Peterson, is the largest attorney general-led consumer privacy settlement ever. Because of Oregon’s leadership role in the bipartisan investigation and settlement, Oregon will receive $14,800,563.

The settlement outlined that Google misled its users into thinking they had turned off location tracking in their account settings, when, in fact, Google continued to collect their location information. In addition to the multimillion-dollar settlement, as part of the negotiations, Google has agreed to significantly improve its location tracking disclosures and user controls starting in 2023.

“For years Google has prioritized profit over their users’ privacy,” said Attorney General Rosenblum. “They have been crafty and deceptive. Consumers thought they had turned off their location tracking features on Google, but the company continued to secretly record their movements and use that information for advertisers.”

Location data is a key part of Google’s digital advertising business. Google uses the personal and behavioral data it collects to build detailed user profiles and target ads. In fact, location data is among the most sensitive and valuable personal information Google collects. Even a limited amount of location data can expose a person’s identity and routines and can be used to infer personal details. Specifically, Google confused its users about the extent to which they could limit Google’s location tracking by adjusting their account and device settings

The attorneys general opened the Google investigation following a 2018 Associated Press article that revealed Google “records your movements even when you explicitly tell it not to.” The article focused on two Google account settings: Location History and Web & App Activity. Location History is “off” unless a user turns on the setting, but Web & App Activity, a separate account setting, is automatically “on” when users set up a Google account, including all Android users.

“Consumer privacy is one of my office’s top priorities. That’s why it’s so important to me that Oregon played a key role in this settlement. Until we have comprehensive privacy laws, companies will continue to compile large amounts of our personal data for marketing purposes with few controls,” continued AG Rosenblum.

The settlement requires Google to be more transparent about its practices. In particular, Google must:

1. Show additional information to users whenever they turn a location-related account setting “on” or “off”;
2. Make key information about location tracking unavoidable for users (i.e., not hidden); and
3. Give users detailed information about the types of location data Google collects and how it’s used at an enhanced “Location Technologies” webpage.

In 2019, Attorney General Rosenblum formed the Oregon Consumer Privacy Task Force to answer the growing calls for legislation that would give consumers more control over their online privacy and require businesses to adhere to basic standards when handling personal information. The task force has now grown into more than 150 participants from a variety of perspectives.

The task force will introduce comprehensive consumer data privacy legislation in the upcoming 2023 legislative session. If the bill is successful, consumers will have more control over their personal data. They will have the right to know what personal information a company is collecting, to whom or where their data was disclosed, and they will receive a copy of all the data a company has about them. Companies would also need to correct inaccuracies in personal data or delete their information. In addition, the task force plans to introduce companion legislation to create a state registry of data brokers, companies that often operate under the radar but make billions selling personal consumer data.

Blocking Google from collecting personal data may spoil their artificial intelligence robot called LaMDA (Language Model for Dialog Applications). This is the product for which Google has been collecting personal information and habits. Google has been in the news as to whether this AI robot is sentient having thoughts and feelings, and they have fired those claiming it possess those self-aware algorithms.

Elon Musk said in a speech at the 2017 National Governors Association, “Robots will be able to do everything better than us. I have exposure to the most cutting-edge AI, and I think people should be really concerned by it.”


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2022-11-25 06:24:37

Last Update: 2022-11-24 21:15:24

Thanksgiving week Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum reminded us that the biggest shopping days of the year are also packed with scams. Black Friday and Cyber Monday and the holidays draw millions of buyers every year looking to score deals, compete for hot products, and cross names off their shopping lists. She says, be ready – and safe!

“With all these deals, unfortunately, fraudsters are also looking to cash in,” said Rosenblum. “Let’s not give scammers any gifts, credit card information, or new identities this year,” said AG Rosenblum. “Before you open your wallet, review this list carefully to ensure you can shop confidently and make the most of all the great holiday deals. Be sure to review our ten practical tips as well!”

1. Non-delivery scam

If a deal seems too good to be true on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, it probably is. When making online purchases, you should always receive an order confirmation with a tracking number. But in this scam, you won’t. And surprise, surprise, the package never arrives. When you attempt to contact the seller for help, you learn they have disappeared.

2. Gift card scam

In this scam, an online store will ask that you pay using a gift card. If this happens, it should raise big red flags. Gift cards are often utilized by cybercriminals to steal your money because these types of purchases cannot be tracked, and it is impossible to get your money back.

Treat gift cards like cash, never giving out your gift card number or PIN, and using them only with the issuing merchant. For example, you’d use a Target gift card at a Target store or Target.com.

3. Fake order scam

Phishing is one of the oldest tricks in the book, but modern-day phishing attacks have become more sophisticated. In the fake order scam, con artists will send cryptic text messages or unsolicited emails to notify you of a "problem" with your online order.

But you never ordered anything! They want you to click the link in the phishing email, which leads to a website asking for your banking credentials or other sensitive information, which they can use to commit other frauds.

These emails are designed to appear like they came from a legitimate sender, like Amazon or Walmart. Please look out for these and don’t fall for them!

4. Fake delivery scam

Phishing attacks go a step further in this scheme, as criminals will send fake delivery notifications by text or email. Usually, these notifications are disguised to be from FedEx, UPS, or the U.S. Postal Service.

Just like the fake order phishing scam, you’ll be invited to click a link to accept your delivery, where they’ll steal your personally identifying information.

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5. Fake website scam

Cybercriminals are setting up imitation websites of popular online stores. These copycat websites look exactly like the official retailer, and the untrained eyes of an average consumer can easily fall for the trap.

If you have unsuspectingly made an online purchase from a fake retail website, criminals may have stolen your credit card information and other personal details, and you should contact your credit card and/or bank immediately.

To avoid falling victim to one or more of these scams on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, review these 10 practical tips to help you watch your wallet, shop wisely, and protect your personal information online.

If you have fallen victim, be sure to report it to the Oregon Department of Justice online at www.oregonconsumer.gov or by phone at 1-877-877-9392.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2022-11-24 13:59:51

Last Update: 2022-11-24 16:11:12