Seattle follows the lead of library systems in progressive bastions such as, um, Snohomish County and Salt Lake City.Kelly O
Because we all did such a good job voting to renew and increase the city's library levy last summer (it passed by 52 points!!), come Jan. 2 the Seattle Public Library will no longer fine patrons for returning overdue materials. They're also wiping out any debt users owe in overdue fees.
SPL hopes eliminating fines and canceling debt will welcome back an estimated 51,000 borrowers whose accounts have been blocked for failure to pay fees, says a spokesperson. That number represents 20% of all library accounts, according to a July analysis from the Seattle Times.
Branches in less affluent neighborhoods currently have twice the share of blocked accounts compared to branches in wealthier neighborhoods, despite the fact that rates of returns in both kinds of neighborhoods are similar. The new policy will therefore end the inequitable impact of fines, and return library access to a significant number of poor people who were barred from checking out materials because they goofed and then didn't have the money or the inclination to pay up.
Of course, we'll be eliminating fines for some rich people, too, an unconscionable act for the Pete Buttigeiges and Hillary Clintons of the world. The library could have considered some kind of means-tested approach—eliminating fines only for low-income patrons, say—but they didn't. "[That] option would have been very difficult to administer, considering we don’t collect financial information from patrons," the spokesperson said.
The universal approach also has the added benefit of streamlining operations. Circulation staff can spend their time on more important stuff, such as finding that book with a blue cover by that one author whose last name starts with "T,"—or was it "D"??—and less time having uncomfortable conversations about how much money the patron owes the library.
Plus, the library wasn't raising a ton of money from fines. In 2018, SPL collected $1.2 million in fines, which accounted for about 1.5% of their operating budget that year. Moreover, fine revenues have been declining "for several years" due to the growing popularity of electronic materials, which don't incur fines, according to the spokesperson.
Looking back at the last three years, the average overdue fine was just over $7 per patron. The largest fine cleared during that same period will be $400. Since a user may only check out a maximum of 50 items, and since there's currently an $8 maximum overdue fine, that $400 is the maximum overdue fine amount that will be wiped out.
Fine forgiveness programs in similar cities, such as San Francisco, paved the way for people to return hundreds of thousands of overdue items, restoring the library's collection and bringing many borrowers back into the fold. The Seattle Public Library is banking on similar results.
It's also worth noting that the library levy doesn't only provide money to scrap past and future fines. Thanks to the new funds, all library branches will stay open later; the number of available physical and digital materials will increase; the Columbia City, Green Lake, and University branches will undergo massive renovations; more money will be spent on children's programs, and more social workers will be hired to engage with the homeless population.
These improvements and investments will likely lead to a smarter, more connected city, which is one of many reasons to raise a glass tonight.
Facebook FB continues to be under fire over privacy concerns. The company is under pressure for violating user data protection in Brazil, per a Reuters report.
Reportedly, Brazil's Ministry of Justice has levied a fine of 6.6 million reais or $1.6 million on Facebook for improperly sharing user information.
Brazil's Ministry of Justice and Public Security announced that it examined “the violation of the personal data of the Facebook platform's contracting consumers, as well as whether someone had obtained improper access to such data, taking into account the user's consent form, where sharing is the default, and automatic data sharing with application developers of this user's friends.”
In issuing the fine, the Department of Consumer Protection stated that the data of 443,000 Facebook users was improperly made available to the developers of a Facebook app named “thisisyourdigitallife.”
Notably, the “thisisyourdigitallife” app was built by Cambridge Analytica in the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential election. This was aimed to gather information about Facebook users in order to target them for political advertisements.
Additionally, the agency ruled the data was used for questionable purposes. Moreover, Facebook also failed to provide appropriate information to their users with regard to privacy settings on the social media platform, and how user data, particularly that of friends and friends of friends on Facebook was shared with third-party apps.
Facebook has 10 days to appeal the fine. If it does not appeal, the company has 30 days to pay the fine.
Facebook, Inc. Price and Consensus
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Facebook’s Expensive Penalty Payments in 2019
Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had issued a unanimous ruling against Cambridge Analytica. Approved by FTC commissioners in a 5-0 vote, the agency officially reported that Cambridge Analytica violated federal law by deceiving Facebook users about what data would be collected and how it would be used.
This is not the first financial penalty for Facebook, following the scandal in which Cambridge Analytica harvested the data of around 50 million Facebook users without their permission.
Notably, Facebook settled with the FTC in July 2019. The company was charged with a fine of $5 billion for privacy violation.
Moreover, Facebook was fined $645,000 by the British government in October for related data security concerns involving Cambridge Analytica. The fine comes as part of a settlement between Facebook and the U.K. government in which the company will not admit any liability over its data practices, per a CNN Report.
Nevertheless, Facebook’s recent privacy friendly initiatives are noteworthy. The company is working on making its products and services end-to-end encrypted and ephemeral so that user information is not available for long.
Initiatives to Help Regain User Trust
Facebook has been undertaking a number of initiatives to improve privacy and security of its platform and services. These are primarily aimed at protecting user information, regaining trust and improving user engagement, which are crucial for the company’s growth in 2020.
In October 2019, Facebook announced that it suspended tens of thousands of apps under its ongoing App Developer Investigation, which is focused on improper data use by third-party developers.
Apps associated with 400 developers were suspended for a variety of reasons including the inability or failure of response to Facebook’s request for information. The company has suspended apps in testing phase and also banned a few completely.
Moreover, the company also rolled out a tool called Off-Facebook Activity, which enables users to better control their privacy. The tool helps users to see apps and websites that share information related to their activities on Facebook.
However, if users decide to clear Off-Facebook Activity from their accounts, it is expected to reduce the potency of the company’s data for advertisers. This may eventually hurt top-line growth as Facebook derives a significant part of revenues from ads.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Facebook carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader Computer & Technology sector are Marchex MCHX, InterXion Holding INXN and Baidu BIDU, each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here
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The Cambridge Analytica data scandal may have come to light nearly two years ago, but the former company -- and as a result, Facebook -- is still feeling the effects of the fall out. Brazil's government has imposed a $1.6 million fine on Facebook for its role in the fiasco -- a considerably higher sum than the $644,000 fined by the UK, where the incident took place.
According to Brazil's Ministry of Justice and Public Security, data belonging to some 443,000 Brazilian users was used for "at the very least, questionable" purposes. Some estimates suggest that up to 87 million people were affected by Facebook's improper use of data globally -- mostly in the US.
In the grand scheme of things, Facebook is once again getting off lightly, as $1.6 million pales in comparison to the $5 billion the company had to stump up to the FCC earlier this year for the data breach. But for a company like Facebook it's not the money that's the issue, it's the ongoing reputational damage -- it seems that the Cambridge Analytica scandal just won't stop coming back to haunt it.
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The leaders of 18 environmental and civic groups have joined a push for U.S. Steel to face tougher penalties over a spill of hazardous substances from a northwestern Indiana plant into Lake Michigan.
The groups, which include the Alliance for the Great Lakes, Save the Dunes and the Hoosier Environmental Council, submitted a letter to a federal judge in Hammond arguing the fine of about $600,000 included in a proposed settlement with the U.S. Justice Department is inadequate.
”The proposed civil penalty ... does not reflect the seriousness, duration or magnitude of egregious (pollution) permit violations” at U.S. Steel’s Midwest Plant in Portage, Indiana, said the letter dated Dec. 18.
Federal officials reached the settlement with U.S. Steel last year in response to an April 2017 spill at the plant into the Burns Waterway, a Lake Michigan tributary about 30 miles east of Chicago. That spill involved the release of 902 pounds of hexavalent chromium, a toxic heavy metal that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said might be carcinogenic if ingested, while the plant was permitted to discharge about a half pound per day, according to court documents.
The spill prompted the temporary closure of several beaches in and around the Indiana Dunes National Park and a water treatment plant at nearby Ogden Dunes temporarily stopped drawing water from from the lake as a precaution.
The Justice Department in November asked U.S. District Court Judge Theresa Springmann to move ahead with approving the settlement, saying it included “stringent and detailed requirements related to the operation and maintenance of the facility.”
The deal also includes U.S. Steel reimbursing the EPA $350,000 for its response costs and the National Park Service more than $250,000 for its response costs and damages. U.S. Steel promised to take steps to improve its wastewater processing monitoring system to resolve alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and Indiana law.
The city of Chicago and the Surfrider Foundation environmental group, which have sued U.S. Steel over the spill, also have objected to the deal. Chicago’s lawyers argue in a recent court filing that the fine is “actually too low to deter additional violations,” including smaller spills that have happened at the plant since the settlement was announced in April 2018.
Springmann hasn’t set a date for deciding whether to approve the settlement.
The protesting environmental groups also want the company to face specific requirements for notifying the public about any future spills and more robust monitoring of hazardous substances released from the plant.
“It is of grave concern that this revised Consent Decree will not deter another spill into Lake Michigan or bring U.S. Steel into compliance,” their letter to the judge said.
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- The city of Redmond is hiking its fine for illegal fireworks use from the current $100 to $500 on New Year's Day, in a bid to curb their use, police reminded Monday.
On Nov. 19, the Redmond City Council approved an ordinance updating its 1998 fireworks code.
In Oregon, possession of illegal fireworks is a crime (ORS 480.120) and Redmond city officials encourage compliance by discouraging illegal use and possession at the lowest possible level before making an arrest.
Beginning Jan. 1, 2020, use of illegal fireworks will result in an increased fine of $500, while repeat offenders may receive a fine up to $2,500 and/or jail time up to six months.
From 2015 – 2018, the Redmond Police Department averaged 136 fireworks-related calls for service annually. Most complaints involve the use and possession of illegal fireworks, Lt. Curtis Chambers said.
The ordinance change approved by city councilors in November also included a new section. The additional language in the ordinance states, “[fireworks ordinance] applies to the actual person possessing or using fireworks. The property owner, renter, or other person in charge of property where fireworks are used or possessed is responsible if they should have reasonably known fireworks were in use or possessed on the property.”
Prior to the ordinance change in November, it had not been updated since January 1998. The fine amount at the time was set at $100. The ordinance change also revised references to Oregon statutes and removed references to the Uniform Fire Code.
Fireworks danger is commonly associated with the dry summer months. However, Redmond and all of Central Oregon is a High Desert climate and dry conditions are possible all year long, Chambers said.
"The Redmond Police Department, and our public safety partners at Redmond Fire & Rescue are committed to keeping you and yours safe all year long," Chambers added, wishing residents a Happy New Year.
The city of Bend's fine for illegal fireworks is $750, plus court costs and fees.
