california

Uber has agreed to pay $20 million to settle a lawsuit that stemmed from its classification of its drivers as independent contractors. By classifying its drivers as independent contractors, the ride-hailing service was able to avoid paying expenses and benefits associated with traditional...

400 of the richest companies in San Francisco are facing a citizen led effort to raise taxes on their prosperity to pay for services for the homeless. In San Francisco, an income of $117,000 for a family of four is considered poverty. Naturally many San Franciscans do not meet this level of...

Mill Valley, California, joined a growing national effort to block 5G deployment. Citizens of the Bay Area town are concerned that new 5G towers could exacerbate health problems tied to RF radiation emitted from existing cell towers. Responding to the concerns, the City Council enacted an...

Since 2016, welfare fraud investigators in Sacramento, California have been using the automated license plate recognition (ALPR) system to track welfare recipients to prove fraud. The Department of Human Assistance (DHA) didn't notify the public of this as required by Senate Bill 34, until the...

A new California law that took effect this month is going to help people cancel their subscriptions online. The new law makes it mandatory for a business that makes an automatic renewal or continuous service offer to a customer in the state to allow that customer to cancel online if they...

The California senate has approved a strict data breach law that allows both customers and non-customers alike to sue third-party data brokers for damages caused by a breach. The bill will allow damages of $1K per breach or monetary damages - whichever is greater. This bill is a reaction to...

In a report from NPR yesterday, following Europe's new privacy laws that went into effect on Friday, California is considering new legislation regarding online privacy. The California Consumer Privacy Act will likely be on the ballot in November, and will require business' to have a "clear and...

In a funny twist the home of Slicon Valley has become the 18th state to consider a Right to Repair Act. The RTRA would require repair guides and parts be made available to the public and repair shops so consumers can get their electronics repaired at places other than the OEM. All of this is...

California has passed statewide regulations that permit the deployment of autonomous cars, without a driver being present. Apple Insider is reporting that the new laws will go into effect on April 2nd, with some stipulations. The regulations state that a "communication link" must be maintained...

CBS Sacramento is reporting that phones located at an Apple repair center in Elk Grove California have been calling 911. The Elk Grove police states that they receive on average, 20 accidental 911 calls a day from the repair center, and roughly 1,600 calls since October. The Sacramento County...

Lyft has become the latest company to gain a testing permit for autonomous vehicle testing in California. We know autonomous vehicles are all the rage now, but what surprises me is how many companies are jumping on the band wagon. Take a look at the list here and you'll see just how many are...

Researchers have used the Stampede1 and 2 supercomputers to complete one of the world's largest earthquake simulation models: The Uniform California Earthquake Rupture Forecast (UCERF3). The simulations showed that in the week following a magnitude 7.0 earthquake, the likelihood of another...

If you are a HardOCP reader in the great state of California, I highly suggest you give this Elelctronic Frontier Foundation article a read before you head to the polls next week. And if you head to the polls tonight, remember to take a thick stack of ones. The large broadband providers and...

California Energy Commission’s Proposed Regulations on Personal Computers Poses Threat to Prebuilt Gaming Desktops and Gaming Monitors | Delidded Tech The California Energy Commission has drafted regulations to govern the power usage of whole systems and the components they use that could shake...