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The ‘Unsettling,’ Nearly Normalized Surveillance Tech Monitoring the U.S.-Mexico Border

“At any given moment, there is something or someone watching you,” sociologist Francisco Lara-García tells The Markup

Artificial Intelligence

California’s Two Biggest School Districts Botched AI deals. Here Are Lessons From Their Mistakes

Educators can learn caution from AI mistakes in Los Angeles and San Diego. But they also face pressure to adopt the technology quickly

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Using Illustration To Help Investigations Stay Grounded and Approachable

Taking inspiration from The Simpsons and Chevron commercials, we created an illustrated explainer to ground our storytelling

ID Scanners Can Change How Your Local Bar Treats You—and Whether It Lets You In

Patronscan can help bar owners decide you are too risky for admission

Pixel Hunt

Department of Education Sued Following Markup Investigation Into FAFSA Data Shared with Facebook

Advocates want answers after The Markup found the department sharing student data with Meta

Digital Book Banning

Frustrated by School Web Filters, One Teenager Created His Own

During early COVID lockdowns, a teen raised $1.8 million in venture funding and built a web filter with a team of data scientists and psychologists that he now hopes will help students safely surf the web

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Car Insurance, Cats, and Racial Discrimination

Car insurers in Michigan are not allowed to use race when setting premiums, but Black drivers are still being penalized

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How to Get a Discount on Your Car Insurance

Step 1: Buy more insurance. Yup, you read that right

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Why Stopping Algorithmic Inequality Requires Taking Race Into Account

Let us explain. With cats

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How We Investigated Car Insurance Loopholes in Michigan

We found that Michigan’s reforms allowed auto insurers to charge higher rates in Black neighborhoods