With a mass email sharing what it called difficult news, the U.S. Department of Education has eroded one of its own key duties, abolishing more than half of the offices that investigate civil rights complaints from students and their families.Civil rights complaints in schools and colleges largely have been investigated through a dozen regional outposts across the country. Now there will be five.The Office for Civil Rights locations in Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco are being shuttered, ProPublica has learned. Offices will remain in Atlanta, Denver, Kansas City, Seattle, and Washington, D.C.The OCR is one of the federal governments largest enforcers of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, investigating thousands of allegations of discrimination each year. That includes discrimination based on disability, race, and gender.This is devastating for American education and our students. This will strip students of equitable education, place our most vulnerable at great risk and set back educational success that for many will last their lifetimes, said Katie Dullum, an OCR deputy director who resigned last Friday. The impact will be felt well beyond this transitional period.The Education Department has not responded to ProPublicas requests for comment.In all, about 1,300 of the Education Departments approximately 4,000 employees were told Tuesday through the mass emails that they would be laid off and placed on administrative leave starting March 21, with their final day of employment on June 9.The civil rights division had about 550 employees and was among the most heavily affected by Tuesdays layoffs, which with other departures will leave the Education Department at roughly half its size.At least 243 union-represented employees of the OCR were laid off. The Federal Student Aid division, which administers grants and loans to college students, had 326 union-represented employees laid off, the most of any division.On average, each OCR attorney who investigates complaints is assigned about 60 cases at a time. Complaints, which have been backlogged for years, piled up even more after President Donald Trump took office in January and implemented a monthlong freeze on the agencys civil rights work.Catherine Lhamon, who oversaw the OCR under former Presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden said: What youve got left is a shell that cant function.Civil rights investigators who remain said it now will be virtually impossible to resolve discrimination complaints.Part of OCRs work is to physically go to places. As part of the investigation, we go to schools, we look at the playground, we see if its accessible, said a senior attorney for OCR, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not laid off and fears retaliation. We show up and look at softball and baseball fields. We measure the bathroom to make sure its accessible. We interview student groups. It requires in-person work. That is part of the basis of having regional offices. Now, California has no regional office.The OCR was investigating about 12,000 complaints when Trump took office. The largest share of pending complaintsabout 6,000were related to students with disabilities who feel theyve been mistreated or unfairly denied help at school, according to a ProPublica analysis of department data.Since Trump took office, the focus has shifted. The office has opened an unusually high number of directed investigations, based on Trumps priorities, that it began without receiving complaints. These relate to curbing antisemitism, ending participation of transgender athletes in womens sports, and combating alleged discrimination against white students.Traditionally, students and families turn to the OCR after they feel their concerns have not been addressed by their school districts. The process is free, which means families that cant afford a lawyer to pursue a lawsuit may still be able to seek help.When the OCR finds evidence of discrimination, it can force a school district or college to change its policies or require that they provide services to a student, such as access to disabilities services or increased safety at school. Sometimes, the office monitors institutions to make sure they comply.OCR simply will not be investigating violations any more. It is not going to happen. They will not have the staff for it, said another attorney for the Department of Education, who also asked not to be named because he is still working there. It was extremely time and labor intensive.The department said in a press release that all divisions at the department were affected. The National Center for Education Statistics, which collects data about the health of the nations schools, was all but wiped away.Education Secretary Linda McMahon called the layoffs a significant step toward restoring the greatness of the United States education system. In addition to the 1,300 let go on Tuesday, 600 employees already had accepted voluntary resignations or had retired in the past seven weeks, according to the department.Trump and his conservative allies have long wanted to shut the department, with Trump calling it a big con job. But the president hasnt previously tried to do so, and officially closing the department would require congressional approval.Instead, Trump is significantly weakening the agency. The same day Congress confirmed McMahon as education secretary, she sent department staff an email describing a final missionto participate in our opportunity to perform one final, unforgettable public service by eliminating what she called bloat at the department quickly and responsibly.Education Department employees received an email on Tuesday afternoon saying all agency offices across the country would close at 6 p.m. for security reasons and would remain closed Wednesday. That led many workers to speculate that layoffs were coming.Then, after the workday had ended, employees who were being laid off began receiving emails that acknowledged the difficult workforce restructuring.Emails also went to entire divisions: This email serves as notice that your organizational unit is being abolished along with all positions within the unitincluding yours. Jodi S. Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards, ProPublicaThis story was originally published by ProPublica.

Denmarks largest grocery store operator is introducing a new symbol to its electronic price tags to make it easier to shop local and avoid purchasing American goods. Starting this month, black stars will appear on price tags for European-produced groceries in stores across Denmark, Germany, and Poland run by the Salling Group.We are making it easier to buy European brands, Salling Group CEO Anders Hagh wrote in a LinkedIn post last week, citing consumer demand. Danish holding company the Salling Group operates multiple grocery stores chains and more than 1,700 stores. [Image: Salling Group/LinkedIn]Attitudes towards the U.S. have soured in Denmark as President Donald Trump has called for taking control of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, and for putting tariffs on European goods. A YouGov poll released in January found Danes consider the U.S. a bigger threat than North Korea.We have recently received a number of inquiries from customers who want to buy groceries from European brands, Hagh said. Our stores will continue to have brands on the shelves from all over the world, and it will always be up to the customers to choose. The new label is only an extra service for those customers who want to buy goods with European brands.Trumps trade war has elevated the importance of national origin made in labels as consumers look to purchase products made in their own countries, turning retail and grocery stores into the front lines of the trade war. For its part, Hagh said products in his companys grocery stores can get the star when the ultimate owner of the trademark is European.We hope that customers will welcome the new information and will once again let everyone choose freely from our large selection of goods from all over the world, he said.The black star on the companys electronic price tags might be a small in size, but the symbol could have an outsized effect. If the trend catches on more broadly with consumers across Europe, U.S.-based brands could suffer.

Except for ultra-minimalist designs, most tables today have some sort of storage feature or another. Even tables for dining have hidden hooks underneath to allow patrons to hang their bags while they eat. This is especially true for coffee tables that serve as a landing place for objects like reading materials, phones, keys, knick-knacks, and the like. The problem, most of the time, is designing such space in a way that is both aesthetic and functional.Some coffee tables have deep shelves that make reaching for those items a bit more inconvenient, while others simply lay all objects out for everyone to see. The are some that dont even have this kind of function for owners and guests, forcing them to either only use the tabletop or keep those things away completely. At first glance, this rather unusual table concept seems to be frugal in storage space, but whether it was intentional or not, its most distinctive design could actually serve as an interesting storage expansion system.Designer:https://teixeiradesignstudio.com/ Joao TeixeiraRay, as the concept design was christened, almost has a brutalist vibe to it. Although the prototype is made from 3D printed PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol), the table itself could be made from sheet metal welded to unusual-looking legs. The table has only two legs, but both span almost the entire width of the table and are situated on opposite edges, providing the stability needed for a reliable table.Those legs are actually the main attraction for this concept design, formed by bending sheet material into a U shape and setting them at an incline. The nook produced by this form serves as a place for books and magazines, the usual things youd associate with coffee tables. That said, those legs dont have any bottom cover, so your reading materials will be exposed to the bare floor if you dont have any carpeting.The legs are also littered with holes, which could be a phobia-inducing nightmare for some people. While these large perforations are mostly decorative, they might remind you of holes on pegboards and similar furniture, holes where you can hang hooks or other items. Likewise, these can become additional ad hoc storage space for the table, and you might even be able to insert longer items through those holes, such as umbrellas, rolls of newspaper, and similar items.That said, this unintended use of the design could easily become a cluttered and unsightly mess, so it must still be used carefully and with discretion. Its still interesting to see how a design for a completely different purpose could serve a different use, which is probably a testament to the designers ingenuity as well.The post Holey coffee table concept has an unintended killer feature first appeared on Yanko Design.

More than necessity, its competitiveness that drives innovation in the camping industry these days. The competition to size up rooftop tents to accommodate a family of four is rife. After the launch of the iKamperSkycamp DLX a fold-out rooftop tent that comfortably accommodates up to four people earlier this month, it is befitting of Roof Space to upgrade its two-person roof-mountable tent into a four-person Roof Space 4, which vouches to differ on many scenarios to take the top spot in the unorganized race.When you are up in the rooftop tent (especially in numbers) you crave openness and natural light. Primarily what the Roof Space 4 does differently is that it opens up the sides of the tent to let the occupants do just that. Maybe even enjoy the morning and evening sun without having to move the parked vehicle an inch (i.e. if it is parked in a way that the sun takes its course of the day over the vehicle from one side to the other).Designer: Roof SpaceWhen the California-based Inspired Overland introduced the Stargazer rooftop tent featuring a full-length transparent roof panel for uninterrupted stargazing/views, I was impressed by the thinking. But the Roof Space really takes that to a new level, offering rooftop tent decks of sorts on both sides to soak in breathtaking views of the surrounding landscape.Roof Space calls this Double Panorama Mode which offers immersive panoramic views and turns the Roof Space 4 hardshell tent into a spacious private rooftop tent terrace. Opening the tent to soak in the views is as easy as unzipping a single zipper. And when its time to rest, zip the side panels back up and sleep unhindered under the stars.Roof Space 4 is super easy to set up. It, according to the company, takes less than 30 seconds to open with a single flip from a closed hardshell carry pack to a solid floor dome-shaped canvas top. When packed, it measures 87 inches long, 53.5 inches wide, and 9.4 inches high making it spacious as a California King bed that can sleep four people with ease. The company says sleeping area measuring 80.7 x 78.7 inches can sleep four to six people, but anything more than four seems too ambitious to me. The remaining space inside at the head and foot of the bed is reserved for storage.Ideal to load on trucks or bigger-size cars, the Roof Space 4 comprising a tent and mattress weighs 196 lbs. If you are interested, the tent is available now on pre-order for $4139.99, which is 10 percent off on the actual retail price of $4599.99. This price also gets you a telescopic ladder, an anti-condensation mat, and a few other necessary accessories.The post Roof Space 4 hardshell rooftop tent opens on both sides to provide private terrace for panoramic view first appeared on Yanko Design.

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Employee monitoring software, also called bossware and tattleware, is increasingly being used to track and manage employees remotely via a business network or by using desktop software.And now, bossware vendors are injecting artificial intelligence (AI) tools into their products, shifting the employee monitoring software from basic tracking to something more granular that can offer deeper, more actionable insights and even play a role in layoffs.In a survey last year, online privacy and security provider ExpressVPN said it found 61% of companies are using AI-powered analytics to track and evaluate employee performance. Employee monitoring tools can increase efficiency with features such as facial recognition, predictive analytics, and real-time feedback for workers, allowing them to better prioritize tasks and even prevent burnout. When AI is added, the software can be used to track activity patterns, flag unusual behavior, and analyze communication for signs of stress or dissatisfaction, according to analysts and industry experts. It also generates productivity reports, classifies activities, and detects policy violations.In fact, were now seeing employers track physical spaces with tools, including video surveillance (69%) and badge-based entry/exit tracking (58%), as companies demand employees return to the office, said Lauren Hendry Parsons, ExpressVPNs privacy advocate.Overall, remote employee monitoring is now at an all-time high. Depending on the software being used, AI-infused bossware can perform:Activity Tracking & Behavior Analysis: AI flags unusual behavior such as excessive time on non-work tasks or changes in typing patterns.Sentiment Analysis: Communication is monitored for signs of stress or dissatisfaction.Automated Report Generation: AI compiles data into productivity reports with insights and recommendations.Data Categorization: Activities are classified as productive or not to help managers focus on key areas.Facial Recognition & Biometric Monitoring: Attendance and engagement are tracked through AI-driven facial recognition.Automatic Policy Violation Detection: Policy breaches like accessing inappropriate sites are flagged.Automated Scheduling & Task Allocation: AI optimizes task assignments based on employee strengths.VeriatoSome AI productivity tools track data such as hours online, emails sent, and other activities to give employees a score on their work. How managers interpret that score varies; some might rely on it at face value, while others, especially in office settings, might depend more on their own judgment and qualitative insights about an employee.Other concerns arise when companies use the scores to make employment decisions, such as layoffs, without considering the full context behind the data, according to Pegah Moradi, a workplace automation researcher and PhD candidate at Cornell University.Companies can use extensive data on employees to make decisions, creating an imbalance of power since employees dont have access to the same data about themselves. With the rise of remote work post-COVID, attention tracking has become common, where employees are logged out or flagged for being idle too long, Moradi said.The role of AI in monitoringWhile managers have always used metrics to assess employee performance, AI tools can now consolidate those metrics into a single score thats harder to interpret. This trend is growing, partly due to the availability of large language models (LLMs), according to Moradi.LLMs are often used in predicting employee behaviors, including the risk of quitting, unionizing, or other actions, Moradi said. However, their role is mostly in analyzing personal communications, such as emails or messages. That can be tricky, because interpreting messages across different people can lead to incorrect inferences about someones job performance.If an algorithm causes someone to be laid off, legal recourse for bias or other issues with the decision-making process is unclear, and it raises important questions about accountability in algorithmic decisions, she said.The problem, Moradi explained, is that while AI can make bossware more efficient and insightful, the data being collected by LLMs is obfuscated. So, knowing the way that these decisions [like layoffs] are made are obscured by these, like, black boxes, Moradi said.Technology worker rights organizations argue remote employee monitoring produces more negative results than positive. TheElectronic Frontier Foundation(EFF), which originated the term bossware, has denounced employee monitoring software as aviolation of privacy. TheCenter for Democracy and Technology(CDT) has denounced bossware as a threat to the safety and health of employees.Matt Scherer, CDTs senior policy counsel for Workers Rights and Technology, said there is considerable anecdotal evidence that the use of these tools has increased over the past 10 years as data has become more valuable particularly in the years since COVID-19 led to an increase in remote work.Bossware is also unhealthy for workers because it discourages breaks, enforces a faster work pace, and reduces downtime; those can combine to increase the risk of physical injuries from job strain and mental health issues, according to Scherer. There also appears to be an increase in the number of companies using systems in ways that threaten workers legal rights, such as bydisrupting the right to organize, he said. But to me, the most troubling thing is that we just plain dont know how common these surveillance systems are, which employers are using them, or which workers are being affected.Hudson Hongo, a spokesman for the the digital rights advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation, argued that most bossware is punitive and meant to penalize workers. He agreed it can jeopardize employee health and place workers privacy and security at risk.Workers have legal and contractual rights that protect them against privacy violations, wrongful termination, and other unjust treatment including actions guided by automated decision-making (ADM) systems, Hongo said. While ADM vendors may promise employers increased efficiency or more objective decision-making, these systems are frequently faulty, have repeatedly demonstrated bias, and may not be aware of relevant local and state laws and regulations.Many tech vendors add generative AI (genAI) to performance management systems, promising time savings and more objective, data-driven evaluations, according to Gartner Research. However, adoption is limited, with 52% of human resources reporting no interest in AI for performance management. HR leaders are often hesitant to adopt the technology due to its novelty and unresolved compliance concerns, according to Gartner HR Director Analyst Laura Gardiner.But by 2027, 30% of organizations will provide targeted training for managers on how to contextualize AI-generated performance feedback to increase manager skill in the responsible use of GenAI, according to Gardiner.Is regulation the answer?Several states, including California, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont, have proposed laws regulating automated tools in hiring, firing, and compensation, according to the Center for Labor and A Fair Economy at Harvard Law School.A 2023 Massachusetts bill sought to address automated decision-making and worker data from surveillance, with a private right of action for workers. Workers should be able to appeal or correct decisions made by automated systems. Most such measures require impact assessments, which should be conducted by an independent, third party. The bills call for employers to provide timely access to assessment results, including relevant information, when AI or automated systems affect employment.The Massachusetts proposal has not yet been enacted into law. In fact, Scherer said, there are no laws in the United States that place hard limits on what types of surveillance employers can conduct on workers or on what types of data they can collect. In the workplace, violations of employee privacy do not usually raise the specter of lawsuits, which is one of the reasons stronger regulation is needed as worker surveillance tools become more common, Scherer said.Not all bossware is for employee performance monitoring. Theres a security rationale, too, because a top cause of data breaches often involves employees, either intentional or unintentional. According to a Verizon study, 82% of breaches are the result of employee errors or insecure acts, and up to 68% involved non-malicious human errors, such as inadvertent actions or falling for social engineering scams.To prevent data breaches, IT organizations use employee monitoring software to track illegal activities, protect confidential information, and watch for insider threats.A matter of trustWhen approached with care, employee surveillance can improve operations without compromising dignity or trust. The key is recognizing that its not just about technology, but the balance of power between employers and employees, said ExpressVPNs Parsons.When monitoring shifts from a tool for productivity to an invasive form of spying, it creates distrust, stifles creativity, and breeds resentment, she argued. Employers need to reflect on whether their monitoring systems may unintentionally damage morale.For example, instead of using real-time monitoring or biometric tracking, employers could focus on measuring outcomes. That would give workers more autonomy, fostering a positive and productive work environment, Parsons said.There are ways in which those kinds of tools can be used to ensure fairness, to ensure equal treatment, to ensure inclusivity, said David Brodeur-Johnson, employee experience research leadat Forrester.Imagine, for example, that a large organization gathers data on employee sentiment, tone, and interactions in an anonymous, aggregated way to track overall mood over time. Or, after announcing a major corporate change that could create uncertainty, anxiety, or mistrust, business leaders can analyze the data to see how employees are reacting what theyre worried about or where confusion exists, Brodeur-Johnson said.This insight helps leadership adjust messaging, clarify priorities, and offer more support, he said. However, theres a risk this data could also be used in unethical ways.Several prominent companies, Brodeur-Johnson said, use AI-enhanced tools to evaluate employee performance and time engaged in work, including ActiveTrak, Microsoft Viva, Desk Time and Sapience Analytics. Others include, Veriato (owned by Awareness Technologies), Time Doctor, Snapsoft, Hubstaff, and Teramind.Fighting employee-monitoring mythsAwareness Technologies CEO Elizabeth Harz said theres a lot of misinformation and myths about the employee monitoring software industry. Most of it is based in fear of new innovations. Her companys Veriato employee monitoring software is no different than sales-tracking platforms that companies like Salesforce.com offers, she said it just spans a greater number of business use cases.Companies are responsible for protecting their most valuable assets people and data regardless of hybrid or remote work, she said. Monitoring software ensures theyre also operating in safe work environments, protected from harassment, and that customer data is safeguarded to prevent misuse.These responsibilities have existed for decades, but now technology offers modern tools to manage them more effectively, just like how sales-tracking tools like Salesforce became standard, Harz said. I could defend any type of automation thats happened in the last 20 or 30 years, and we could see the benefits that have come out it. And this area is no different. I think in five years, it will be extremely commonplace.VeriatoBusinesses use Veriatos software to monitor employee actions on company-issued devices; its known as User Activity Monitoring (UAM) and includes smartphones, tablets, laptops and desktops. UAM helps with two main goals: improving productivity and managing insider risk, she said.For example, if an employee is copying a customers Social Security Number or other personally identifiable information and pasting it into a Word document, it will be flagged by Veriato and sent to a manager in ordr to stop the activity in real time. The employee may not realize that theyre compromising a customers data. Theyre just trying to work faster, Harz said.The software can also be used to track an employees hours at work, which can be used to create efficiencies. For example, if one employee works 38 hours a week and another works 80 and both accomplish the same amount of work the softwares data can be used to find ways to reduce wasted effort.The data can also be used to decide who should be laid off, which Harz said isnt any different than if a manager noticed poor performance over time. And so if someone gets an alert that says, a lawyer is spending half their time on Gmail, and somebody digs in there, they can see forensic-level screen grabs and show what that employee was doing. And they can share that with the employee, she said. If someone is not working 80% of the day, theyre watching cat videos on YouTube, they probably should go find a different job.Exactly whats being watched by employee monitoring software and services depends on the platform and its privacy features. Some automatically remove personally identifiable information before analysis, ensuring ethical data use. For example, Microsoft focuses on protecting identity and analyzing only aggregate data. Trust and safeguards are built in to prevent misuse, Brodeur Johnson said.Ironically, the increasing use of AI-enhanced monitoring software has also given rise to ways to game the software, according to Moradi. Youre seeing the rise of these sorts of systems to likea mouse jiggler [that] jiggles your mouth every so often, she said. I have a friend who always has a YouTube video playing on her computer because that shows shes online.I find it kind of interesting there are all these little ways that people are resisting this sort of tracking in order to reclaim their own autonomy, Moradi said.

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reportedly pressing ahead with an antitrust investigation into Microsoft, a move that could reshape competition in AI and productivity software.As part of the probe, the FTC has issued a civil investigative demand requiring Microsoft to disclose extensive data on its AI operations, including the cost of acquiring data and training models dating back to 2016, Bloomberg News reported.Regulators are also seeking information on Microsofts data centers, challenges in securing sufficient computing power to meet customer demand, and its software licensing practices.Launched last year under former FTC Chair Lina Khan, the investigation is also examining Microsofts decision to cut funding for its in-house AI projects after partnering with OpenAI a move that could be viewed as limiting competition in the rapidly growing AI sector.Khan authorized the inquiry before leaving office, with Andrew Ferguson assuming the chairmanship following President Donald Trumps inauguration in January.Implications for the industryThe probe into Microsoft could offer new insights into the companys reliance on OpenAIs models and its level of influence over the AI startup.The findings may have far-reaching consequences for competition and the balance of power in the AI sector, including how open Microsoft is to integrating other models into its OS and software for Copilot, said Neil Shah, co-founder of Counterpoint Research. Its the search wars all over again. This could have multiple implications, ranging from the integration of third-party models and the flexibility to power Copilot, which may raise optimization and security concerns for enterprises, to the pricing of Copilot and its integrated services, he said.Beyond AI integration, the investigation could reshape competitive dynamics in cloud computing and enterprise software.Changes to Microsofts licensing terms or business practices may alter pricing strategies and introduce regulatory hurdles for cloud and AI providers.The FTCs antitrust investigation into Microsofts cloud services and AI partnerships could definitely lead to regulatory interventions affecting licensing terms, pricing models, and competition in the enterprise AI and cloud services market, said Mukesh Ranjan, vice president at Everest Group. Enterprises relying on Microsoft may face disruptions or increased costs as licensing agreements are revised.Heightened regulatory scrutiny of Microsofts partnership with OpenAI could also fuel greater competition in the AI sector, benefiting rival service providers.We are already seeing significant innovation in this space post the release of DeepSeek, Ranjan added. For example, Google recently unveiled Gemma 3, an advanced AI model designed to operate efficiently on a single GPU, which it claims to be much better than OpenAI offerings.Effects in the enterpriseAnalysts advise adopting a wait-and-see approach regarding the potential effects of the antitrust probe.The biggest potential impact would be reducing OpenAIs role as the default AI provider for Microsoft products, said Hyoun Park, CEO and chief analyst at Amalgam Insights. Microsoft has already begun diversifying, and its partnership with OpenAI is not as tight as it was a year ago. Recent shifts toward agentic AI and open-source models have made ChatGPT less competitive as an enterprise tool, pushing Microsoft to develop independent AI solutions.If the investigation results in sanctions, businesses will need to monitor which AI model providers gain broader access to Microsofts ecosystem or whether the company will be forced to develop its own models.But cynically, this move appears to be an attempt to slow down OpenAI in the short term, as the AI market remains highly dynamic, with no company guaranteed to maintain its leadership over the next three to five years, Park added.Notably, while the probe began earlier, its timing now is particularly significant as it unfolds while OpenAI prepares to play a pivotal role in the Stargate initiative, with Elon Musks Grok emerging as a potential competitor.Microsoft has not responded to requests for comment.