Data Collection Threatens Privacy as AI Centers Expand Nationwide

On June 13, 2025, Kim Monson explored the escalating threats to personal privacy posed by AI data centers with Virginia Macha, the fight to protect Second Amendment rights in Colorado with Teddy Collins, trucking industry safety standards with Anthony Triggs, and the push for home rule in Douglas County with Mindy Bandamere Jordan.

Douglas County Considers Home Rule Charter

Start listening at 17:06 – Hour 1

Mindy Bandamere Jordan, a Douglas County resident and candidate for the Home Rule Charter Commission, breaks down what the ballot measure means for residents. Jordan, a 20-year resident and Colorado native, argues the commission needs citizen voices alongside elected officials to ensure the charter reflects community values. She outlines three priorities: reforming taxation and enforcing TABOR, maintaining effective county services, and addressing road infrastructure demands from rapid growth.

The fast-tracked process caught many citizens off guard, Jordan acknowledges, noting she only learned about the opportunity through contacts from her father’s state senate campaign. While home rule could give the county authority to push back on state mandates, particularly regarding property taxes, Jordan emphasizes that Colorado law still requires compliance with state statutes unless specific exemptions exist. The charter commission, if approved, would have 240 days to draft the document for voter consideration.

“While I believe the sitting county commissioners will have valuable input on the new Home Rule Charter, the Home Rule Commission itself, I believe, should be independent. If all the at-large seats are filled by the incumbent commissioners, the voices of the average citizen will be shut out.”

Mindy Bandamere Jordan, Douglas County Charter Commission Candidate

Trucking Safety and English Proficiency Requirements

Start listening at 45:03 – Hour 1

Anthony Triggs, Director of Safety and Compliance at Interstate Van Lines, clarifies Secretary Sean Duffy’s recent enforcement of English proficiency requirements for commercial drivers. Triggs, who holds a commercial driver’s license himself with over 25 years in the industry, explains that the regulation has always existed but is now receiving renewed attention. With only five states displaying traffic signs in languages other than English, the safety rationale is straightforward: drivers must read road signs to operate safely.

Triggs highlights the critical role of dual-facing dash cams, which he prefers to call event recorders, in exonerating professional drivers. Federal data shows that passenger vehicle operators more frequently cause collisions with commercial trucks, not the other way around. The cameras capture both road conditions and driver behavior, documenting that truckers follow proper procedures. Triggs notes that tractor-trailers require a football field plus two end zones to stop at 55 mph, making it physically impossible to avoid collisions when passenger cars cut in front of them.

“It’s about driver exoneration because when you look at crashes with commercial motor vehicles, a lot of times the stigmatism is it’s the big bad truck driver that caused the crash, but if you look at a statistic that the FMCSA produces, it says crashes involving commercial motor vehicles often have complex causes, but studies suggest that passenger vehicles, drivers are more frequently at fault in collisions with large trucks.”

Anthony Triggs, Director of Safety and Compliance, Interstate Van Lines

Second Amendment Rights Face State and Federal Crossfire

Start listening at 65:35 – Hour 2

Teddy Collins, co-founder of the Second Syndicate and owner of Spartan Defense, warns that Colorado’s firearms restrictions embolden criminals while disarming law-abiding citizens. Collins points to Chicago as a cautionary tale: the city has reduced firearm retailers from dozens to just one, yet violent crime has soared. The pattern, he argues, demonstrates that restricting legal gun ownership does nothing to stop criminals who already ignore the law.

Collins reports progress on the Hearing Protection Act issue within the big beautiful bill. The Second Syndicate submitted letters to Congress and Senator Crapo’s Finance Committee, alerting lawmakers that without including Sections 3 and 4 of the Act, up to 19 states could see suppressors effectively banned due to poor state law wording. Section 4 would establish federal preemption, meaning federal gun law would override stricter state regulations. This could invalidate Colorado’s semi-automatic ban and magazine capacity restrictions, restoring rights that Collins says were unconstitutionally stripped away.

“And the only thing that these firearms laws are doing, these restrictions on law abiding citizens, is they’re doing just that.”

Teddy Collins, Co-founder, Second Syndicate

The Hidden Danger of Data Collection on Children

Start listening at 75:45 – Hour 2

Virginia Macha, founder of Stand for the Land Kansas, exposes how public schools harvest personal data from students through classroom apps and surveys, then sell it to third parties. By 12th grade, Macha reveals, 71 educational apps will have collected thousands of data points on each child, feeding information into longitudinal databases that create permanent profiles. The data includes not just academic performance but personal details like whether a child made their bed or joined in play, raising questions about surveillance extending into homes.

The conversation turns to AI data centers, which Macha says can process between 100 million and one billion data points daily. The big beautiful bill includes a 10-year moratorium preventing states from regulating these centers, ostensibly to prevent a patchwork of conflicting rules. Macha urges parents to demand copies of app contracts from schools, opt out of surveys, and challenge district privacy policies. At the local level, she recommends attending zoning board meetings where data center permits are approved, often under the guise of economic development without scrutiny of the broader implications for privacy and freedom.

“People need to realize your most precious asset is your information, the data, your private and personal pieces of information like biometrics, your blood type.”

Virginia Macha, Founder, Stand for the Land Kansas