I'm an American who moved to the Netherlands 9 years ago. I love the bike culture, but I miss Trader Joe's and speaking English.

Jaime Bancroft-Gennaro.

Courtesy of Jaime Bancroft-Gennaro

• Jaime Bancroft-Gennaro moved from the US to the Netherlands in 2017 for a better family life.
• Her family's transition included embracing Dutch culture and challenges like language barriers.
• She appreciates the Netherlands' bike culture and community, despite missing American conveniences.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Jaime Bancroft-Gennaro, a 50-year-old consultant and coach, who moved from the US to the Netherlands. It's been edited for length and clarity.

I was born in Pennsylvania, grew up in San Diego, and went to college in Santa Cruz. After graduating, I moved to Oregon. At first, I lived in Bend, and then I spent 15 years in Portland.

When my son was born in 2009, my husband and I moved to Italy, where my husband is from. He was homesick, and it felt like the right move at the time.

When the economy crashed during the global financial crisis, we moved back to the US. We were always pining to get back to Europe — we just didn't know where or when the right time would be.

Before we moved to Europe for the second time, my husband sent me to Amsterdam by myself to see what I thought. I loved it, and we decided to move there.

In 2017, my kids started elementary school

Trump had been elected for the first time. My kids were coming home talking about immigration, lockdown drills, and other things that made me realize this wasn't how I wanted them to grow up.

Around the same time, my husband received a small inheritance, which really sparked the move. I thought, "We have the money to do it now. The timing seems right. When else are we going to do it?"

Amsterdam reminded me of Portland in a lot of ways. It felt like the right place for us. We were nearing the end of our lease, gave our landlord a couple of months' notice, and then moved right outside Amsterdam in 2017.

We didn't know anyone in the Netherlands

We didn't speak Dutch and didn't know the culture, but we felt that if we were ever going to do it, with our kids ages 4 and 6, it was the right time.

I was working in advertising, and there were a lot of advertising companies in Amsterdam. My husband had a job in software, and he moved with that job. I found a new job after I arrived. I worked under a work permit through my company, and that was my sponsorship to live in Europe.

When I later lost that job during COVID-19, I was able to stay in the Netherlands through my husband. I eventually became a citizen myself.

Since moving to the Netherlands, there are things I'm glad we did, things I like, and things I miss.

We got rid of most of our things

I decided we would get rid of most of our things except our kids' stuff. I wanted to bring all of their stuffed animals, toys, gifts they'd received, and their blankets. It felt important to keep what mattered to them — and the things that would make them feel most comfortable when we arrived.

I didn't mind getting rid of my own things. I'm a minimalist, and as someone who has moved around a lot, a purger, too. We brought our clothes, two cool retro chairs I loved from Portland, and my VHS tapes from college. My husband, who is a photographer, also brought a box of old slides.

I liked letting go of things because every time you hit a milestone in your life, or you move, you're a new person. For the things we kept, we hired a company that filled a shipping container with a bunch of other people's boxes. They sold us a portion of the container.

It wasn't much, but it worked. I do wish I had brought my bike because I needed one as soon as I got to the Netherlands.

We moved into a furnished house

We moved into a furnished house that we rented for the first two years, which was really helpful. We didn't have to worry about accumulating a bunch of stuff because we didn't know whether we'd stay long.

In the US, we paid $1,900 a month in rent, which included three bedrooms, carpet, and a dumpy kitchen with an electric stove, but did not include utilities. Our mortgage here for a four-bedroom with an office is €1,500, or around $1,745. We spend €150 a week on groceries.

We placed our kids in a Dutch school

When we arrived, we plopped our kids right into a Dutch school because they were so little. We wanted a language immersion program, but not an international school, because I wanted my kids to feel rooted somewhere rather than transient.

The kids were fluent after six months and stayed there for two years, and then moved to a Dutch public school. They feel like they're in it, whereas international kids tend to be on the outskirts. My kids feel are now fluent in three languages: Dutch, English, and Italian.

I love to take my bike everywhere

I like the bike culture of the Netherlands. In Portland, they have a bike culture, too, but it's not like the Netherlands. Every time you ride a bicycle, you're not on the street. There's a whole bike infrastructure with stoplights, stop signs, and roundabouts.

My kids also ride their bikes everywhere, and they don't need us to drive them around or take them to parties; they're completely independent.

I work from home and never drive anymore. If I ever left the Netherlands, I'd miss the bike culture.

People are always there to help each other

I love that everyone watches out for each other. If a kid falls off their bicycle, people are immediately around them trying to help. If an older person falls, it's the same thing. No one just passes them by.

We also have a neighborhood WhatsApp group where one older woman often asks, "Can someone help take out my garbage, or have coffee with me?" and people happily do. There's this sense of community where I think Americans are now getting a little bit scared of each other.

There are things I miss, including Trader Joe's

I miss going to Trader Joe's. OK, I miss Trader Joe's a lot.

I miss the small talk. I miss going to the grocery store and having the cashier ask how my day is going. Here, they're not chit-chatters. They use words very efficiently.

Also, they don't bag your groceries here.

I also miss English

People speak a lot of English in the Netherlands, but every time I leave the house, there's a little apprehension. I took a few Dutch classes when I first moved, and I know enough to get by at this point.

Still, I mainly worry I'll misunderstand someone or say something they won't understand. For example, if I get into a complicated situation, like falling off my bike and taking an ambulance, it would exceed my language abilities. Or when I visit my husband's family, they speak Italian.

Sometimes I feel like I'm not my full self, and I'd like to be. I'm friendly. I like talking to and meeting people. It feels embarrassing to ask somebody to speak English because I live here. I've realized I've become much quieter and more reserved than I was back in the US. I've become way more of a wallflower, and that makes me homesick.

Despite the discomfort, I would do it again

When I first moved here, I was uncomfortable. I had dreams about leaving, and I was ready to leave. I thought, I don't want to do this, but I had to move through the discomfort of being somewhere new.

Within the last couple of years, I've appreciated living here a lot more. I often think, look at what we did. I think it's so cool that we moved here.

At my 10-year anniversary of living here, I'd like to have a plan to move somewhere else. My son is in his last year of high school, and my daughter is a sophomore, but she's open to finishing high school somewhere else in Europe.

I like watching my kids really thrive in their communities, navigating friendships, and finding their places. I feel like we all have found our little pocket in the world, and I'm really appreciating it a lot more than I think I ever have.

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South Park's creators are renaming the show 'South America' in a jab at Apple and Google

South Park announced that it's changing its name to South America.

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• South Park, in a thinly veiled jab at Apple and Google, said it's changing its name to "South America."
• The show's creators said they were "inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google."
• Google Maps and Apple Maps renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America following Trump's executive order.

South Park isn't holding back any punches — it just took a dig at Apple and Google.

The satirical comedy show shared an announcement from its creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, on Instagram on Tuesday, ahead of the release of its 29th season on September 16.

"Inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google, we are changing the name of South Park to SOUTH AMERICA," the creators wrote in the statement.

The post was accompanied by a picture of the South Park logo, with a license plate spelling out "AMERICA" pinned over the word "Park." A glowing US flag was added in the corner for extra flourish.

Parker and Stone's reference to Apple and Google was a barely veiled mockery of the companies for changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America on their map platforms.

On August 27, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to rename the water body that straddles the US and Canadian border. The order instructed the US government to change the name of the lake in federal maps, contracts, and documents. It came amid rising trade tensions between the two neighbors.

Days after Trump's order, Google said it had updated Google Maps such that US users would see "Lake America," Canadian users would see "Lake Ontario," and users outside these two countries would see "Lake Ontario (Lake America)."

The tech giant said it updates Google Maps to reflect name changes in official government sources, which in the US is the US Geographic Names Information System. It made similar changes last year with the Gulf of Mexico, which Trump renamed the Gulf of America.

Apple Maps followed suit the week after, renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America for US users.

South Park, which debuted on Comedy Central in 1997, is a satirical animated comedy about four elementary school kids living in the fictional town of South Park, Colorado. Over its nearly three-decade run, it has a history of trolling the bigwigs of politics, tech, and media, including Trump, CBS, and Tim Cook.

In their Instagram statement, Parker and Stone also took a quick swipe at South Park's parent company, Paramount Skydance, which was created after David Ellison of Skydance Media bought out Paramount in 2025.

"We especially want to thank our parent company Paramount — a Skydance Capitulation," they wrote.

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11 politicians who have changed their tune on data centers

A data center protest in Austin, Texas

Jay Janner/The Austin American-Statesman via Getty Images

• The data center backlash is here.
• Across the country, leaders are shifting how they talk about data centers.
• Now, even previous vocal supporters are tempering their statements.

America's elected officials have a different tune when it comes to data centers.

Amid intense public pushback, elected officials and those running for office this November have moved to rein in support for data centers or enact pauses on their development entirely.

Some, like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, represent states that are already home to massive hyperscale projects. Others, like Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida, the GOP's gubernatorial nominee, may lead states that are sorting through such proposals.

A few told us that they haven't changed their minds at all, rejecting the suggestion that they've evolved on the topic. Then there are those like Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who are open about how getting an earful has changed their outlook.

What is clear is that AI has noticeably changed how elected officials talk about data centers, projects that many statewide officials once clamored to bring home.

Here is how 11 officials are shifting their stances on data centers

Kathy Hochul

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

In July, Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, made New York the first state to impose a one-year moratorium on what she called "hyperscale AI data centers."

The details: Her executive order states that the temporary ban applies to data centers that need 50 megawatts or more to operate. Additionally, Hochul separately ordered that data centers either pay for their own power generation or pay more for the energy they need.

Past views: In May, Hochul questioned the need for a more stringent moratorium, which was being considered by the state legislature.

"This is a local decision for municipalities, it's land use, which is the purview of local governments," she told reporters, per E&E News. "It's not a statewide approach necessarily, but it's something I'm looking at intensely."

The explanation: Hochul previously told NBC News that local communities had asked for her assistance.

"At first I thought this is more of a local decision, but then I realized they don't have the negotiating ability, the clout, the wherewithal to be able to negotiate the best benefits or to make sure that these companies, as I said in my State of the State, are either bringing their own power or paying a premium into the grid to cover the cost," she said.

Josh Shapiro

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro

Tom Brenner/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In August, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, unveiled what he's called "the strictest guardrails in the nation" for future data center development.

The details: Shapiro's order, which is not a moratorium, requires developers to secure local approval before they can receive state permits, granting more power to communities that Shapiro said have been treated unfairly by some developers. Shapiro also removed data centers from fast-track permitting and established guidelines, including power generation and transparency requirements, that, if developers agree to follow, allow for permit review on a rolling basis, Spotlight PA reported.

"I've heard loud and clear from the good people of Pennsylvania as I've traveled our commonwealth, and I'm here to say today that we will not be bullied by these developers," Shapiro said.

Past views: Shapiro once openly courted data center development. When Amazon announced plans to spend $20 billion on data centers, Shapiro touted the "largest private sector investment in the history of Pennsylvania."

"With this historic announcement, we're creating opportunity for our workers, generating new revenue for our local communities, and ensuring the future of AI runs right through Pennsylvania," he said in a statement released by his office.

The explanation: When asked "what prompted his 180," Shapiro told CBS News, "Look, I listened. I think it's important for elected leaders to actually get the vibes of a community, to listen and to be able to be flexible, to be able to work with a neighborhood."

Katie Hobbs

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs

Rebecca Noble/Getty Images

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, pushed state lawmakers to eliminate a tax incentive for data center development that she called "a thirty-eight million dollar corporate handout."

The details: Ultimately, Hobbs and state lawmakers agreed to a three-year pause on new data center sales tax breaks.

Past views: In calling for the change, Hobbs was open about how, as a state lawmaker, she voted to create the incentive.

"More than a decade ago, we made a strategic decision to grow data centers by creating a tax exemption for them — I voted for it," she said in her State of the State address in January. "Now, Arizona is a national leader in this sector. We must ask ourselves: should taxpayers continue subsidizing the data center industry?"

The explanation: Hobbs said the incentive had boosted the industry, and now it was time for it to stand on its own.

JB Pritzker

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker

Thomas J. Turney/The State Journal-Register / USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images/Reuters

In June, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, moved to suspend new tax incentives for data centers.

The details: Pritzker also called on the state legislature to help him advance reforms to data center development that would ensure developers pay their fair share for power use, minimize water use, and be more transparent.

Past views: Pritzker celebrated when his state reeled in major projects, such as Meta's $1 billion data center in DeKalb.

"As Illinois grows its status as a technology hub of the future, this data center is bringing investment and vitality to a newly thriving community," Pritzker said in a statement when the data center opened in 2023.

The explanation: A spokesperson for Pritzker said the conversation around data centers has changed with the advent of AI hyperscalers.

"Responsible governance means reassessing incentives when circumstances change," the spokesperson said. "He supports responsible growth of the industry, but not at the expense of higher utility bills, grid reliability or Illinois' water resources."

Wes Moore

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore

Paul Morigi/Getty Images

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said that data center projects must follow his guidelines to receive his support.

The details: In his February State of the State address, Moore said that data center projects seeking his support must hire local workers, engage the community, and cover the cost of their power needs. More recently, he has portrayed Virginia, home to Data Center Alley, as a cautionary tale.

"The way they did it there cannot and will not happen in the state of Maryland," Moore said during an event in August, according to Maryland Matters.

Past views: In 2024, Moore announced that legislation removing regulatory barriers to technology infrastructure was part of his agenda for the legislative session. When he later signed the bill into law, Moore praised what it would mean for the state.

"This bill is going to supercharge the data center industry in Maryland so we can unleash more economic potential and create more good-paying union jobs," Moore said in May 2024.

The explanation: A spokesperson for Moore did not provide a comment to Business Insider.

Greg Abbott

Brandon Bell/Getty Images

In August, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, announced an effective pause on data centers seeking to connect to the state's power grid until the Public Utility Commission and Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates an independent grid that services the vast majority of the state, conduct a comprehensive audit.

The details: Abbott's order cited the need to ensure ERCOT can keep up with future demand. In a statement explaining the audit, Abbott's office noted that 90% of new power requests are for data centers. Abbott also directed the two entities to gather information about proposed data centers, including their power generation, water consumption, ownership, and the extent to which the projects may need public assistance.

Past views: Abbott previously bragged about his state's ability to attract big projects. In November 2025, he celebrated Google's planned $40 billion investment by saying, "Texas is the epicenter of AI development."

The explanation: Abbott said data center developers had only themselves to blame for the backlash.

"They pop up in places that nobody ever heard of before, until they started the construction," Abbott said on ABC's "This Week" on August 23. "And so they had not been working in collaboration with the state, they'd not been in collaboration with local governments, and so they basically dug their own grave for the problem that's been caused for them, and that's why they got the backlash they deserve."

Byron Donalds

Byron Donalds

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Florida Republican gubernatorial nominee Byron Donalds' campaign has published an ad saying he would "protect Florida families and communities from data centers."

The details: Donalds, who currently serves in the US House, has introduced legislation that would require data centers to generate their own power and to source their water from outside public systems.

Past views: According to Florida Politics, a digital media site, Donalds previously questioned other candidates who want to pause data center construction.

"There ain't no bans coming," he said.

Donalds' opponent, former Rep. David Jolly, who was previously a Republican and has since switched parties, has pledged to pause hyperscale data center construction for at least one year.

The explanation: A spokesperson for Donalds did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Spencer Cox

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox

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In May, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, issued an executive order that called for "a higher bar" for data center development.

The details: Cox's order called for state agencies to adopt a framework for considering data centers that focuses on transparency, protecting ratepayers, managing water consumption, and mitigating environmental impacts. Separately, Cox called for reforms to a state agency that pushed what became a controversial data center project.

Past views: Cox was a strong proponent of the Stratos Project, an initially proposed 40,000-acre hyperscale AI data center campus that is backed by "Shark Tank" investor Kevin O'Leary. Cox initially questioned those who criticized the proposal.

"I'm so tired of our country taking years to get stuff done. It's the dumbest thing ever. We think that taking time makes things better or safer, it absolutely does not," Cox said during an April news conference. "You get a chance to give your feedback, and then decisions get made. That's how we have to do stuff in this country and in this state."

The explanation: A spokesperson for Cox did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment. In the wake of the news conference, Cox wrote on X that his statements "did not meet the expectations I have for myself. I seek to do better." He also told reporters that public pressure helped spur his order.

"Public pressure is important, and if I had had any concerns about water and the Great Salt Lake, I would have opposed it from the very beginning," Cox said in June, per local news station KSL. "But the public has brought up some concerns that some of us didn't think about that are important, and that matters."

Jon Husted

Ohio Sen. Jon Husted

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Sen. Jon Husted of Ohio, a Republican, is sponsoring legislation that would codify elements of President Donald Trump's "Ratepayer Protection Pledge" into law.

The details: In July, Husted introduced legislation requiring states to consider standards for data centers and other large electricity users that consume 100 megawatts or more at a single site or campus. The standards include requiring those customers to cover the cost of grid upgrades needed to serve them.

Past views: As lieutenant governor, Husted celebrated Google's 2024 announcement that it would invest $2.3 billion in the state.

"Data centers are essential to our digital lives and Google's additional multibillion-dollar investment further establishes central Ohio as an important tech hub in America," Husted said in a statement at the time.

The explanation: Sen. Husted's spokesperson said his view had not changed. He sounded a similar note when Spectrum News asked him about his past statements.

"It's not really a shift. I was always trying to hold these companies accountable by making them pay local property taxes… working to make them pay their share of the infrastructure that they're required to… making sure that they hired local labor," he told the news outlet in July. "So this is very consistent for me, holding them accountable."

Vivek Ramaswamy

Vivek Ramaswamy

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Ohio Republican gubernatorial nominee Vivek Ramaswamy has promised that if elected, he would pause approval of any new data center project announcements until state lawmakers passed his preferred requirements.

The details: In August, Ramaswamy announced he would issue an executive order to halt "the approval of any new data center project announcements" until his framework was passed into law. His requirements include providing free electricity for homeowners in communities with data centers, requiring data centers to pay full property taxes and then using the revenue to cut Ohio homeowners' property taxes, and requiring the facilities to comply with environmental standards.

"There are hundreds of data centers already across our state, and the pace of construction is accelerating," he said in a statement released by his campaign. "While I had no part in these past projects, I am committed to ensuring our policies catch up to current realities."

Past views: Previously, Ramaswamy said the fast pace of Ohio's data center buildout "was a good thing," provided the grid could keep up.

"We've got AI data centers moving to our state, that's a good thing, that's a good thing, I want the sectors of the future to come here," he said in March 2025. "But that will make a level of demand on our electric grid of a kind that we have not seen in the history of our state."

The explanation: A spokesperson for Ramaswamy did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Mike Rogers

Mike Rogers

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Michigan Republican senatorial nominee Mike Rogers has called for a one-year moratorium on new data centers in the state.

The details: Rogers, who represented Michigan in Congress for 14 years, told the Detroit News in August that he supported a pause but only at the state level.

"While I don't support a federal ban, Michigan needs stronger guardrails to protect community control, prevent utility price hikes, protect our water and stop pay-to-play schemes," Rogers said in a statement to the newspaper. "That is why I am calling for a one-year moratorium on new data centers until we establish a fair, transparent approval process that puts local communities first."

Past views: Previously, Rogers, who is running in one of the nation's most closely watched US Senate races, was generally supportive of data center construction, provided it had local buy-in. After the White House released Trump's AI framework in March, Rogers said, "The choice is simple: lead the charge or fall behind. Let's get this done."

In July, the former congressman told WXYZ that communities would be attracted when they see data center development could fuel property tax cuts, "I have a feeling some communities, when they see what that means to their property tax, are going to say, 'Hey, could you build another one, please real soon?'"

The explanation: A spokesperson for Rogers did not provide a comment to Business Insider.

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The Flock backlash is coming for retail

Retail giants like Ulta Beauty and Lowe's are being called on to end their contracts with Flock Safety.

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

• Flock Safety has seen a nationwide backlash against its surveillance system technology.
• In response, some city governments have canceled their contracts with Flock.
• Consumers are now also calling out companies like Ulta and Lowe's, which have Flock contracts.

City governments have felt the heat to drop their contracts with Flock Safety. Now, retail giants are feeling it too.

As the backlash against Flock's security products continues, critics are targeting retail stores that have known partnerships with the company.

"There is simply no need for Ulta Beauty to be one of Flock's biggest commercial customers," Rachel LaPointe, a content creator and Substack writer, said in a video that had 732,000 views across her TikTok and Instagram as of Friday.

LaPointe, who has a Substack newsletter focused on gendered police violence, told Business Insider that her issues with Flock stem from reported instances of the surveillance system being used to track women.

"My alarm bells started ringing," LaPointe said, adding that she was surprised by Ulta's partnership with Flock, considering that a majority of the retailer's customer base is women.

An Ulta Beauty spokesperson said that Flock cameras are deployed at fewer than 1% of Ulta's 1,500-plus locations and are used to support criminal investigations, particularly into organized retail theft.

Flock has advertised its advanced surveillance system as a tool for deterring and investigating crimes, including homicides. One of its notable products includes an automated license plate reader (ALPR) that records vehicle sightings and license plates. Flock says its ALPRs do not use facial recognition and that private customers can control how long the camera data is retained and whether it's shared with law enforcement.

Flock Safety's automated license-plate readers have been deployed by city governments and retailers.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Thousands of law enforcement agencies and communities rely on Flock's technology, according to Flock's website. The deployment of its AI cameras has also extended to large retail chains, including Lowe's and Kroger, the company wrote.

Law enforcement officers told Business Insider that Flock cameras have been instrumental in solving cases.

The technology is not perfect. A Business Insider investigation published in March showed how Flock can misread license plates, leading law enforcement to pursue the wrong person. In July, Business Insider reported that Flock cameras in the city of Roseville, California, misread license plates in 71% of alerts sent to police in 2023 and 2024.

Critics of Flock's system emerged after other publications reported law enforcement officers inappropriately using the system to track people they knew.

In Georgia, three former sheriff's deputies were arrested this August on charges that they used Flock's license plate data to track people with whom they had personal relationships, The New York Times reported.

404 Media reported in May that Texas deputies tapped Flock's database during a probe involving a woman suspected of carrying out a self-administered abortion.

A Flock spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Reports of abuse of Flock's system, along with broader anxieties about privacy and mass surveillance, have prompted city governments to reexamine their contracts with Flock and spurred individual efforts to take down the cameras or block them with trash bags.

Florida's Department of Transportation announced on August 31 that it would ban automated license-plate readers from state roads. DeFlock, an open-source license plate reader tracking website, said that it has recorded 153 cities rejecting, canceling, or deactivating their Flock agreements.

A DeFlock spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

'Mass Surveillance Isn't Pretty'

Ultraviolet, a nonprofit women's advocacy group, put out a petition on August 26, titled "Hey Ulta: Mass Surveillance Isn't Pretty," calling on the beauty retail giant to end its contract with Flock, which the group sees as a threat to women's privacy and safety.

"While the majority of Flock ALPR cameras are deployed via contracts with law enforcement agencies — which is where much of the abuse we're concerned about takes place — retailers like Ulta are also playing a key role in normalizing AI surveillance and feeding the personal data of everyday people into a vast network that could be accessed by all kinds of actors that don't always have our best interest in mind," Jenna Sherman, a campaign director for Ultraviolet, told Business Insider.

Sherman said that Ulta's answer — that Flock is used to combat retail theft — doesn't justify tracking every single inbound and outbound customer.

"As we'd say in the South, which is where I'm from, Ulta is using a shotgun to kill a fly. And we're all getting shot," she said. "The vast majority of people driving past these cameras aren't criminals — we're customers, employees, parents, and people running errands. Yet Flock and other ALPRs track our license plates and movements anyway, often without our knowledge or consent."

Sherman said the petition received 13,650 signatures as of Friday afternoon.

Flock cameras have been vandalized amid criticisms against the surveillance tech.

Raquel Natalicchio/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images

Fight for the Future, a nonprofit that advocates for digital rights, launched a campaign called "Deflock Lowe's" in February, providing a platform for people to organize protests and sign a petition demanding that the home-improvement retailer "drop Flock."

Reem Suleiman, a campaign director for Fight for the Future, told Business Insider that the initiative began in part after 404 Media publicized records showing that a local Texas sheriff's office could access Flock's license plate readers at 173 Lowe's locations.

"We were outraged to learn that Lowe's was further endangering the immigrants and day laborers, who were already being targeted by ICE at stores, by participating in this surveillance network and by voluntarily sharing camera data with other law enforcement agencies," Suleiman said.

Suleiman said there have been about 10 events organized and that the petition has received over 2,200 signatures. Lowe's had not responded to the organization since the initiative began, Suleiman said.

A spokesperson for Lowe's did not respond to a request for comment.

For LaPointe, there's a bit of a personal tie to Ulta, growing up as a girl in the Midwest, where strip malls with Ulta stores were common sights. She said shopping can now be "frustrating" when a company's practices conflict with personal values.

"Nowadays, I feel like there are so many moral conflicts with a lot of stores, and people have to navigate what it means to them to shop ethically," she said. "And it's definitely impacted my relationship with Ulta, having shopped there myself plenty over the years."

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They were getting closer to student-loan forgiveness. Then their progress was stripped away.

Some student-loan borrowers lost payments toward the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Dan Kitwood/Getty Images; Alyssa Powell/BI

• Public Service Loan Forgiveness promises student-debt relief after 10 years of qualifying payments.
• The Trump administration recently removed some student-loan borrowers' PSLF payments, citing coding errors under Biden.
• "My life has basically been hijacked," one borrower said.

Christina Quinones was two payments away from reaching the threshold for student-loan forgiveness.

She'd spent nine years and 10 months pursuing Public Service Loan Forgiveness, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after 10 years of qualifying payments. Quinones, who works in a Texas school district, was looking forward to the relief she believed was coming soon.

Then she got a letter from her servicer this summer: her 118 qualifying payments were decreased to 98, tacking on nearly two more years to her path to loan forgiveness.

"I was just shy of two payments," the 42-year-old said. "What happened?"

Ayelet Sheffey covers all things student debt, from the latest Education Department news to stories of borrowers navigating their loans. To stay up to date on her coverage, sign up to get email alerts for her new stories here.

The answer lies in the changes the federal government made to student-loan accounts in recent years.

In May 2024, the Biden administration extended a credit for some payments that had been previously deemed ineligible for forgiveness through PSLF or income-driven repayment plans.

Now, the Department of Education says coding errors "resulted in inaccurate payment counts for some borrowers." A department spokesperson did not comment on the number of borrowers affected by the "code errors" and had PSLF payments removed.

Business Insider reviewed the letter from Quinones' servicer, which said that "one or more of your qualifying payments has changed status to 'non-qualifying,'" and that in order to receive credit, she had to switch to a qualifying repayment plan.

Since President Donald Trump's student-loan repayment overhaul took effect July 1, borrowers have reported a range of challenges with their payments, including higher bills, inaccurate payments, and difficulty getting clear answers from their servicers. The Education Department said its changes are intended to curb excessive borrowing and simplify a complex repayment system, but borrowers said they're struggling to navigate the changes while planning for their financial futures.

Quinones is feeling defeated. She said her servicer could not give a clear explanation of why her payments were deemed ineligible, and she's holding off on making further ones until she receives clarity on her PSLF status.

"I was super excited because I was so close to relief," Quinones said. "And now I'm just so upset."

This story is part of Business Insider's "student debt spiral" series, which explores how rising student debt is changing the financial futures of millions. Do you have a story to share? Fill out this form, and we'll be in touch. Read more of our student-loan coverage here:

• 'A bunch of red tape': Student-loan borrowers can't get clear answers from the companies that manage their debt
• Student-loan borrowers are pushing off retirement, delaying children, and taking on 3 jobs to prep for repayment changes
• New student-loan repayment glitches are throwing borrowers' budgets into limbo

Holding out for student-loan forgiveness

Jennifer Krabill, 47, is in a similar situation. She spent more than a decade working for the states of New Jersey and Maryland, and made 90 qualifying payments toward PSLF. In August, her servicer said eight of those payments were deemed ineligible.

"My life has basically been hijacked for another eight months," Krabill said.

Her $120,000 student-loan balance comes from a joint bachelor's and master's program at American University and a J.D. from Delaware School of Law. She's spent more than seven years making monthly payments, and it hasn't been easy: In 2016, her wages were garnished when she couldn't make her student loan payments on a five-figure income.

She said PSLF was a beacon of hope; loan forgiveness would give her the freedom to move to Ohio, to be closer to her family. With the payment timeline now extended, she feels like she's "in a hostage situation."

"It makes me physically sick," Krabill said. "I don't even know what I rightfully owe because of all this extra stuff they've tacked on."

Borrower advocates have criticized the Trump administration's move to rescind PSLF credits. Julie Margetta Morgan, an Education Department official under Biden, said in a statement that "someone needs to stand up for borrowers here."

"Make sure public servants get what they're owed. Make servicers pay for errors they caused. Make Federal Student Aid accountable for the problems it caused, too," Morgan said. "Do all of that before you even think about reinstating a single loan."

The PSLF program is also embroiled in litigation. The Education Department planned to roll out a rule in July that would have limited eligibility for the program, excluding employers that did not align with the administration's definition of "public service," such as those that supported gender-affirming care. A federal judge blocked the rule from being implemented, and the Trump administration recently appealed the ruling.

Krabill's current plan: send letters to her local lawmakers and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regarding her situation, in hopes of regaining the PSLF credit she lost.

"I'm beyond frustrated," she said. "It took me a couple of days to even just recover. I can't believe months just got taken."

Have a story to share about student loans? Reach out to this reporter at asheffey@businessinsider.com.

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I lost my sight 5 years ago. Tesla's Cybercab gave me a glimpse of regaining my independence.

Gary Moss, right, who is blind, took his first ride in a driverless Tesla Cybercab with his son, David Moss.

David Moss

• Tesla launched its two-door, steering-wheel-free Cybercab on Thursday.
• Gary Moss and his son, David Moss, were among the first public riders to try the new vehicle.
• The father, who is blind, said a car like the Cybercab could help him regain independence.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Gary Moss, 62, a resident of Puyallup, Washington, and his son, David, a Tesla owner. Moss, who is blind, attended Tesla's Cybercab launch event with his son in Austin. Tesla made the Cybercab available to the Austin public following the event. The two hailed several rides in the Cybercab. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Gary Moss: Before I lost my vision, driving gave me the freedom to go where I needed, when I needed.

I used to drive 30,000 to 40,000 miles a year for my business. There was nothing more exciting to me than going to a place that I'd never been before on the open freeway. I found that to be as relaxing as a 10-mile run. It was almost the same euphoria.

Almost five years ago, around the end of October, I lost sight in one eye. Within a three to four-month period, my second eye went bad. I have cancer that's treatable but not curable.

David Moss: They realized he had a softball-sized tumor in his brain.

Gary: I'm now pretty good with a cane. I can get around my house without a second thought, and I'll do a lot of walking around the cul-de-sac. But there are a lot of places I can't go.

If I'm sitting in the middle of the day and I want to go to my favorite coffee shop, I used to have the freedom to do so. Now, I have to plan trips and bum favors. People are very nice to take me places, but I still have to ask them, and they have to be willing and have the time and ability to take me where I want to go.

David: I mostly help with driving him around or running errands. I'm also his personal stylist and shopper, too.

We used to go to a lot more sporting events and big things in heavy-traffic areas with lots of people around. We don't do that nearly as much anymore.

The Cybercab feels like a 'living room'

Gary: The first thing I noticed about the Cybercab was how easy it was to get in. I appreciate the doors opening automatically. It was like having the chauffeur open the door and say, "Oh, Mr. Moss, glad to see you."

Tesla's regular flush handles can be a little difficult for me. You have to hit them with a thumb and grab them at the same time. With the Cybercab, they open up, you step in, and you step out. I'll put my hand on the door so I don't run into the edge.

Gary Moss and his son, David Moss, took several rides in a Cybercab after Tesla held a launch event in Austin.

David Moss

David: If you walk toward the doors in a way that they'll be in your path, the doors will only open part of the way.

Gary: Tesla also had a little phrase: "We want you to feel like you're in your living room." That really worked especially for me because I'm not distracted by things going by. I'm sitting there in a very comfortable seat listening to good music and chatting with my son.

At the end of my time in my second living room, all of a sudden, I show up where I want to be.

Other people's driving scares me, but these cars don't.

David: He's taken six Cybercab rides by now.

Gary: When I'm with people who are gracious enough to drive me someplace, I try not to criticize too much. Countless things grab my attention, like making last-minute decisions to change course or hitting the brakes. That virtually never happens when I'm in a Tesla.

'It's not all the way there'

David: On a busy street with five or six Cybercabs on the block, there weren't any audible cues that could help my dad know which one was ours. That's one of the things that would need to improve.

Gary: When you're in a spot with several Cybercabs, there needs to be a way to make it easy for me to know which one I'm walking up to.

David: We appreciated that we could ask Grok, the AI voice assistant, a few things: where we were, how many miles we had left, and the time. But my dad wouldn't be able to change or set the destination.

There was more voice-activation stuff than we anticipated, but it's not all the way there for someone like my dad.

The Cybercab's interior user interface mainly consists of a large screen.

David Moss

Gary: One of the problems with ride-hailing apps is that they require the ability to use the phone, and I can only use my phone with voice activation.

If I could just say, "Hey Siri or Grok, I need a cab to take me to the grocery store or take me someplace to eat," and in a couple of minutes one showed up, and all I have to do is touch a button and I'm gone — I can't believe the options that I'd have. Sometimes I'd like to go someplace and get something to eat, and nobody wants to take me there.

And instead of a brief tone, announcing that we're here, maybe it would also help if the Cybercab gave me a brief summary of where we're parked and, using the cameras, what it's going to take to walk the, say, hundred feet between where we're parked and the door of the building I'm going into.

David: A lot of these things would be irrelevant if there were personal ownership of a Cybercab, if my dad only had to walk out to the driveway, and he could use Grok to control the car.

Gary: I'd buy a Cybercab. I'd feel pretty lucky. The experience is so close to being everything I need right now.

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Two scientists made huge bets on 'impossible' cancer treatments. They're finally paying off.

Tal Zaks, the former chief medical officer of Moderna, said he took "a very large financial bet just based on first principle beliefs."

Mike Coppola/Getty Images for Klick Health

• 2026 is the year of the cancer breakthrough, with innovations from Revolution Medicines and Moderna.
• "I'm almost tired of saying paradigm shift, but I haven't figured out a new phrase," one expert said.
• Innovators Greg Verdine and Tal Zaks pushed boundaries with risky, groundbreaking experiments.

Short sellers love to profit from biotech's big fails. The category remains their favorite to bet against because roughly two-thirds of publicly traded biotech companies ultimately go broke one way or another, losing money for investors.

This summer, however, that strategy went bust. Biotech has experienced unusual success with some of the category's biggest, longest cancer moonshots coming to fruition.

On August 19, Moderna announced positive late-stage results from a melanoma trial, sending its stock surging 177% — up to $174 per share — on the promise of the very first personalized cancer vaccine. A week later, on August 26, another astounding development: The FDA approved a pill to help treat late-stage prostate cancer. The drug is a new molecular "glue" from Revolution Medicines, a Silicon Valley-based biotech company, and it's capable of drugging so-called undruggable cancer targets.

"This is a whole new era," Dr. Andrew Coveler, who directs the Fred Hutch Pancreatic Cancer Specialty Clinic in Seattle, said. "I'm almost tired of saying paradigm shift, but I haven't figured out a new phrase."

These medicines are both used in concert with existing drugs, and neither is considered a cure for cancer. Instead, they're seen as breakthrough options that open up a new playing field for fighting cancer, targeting different mutations, and training the immune system in new ways.

The moves prompted a huge surge of cash for investors in the companies, prompting celebration at corporate offices.

"We raised our glass of champagne, but now back to work," Dr. Alan Sandler, the chief development officer at Revolution Medicines, said.

The successes weren't always obvious, though.

Two innovators — a chemical biologist and an oncologist — had both the vision and the capital to finally make these groundbreaking ideas work, despite many failures before.

A chemist who raised $125 million to chase an idea inspired by nature

Greg Verdine is a chemical biologist and former Harvard professor turned biotech entrepreneur. He turned to nature for inspiration to design a new molecular "glue" to target cancer.

Greg Verdine

In 2012, after four years of pleading for cash, Greg Verdine finally scrounged up the investors to give him $125 million for a cancer drug.

He didn't have a drug yet. In fact, he wasn't exactly sure how it could be made. He just had an idea inspired by nature for targeting one of cancer's most "undruggable" mutations, RAS.

The problem with RAS is that it is so smooth. Unlike other molecules, this protein has no characteristic sticky pockets or holes for a drug to glom onto. Even if you could figure out how to attach something to the smooth surface of this protein, you'd run the risk of having your therapy stick onto everything else in the body, too, potentially damaging healthy organs.

"People told me it was crazy. It'll never work"

- Greg Verdine

This is why most chemists before him gave up and called RAS an impossible mutation to target, even though it often drives tumor growth in some very tough-to-treat cancers, including pancreatic cancer, colon cancer, and lung cancer.

"I just found it totally unacceptable, pathetic, that we would say, 'Oh, well!' You've got all these patients," Verdine said. "We know exactly what's driving their cancer, but 'Oh, that's undruggable.' Come on!"

Verdine knew that molecular glues already existed in the natural world. Compounds produced by bacteria and fungi cause proteins to bind together, altering their function without completely destroying them. Some immunosuppressive drugs for organ transplantation take advantage of that biology.

The remaining question was: How can you engineer a new way to do that, targeting the "undruggable" RAS cancer mutation? By sticking the drug to another target, then gluing it onto RAS.

"People told me it was crazy. It'll never work," Verdine told Business Insider. "It's the combination of a target that's never been drugged before, and drugging it in a way that's never been done before. That sounds like compounding risks."

It turns out, Verdine is a pretty persuasive guy. He flew to France, where investors at Sanofi, a large French pharmaceutical company, were intrigued by his bullishness and agreed to pay 50% of his Series A funding round for his startup Warp Drive Bio.

"There was no IP. There was nothing. It was just an idea that we could drug RAS using molecular glue technology, and I had no idea how you might do it," Verdine said.

In 2018, the technology Verdine pioneered at Warp Drive was acquired by Revolution Medicines, where the chemistry was finessed further. Fourteen years after his initial bet, the FDA approved a drug by Revolution last week that does exactly what Verdine imagined.

Former Sen. Ben Sasse has late-stage, metastatic pancreatic cancer. He's been taking the new daily pill and says it helps.

Nikos Frazier/Omaha World-Herald via Getty Images

Former Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse, who has stage 4 pancreatic cancer, calls Revolution's pill, which he's been taking in a clinical trial, a "miracle" worker for reducing both his pain and dramatically shrinking tumor volume.

"I have much, much less pain than I had four months ago, when I was diagnosed," Sasse told "60 Minutes" in April. "And I have a massive 76% reduction in tumor volume."

For now, the drug, called Rasonque, is chiefly recommended for patients with advanced cancer and is meant to be used after chemotherapy. It costs about $40,000 a month, before insurance, and side effects include rashes, mouth sores, and some diarrhea.

Taking a $450 million bet based on a belief

Zaks was confident a cancer vaccine could work. It was just a matter of timing it right for the immune system.

Tal Zaks

For cancer doctor Tal Zaks, former chief medical officer at Moderna, the ambition was similar.

He knew a cancer vaccine could work. It just required the right architecture, asking the right questions, and conducting the right trial at the right time.

Oh, yes, and also lots of cash, including a $450 million deal with Keytruda-maker Merck to co-develop the technology.

"Where the naysayers are right in this regard is that for cancer vaccines, neither mice data nor phase 1 data even are indicative of whether it's going to work, so you're really taking a very large financial bet just based on first principle beliefs," Zaks said.

"The truth is that from a business perspective, this one was tough — it was a high risk, high reward type bet — it required a significant investment of capital."

He knew lots of cancer vaccines had failed before. He was confident there was a way to win, though, if the immune system was called up in the right way and at the right time.

"From a business perspective, this one was tough — it was a high risk, high reward type bet"

- Tal Zaks

Moderna's melanoma vaccine harnesses the genetic makeup of each patient's tumor — teaching the body to attack its own unique cancer mutations. It's administered after a patient's initial treatment and is designed to reduce the risk of cancer recurrence.

"That's really the success of Moderna. I was very adamant when we started this at Moderna that we either funded to the end of a randomized phase 2 or it's not worth doing," he said, referring to the mid-stage clinical trial where researchers tested their vaccine against standard methods for preventing relapse.

The results were a "wow," Zaks said, with Moderna's vaccine almost cutting in half the risk of skin cancer recurring. "This is not about curing mice or showing cool data for a scientific publication. This is about getting conclusive proof."

Moderna's new vaccine for melanoma patients is not FDA-approved, but could be on shelves as soon as 2027, pending a positive review. Common side effects include things you'd expect for a vaccine: some fatigue, chills, and mild pain at the injection site.

But there are caveats to this medication, too. It has to be taken in concert with Keytruda, a $12,000 to $25,000 IV immunotherapy. It also has to be used after a person's tumor has already been surgically removed.

40 years of discovery science also helped

A personalized cancer vaccine takes only a few weeks to produce, thanks to advances in genetic sequencing, and mRNA vaccine technology.

Bloomberg/Getty Images

Of course, there were other discoveries along the way that helped shepherd these breakthroughs, including a far better understanding of cancer genetics, a few key technical solutions, and additional cancer drugs that work in concert with the new technologies. In short, decades of plodding, hard work by scientists across the country and around the world.

"It's taken at least 40 years," mRNA vaccine researcher Phil Felgner, a University of California, Irvine professor who helped develop early versions of the lipid nanoparticle technology that powers the new vaccines, said. "It's taken this much time for it to mature."

And the work isn't over. Revolution is testing a pill for lung cancer, and seeing how its drugs might compete head-to-head against chemotherapy. Moderna is testing vaccines for lung, bladder, and kidney cancers.

These are "approaches that, hopefully, over time will have less toxic side effects to patients, and more targeted effects on the cancer," Dr. Christopher Flowers, division head of cancer medicine at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, said.

All accomplished with some new glue and a shot.

"Ideas sound simple once you get it out, and then there's elegance in that," Coveler, the pancreatic cancer doctor, said. "But I think the design and the specificity of these things was in no way easy to figure out."

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