CNET: License plate tracking for police set to go nationwide. “Police often rely on automatic license plate readers to track the movement of cars in their jurisdiction. A surveillance company’s new initiative looks to expand those capabilities nationwide. On Tuesday, Flock Safety, which makes a license plate reader, announced the ‘Total Analytics Law Officers Network,’ […]
TechCrunch: CBP says it’s ‘unrealistic’ for Americans to avoid its license plate surveillance. “U.S. Customs and Border Protection has admitted that there is no practical way for Americans to avoid having their movements tracked by its license plate readers, according to its latest privacy assessment. CBP published its new assessment — three years after its […]
Techdirt: Puerto Rico’s Justice Department Demanded Info From Facebook About Journalists Who Livestreamed Protests. “While the DOJ and FBI have dealt with some limited repercussions due to their targeting of First Amendment activities (which includes targeting Muslims because they’re Muslims), it really hasn’t promised to stop doing this. Nor has it been told to stop […]
MIT Technology Review: Most Americans think they’re being constantly tracked—and that there’s nothing they can do. “It’s not just that Americans (correctly) think companies are collecting their data. They don’t like it. About 69% of Americans are skeptical that companies will use their private information in a way they’re comfortable with, while 79% don’t believe […]
New York Times: A Paranoid Guide to Fighting the ‘Bugging Epidemic’. “Tiny cameras have been found in places where they shouldn’t be, like Airbnb rentals, public bathrooms and gym locker rooms. So often, in fact, that security experts warn that we are in the throes of a ‘bugging epidemic.’ It is not paranoid to take […]
Brookings: 10 actions that will protect people from facial recognition software. “Facial recognition (FR) software inspires intense reactions from many people. On the one hand, a number of individuals worry that FR will usher in an Orwellian nightmare of mass surveillance and privacy intrusions. They see FR combined with ubiquitous video cameras, artificial intelligence (AI), […]
MSN News: Citing ‘unprecedented’ surveillance, ACLU sues federal agencies over facial-recognition scans . “The American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday sued the Justice Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the FBI for records detailing their use of facial-recognition software, arguing the agencies have secretly implemented a nationwide surveillance technology that threatens Americans’ privacy and civil […]
CNET: Trump administration reportedly wants to extend NSA phone surveillance program. “The Trump administration has reportedly asked Congress to permanently reauthorize all provisions of the USA Freedom Act, including a controversial National Security Agency program that collects and analyzes records on millions of Americans’ calls and texts in an attempt to thwart terrorists.”
Ars Technica: Police can get your Ring doorbell footage without a warrant, report says. “Hundreds of police departments around the country have partnerships with Amazon’s home surveillance brand Ring. The relationship benefits both sides: the company provides tech and software to law enforcement, and the cops both provide data to Amazon and also help sell […]
EurekAlert: Emotion-detection applications built on outdated science, report warns. “The authors note that the general public and some scientists believe that there are unique facial expressions that reliably indicate six emotion categories: anger, sadness, happiness, disgust, fear, and surprise. But in reviewing more than 1,000 published findings about facial movements and emotions, they found that […]
Education Week: Civil Rights Groups Sound Alarm Over Florida School-Safety Database. “A new state database intended to prevent school shootings represents a ‘massive surveillance effort’ that should be immediately halted, a coalition of nearly three dozen advocacy organizations told Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in a letter delivered Tuesday. “
The Verge: Facial recognition smart glasses could make public surveillance discreet and ubiquitous. “From train stations and concert halls to sport stadiums and airports, facial recognition is slowly becoming the norm in public spaces. But new hardware formats like these facial recognition-enabled smart glasses could make the technology truly ubiquitous, able to be deployed by […]
MakeUseOf: 4 Ways to Avoid Facial Recognition Online and in Public. “Many people are concerned about facial recognition software being used to track their movements and the threat to civil liberties that this software poses. While this issue is being debated, there are steps you can take to avoid some facial recognition software, both online […]
Education Week: Florida Plan for a Huge Database to Stop School Shootings Hits Delays, Legal Questions. “It was supposed to be operational six months ago, part of Florida’s wide-ranging effort to prevent the next school shooting: a sprawling new database that would merge people’s social media posts with millions of records on individuals who have […]
Techdirt: The DHS’s Social Media Monitoring Is Causing Collateral Damage, But Doesn’t Seem To Be Making The Nation Safer. “While DHS components have stepped up the intrusiveness of their border screenings, they haven’t been able to show all these manhours and infringed rights are actually doing anything to keep the country safer. More and more […]