Video from the cameras is often used in facial-recognition searches. A report finds they are most common in neighborhoods with large nonwhite populations.
Source: https://www.wired.com/story/all-seeing-eyes-new-york-15000-surveillance-cameras/
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Sidney Fussell
The Pentagon may be using commercial data to track Americans without due legal process, according to a letter from Senator Ron Wyden.
Source: https://www.engadget.com/the-pentagon-is-doing-warrantless-us-surveillance-ron-wyden-101201315.html
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Mashable has a great new piece — in video, and in text — about the intersections between COVID-19 restrictions and surveillance-style privacy invasions. The reporting by Tulika Bose and Jack Morse is smart and nuanced enough that it doesn’t veer into anti-masker conspiracy theories, and rather, takes a rational skeptic’s approach to the potential abuses — deliberate, or incidental — of the systems we’ve established to monitor the virus. — Read the rest
Source: https://boingboing.net/2020/10/17/how-coronavirus-restrictions-inadvertently-lead-to-mass-surveillance.html
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Thom Dunn
The National Security Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation violated thousands of people’s civil liberties by exploiting systems intended for sussing out foreign intelligence and criminal activity, a federal judge found per the Washington Post.
Source: https://gizmodo.com/even-a-federal-judge-agrees-that-the-fbi-and-nsa-are-fl-1844963050
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Alyse Stanley
The NSA argued its mass surveillance program stopped terrorist attacks – but a new U.S. court ruling found that this is not, and may have even been unconstitutional.
Source: https://threatpost.com/nsa-mass-surveillance-program-illegal-u-s-court-rules/158924/
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Lindsey O’Donnell
In a pairing that has all the makings of a privacy and/or human rights nightmare waiting to happen, the dystopian facial recognition software maker Clearview AI secured an ongoing contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week.
Source: https://gizmodo.com/controversial-face-recognition-firm-clearview-ai-is-tea-1844733876
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Alyse Stanley
Source: https://www.engadget.com/new-york-pause-facial-recognition-schools-051651027.html
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Source: https://www.engadget.com/facial-recognition-ban-bill-democrats-182006734.html
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Source: https://www.engadget.com/facial-recognition-wrongful-arrest-michigan-141531393.html
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POST Act comes amid efforts to overhaul police in New York, triggered by Black Lives Matter protests
Source: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/nypd-drones-spy-tech-police-new-york-bill-de-blasio-city-council-a9574951.html
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Alan Feuer
The US Senate has voted down an amendment that would limit surveillance of Americans’ internet records. Apparently, the true divide in Washington is not between Democrat and Republican, but those for or against the police state.
The US Senate met on Wednesday to debate the reauthorization of some provisions of the USA Freedom Act, an expansive domestic surveillance bill that expired in March. As Majority Leader Mitch McConnell brought the Act to the floor, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced an amendment that would explicitly bar law enforcement from snooping on Americans’ internet browsing and search histories without a warrant.
Prior to the vote, McConnell had urged his colleagues to reject the amendment. When votes were cast on Wednesday, ten Democratic senators heeded McConnell’s words, bringing the final vote to 59 Yeas and 37 Nays. One more positive vote would have given the amendment the three-fifths majority it needed to pass.
Fifty-nine members of the Senate just voted in favor of my amendment to block warrantless government surveillance of Americans’ browser history. It failed by just one vote. McConnell is that much closer to giving Bill Barr the green light to spy on Americans’ private information. https://t.co/IV5ERbte48
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) May 13, 2020
The 10 Democrats who joined GOP in defeating amendment to stop FBI warrantless surveillance of web browser history: Carper, Casey, Feinstein, Hassan, Jones, Kaine, Manchin, Shaheen, Warner and Whitehorse. Joined 2 Republicans & a Democrat in not showing up to vote: Bernie Sanders
— jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) May 13, 2020
Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) railed against the reauthorization of the USA Freedom Act in February, yet didn’t cast a vote on Wednesday. Online, commenters raged at the progressive kingpin for his absence.
As someone who supports Sanders, this one hurts deep. There’s no excuse from anyone who didn’t vote or voted no. Now McConnell’s going to allow Barr to go commit fascist overwatch on our search histories.
— Tomiwa Onasoga (@TommyTheIllest) May 13, 2020
Yet surveillance is not a partisan issue. As often as Democrats are presented as the party of civil liberties and Republicans as the party of the ‘forever war’, the fault line isn’t between red and blue. While McConnell brought the Freedom Act before the Senate this week, it passed the Democrat-controlled House by 278-136 in March, completely free of any restricting amendments.
Moreover, the reauthorization was sponsored by Reps. Jerry Nadler (New York) and Adam Schiff (California), two Democrats who have disagreed with McConnell on almost everything, except the expansion of the surveillance state.
Among the Democrats who shot down the amendment was Dianne Feinsten (California), who has flip-flopped on surveillance throughout her three decades on Capitol Hill. Feinstein voted to extend the 9/11-era Patriot Act in 2012, and was a staunch defender of the National Security Agency’s warrantless wiretapping program, even after it was exposed by whistleblower Edward Snowden who she described as a “traitor” in 2013.
However, as Feinstein’s Senate Intelligence Committee was compiling a lengthy report into the CIA’s use of torture in 2014, the Californian senator and surveillance enthusiast voiced “grave concerns” that the agency was spying on her committee’s computers. Ironically, Feinstein declared at the time that “the CIA search may also have violated the Fourth Amendment, [and] the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.”
Also on rt.com
The snitch in your pocket: How Silicon Valley uses advertising tech to spy on your lockdown behavior
In fact, all ten Democrats who voted against the amendment on Wednesday voted in favor of the USA Freedom Act back in 2015, helping take it comfortably past one half majority in the Democrat-held Senate of the time.
Back to the present, senators also have two similar amendments to vote on Wednesday. The first, introduced by Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) was passed 77-19. It would strengthen legal protections for suspects under federal surveillance. The second, authored by Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), would prohibit the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court from authorizing spying on US citizens, as it did when the FBI surveilled the Trump campaign in 2016.
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Source: https://www.rt.com/usa/488586-senate-blocks-surveillance-amendment/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS
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The Article Was Written/Published By: RT
The American Civil Liberties Union and New York Civil Liberties Union are challenging federal law enforcement’s use of facial recognition surveillance tech.
A lawsuit was filed Thursday against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
The agencies reportedly failed to comply with requests filed under the Freedom of Information Act.
So the ACLU is asking a federal court to order each department to turn over records concerning facial surveillance and biometric data.
“Unlike other ways of verifying a person’s identity, face recognition technology can enable persistent government surveillance on a massive scale,” Ashley Gorski, staff attorney with the ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a statement.
As of June 2019, CBP scanned the mugs of more than 20 million travelers entering and exiting the United States, according to an ACLU blog post. Several major airlines and the TSA have also partnered with Border Protection on face surveillance initiatives.
“The public has a right to know when, where, and how the government is using face recognition,” she continued. “And what safeguards, if any, are in place to protect our rights.”
The lawsuit is part of the ACLU’s ongoing efforts to bring facial surveillance technology under democratic control.
A number of cities and municipalities across the country have already passed or are considering bans on law enforcement’s use of face recognition software, according to the nonprofit.
“That we even need to go to court to pry out this information further demonstrates why we should be wary of weak industry proposals and why lawmakers urgently need to halt … use of this technology,” Gorski said. “There can be no meaningful oversight or accountability with such excessive, undemocratic secrecy.”
CBP, ICE, and TSA declined to comment on the pending litigation; Homeland Security did not immediately respond to Geek’s request for comment.
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Source: https://www.geek.com/tech/aclu-sues-for-government-facial-recognition-records-1820222/?source
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Stephanie Mlot
Clearview AI, the creepy facial-recognition company that scrapes your photos from social media, has been hacked.
According to a report by The Daily Beast, hackers accessed data including “its entire list of customers, the number of searches those customers have made and how many accounts each customer had set up.”
Yes, a company primarily focused on cybersecurity was hit with a data breach. Not a great look, guys!
In a notice sent to clients, which was reviewed by The Daily Beast, the company claimed there was “no compromise of Clearview’s systems or network,” the breach was fixed, and that none of the clients’ search histories were accessed. Read more…
More about Cybersecurity, Hacking, Facial Recognition, Clearview Ai, and Tech
Source: https://mashable.com/article/clearview-ai-client-list-hacked/
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Marcus Gilmer
A new report shows the National Security Agency’s $100 million domestic phone surveillance program was mostly a waste.
According to the study by the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), the NSA’s program resulted in only one “significant” investigation between 2015 and 2019. It led to two new leads, and 13 leads the FBI already had, according to the New York Times.
The PCLOB is an independent board with members appointed by the president and approved by the U.S. Senate. Created by the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007, the board’s main task is “to ensure that the federal government’s efforts to prevent terrorism are balanced with the need to protect privacy and civil liberties.” Read more…
More about Nsa, Surveillance, Edward Snowden, Tech, and Politics
Source: https://mashable.com/article/nsa-surveillance-program-failure/
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Marcus Gilmer
Authorities in China have deployed drones to combat the spread of coronavirus in a variety of ways since the outbreak began, including disinfectant drones and drones that fly around with a loudspeaker to tell people they should keep their masks on. But there’s another way that police in China have started to use…
Source: https://gizmodo.com/china-using-drones-to-combat-coronavirus-covid-19-out-1841691957
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Matt Novak
The Trump administration is using private data to monitor immigration and the border, thanks to a massive database of cellphone records it purchased from private vendors.
Why it matters: Experts are concerned about the scale and use of the data, even if it appears to be on firm legal footing, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Between the lines: The government is quickly putting this data to use alongside its own increased collection.
The big picture: In the U.S., the government seems to be leaning ever more into its ability to weaponize big data, reports Axios tech editor Kyle Daly.
The bottom line: This adds to concerns about the tech industry’s model of amassing hoards of data and assuring people it is fine because it gets anonymized.
Go deeper: Government wants access to personal data while it pushes privacy
Source: https://www.axios.com/cellphone-tracking-everywhere-2dabc156-c5fb-48d9-92a3-7c89bbb8e1b5.html
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Axios
The Department of Homeland Security has bought a commercial database that tracks movements of “millions” of cellphones in America, and is using it to curb undocumented immigrants, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter and documents it has seen.
Such databases are legal in the U.S. and are typically used for commercial purposes, for example serving ads. But this is the first discovery of the U.S. government using these tools to detect illegal border crossings and undocumented immigrants.
The Department of Homeland Security admitted to buying access to this data, but would not comment on how it’s been used, the WSJ says. Read more…
More about Smartphone, Location Tracking, Tech, Smartphones, and Politics
Source: https://mashable.com/article/dhs-tracking-cellphone-location/
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Stan Schroeder
Saying George Orwell’s 1984 is my favorite book is like saying Star Wars is my favorite movie franchise. It would be more accurate to call them obsessions. I consume both in their entirety at least once a year, and have read everything there is to read about their creators. Their styles couldn’t be more opposite – naive space fantasy vs. ultimate hard-nosed dystopia — but both are exquisite examples of worldbuilding.
And both returned to our world with a bang in the 2010s, when they were needed more than ever. Star Wars topped the all-time box office charts; 2016 happened, and 1984 came back to the bestseller lists, where it has bounced around ever since. (It has also cropped up in protest signs around the world.) Read more…
More about George Orwell, 1984, End Of Year 2019, Culture, and Politics
Source: https://mashable.com/article/1984-george-orwell-2010s/
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Chris Taylor
Technologists have long speculated on the privacy implications of largely ungoverned, camera-enabled vehicle fleets roaming the roads of America. Now we’ve finally bumped up against the tip of that particularly worrying iceberg.
Source: https://gizmodo.com/oh-good-the-new-police-surveillance-vector-is-self-dri-1840683007
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The Article Was Written/Published By: Bryan Menegus
Police departments partnered with Amazon’s Ring security service had access to maps that revealed where Ring video doorbells were located, CNET reports. While Amazon has said police do not have access to the location of devices — which they can requ…Source: https://www.engadget.com/2019/12/03/amazon-ring-video-doorbell-police-map/
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