Archive for the 'Surveillance' Category
Australian Government Scrambles to Authorize Mass Surveillance
September 24th, 2014Via: EFF: This week, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott used recent terrorist threats as the backdrop of a dire warning to Australians that “for some time to come, the delicate balance between freedom and security may have to shift. There may be more restrictions on some, so that there can be more protection for others.” […]
FBI Plans Rapid DNA Dragnets
September 24th, 2014Via: Nextgov: The FBI is preparing to accelerate the collection of DNA profiles for the government’s massive new biometric identification database. Developers of portable DNA analysis machines have been invited to a Nov. 13 presentation to learn about the bureau’s vision for incorporating their technology into the FBI’s new database. So-called rapid DNA systems can […]
Hundreds of Floating Robots Could Soon Surveil the Oceans
September 24th, 2014Via: cNet: Boeing and Liquid Robotics today announced a partnership to make water-borne robots that can handle a variety of surveillance jobs, ranging from hunts for submarines to the detection of drug traffickers. Silicon Valley’s Liquid Robotics is the manufacturer of the Wave Glider SV3, a $300,000 self-powered, seafaring data center that offers customers — […]
Air Force Funds Pocket-Sized Drone for Surveilling Tight Spaces
September 18th, 2014Via: Ars Technica: The US Air Force has awarded a contract to CyPhy Works, a Danvers, Massachusetts-based startup led by CEO (and iRobot co-founder) Helen Greiner. CyPhy will design and deliver a pocket-sized drone for use in search and rescue operations in collapsed buildings, tunnels, and other confined spaces and steep grades that may be […]
John Key Concedes Edward Snowden May Well Be Right, While Repeating Absurd Denials
September 16th, 2014Thanks, Captain. Via: New Zealand Herald: Prime Minister John Key acknowledged today that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s claim that New Zealanders’ data is accessible through the controversial XKeyscore system “may well be right”. However, he maintained that information will not have been gathered under any Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) mass surveillance programme as the […]
University of Virginia/MITRE: 3D Printed UAV
September 16th, 2014Via: Wired: We have 3-D printed keys, guns and shoes—now a research team at the University of Virginia has created a 3D printed UAV drone for the Department of Defense. In the works for three years, the aircraft, no bigger than a remote-controlled plane, can carry a 1.5-pound payload. If it crashes or needs a […]
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Isn’t Telling the Truth About Mass Surveillance
September 15th, 2014Via: First Look: Let me be clear: any statement that mass surveillance is not performed in New Zealand, or that the internet communications are not comprehensively intercepted and monitored, or that this is not intentionally and actively abetted by the GCSB, is categorically false. If you live in New Zealand, you are being watched. At […]
New Zealand Launched Mass Surveillance Project While Publicly Denying It
September 15th, 2014Keep smilin’, John. Via: First Look: The New Zealand spy agency, the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), worked in 2012 and 2013 to implement a mass metadata surveillance system even as top government officials publicly insisted no such program was being planned and would not be legally permitted. Documents provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden […]
WikiLeaks Releases Copies of German Malware Used by Intelligence Agencies to Spy on Journalists, Political Dissidents and Others
September 15th, 2014Via: WikiLeaks: Today, 15 September 2014, WikiLeaks releases previously unseen copies of weaponised German surveillance malware used by intelligence agencies around the world to spy on journalists, political dissidents and others. FinFisher (formerly part of the UK based Gamma Group International until late 2013) is a German company that produces and sells computer intrusion systems, […]
Local and State Police Involved in Sensitive Hemisphere Program
September 14th, 2014Via: The Declaration: Federal, state, and local police, with the assistance of phone company employees embedded within DEA narcotics intelligence units, are utilizing an unclassified but “law enforcement sensitive” program, known as Hemisphere, which provides nearly unfettered access to an enormous database containing call records of all telephone calls passing through phone company switches likely […]
