Archive for the 'Surveillance' Category
British Police Use Alternating Current Frequency Fluctuations to Authenticate Audio Recordings
December 12th, 2012Via: BBC: For the last seven years, at the Metropolitan Police forensic lab in south London, audio specialists have been continuously recording the sound of mains electricity. It is an all pervasive hum that we normally cannot hear. But boost it a little, and a metallic and not very pleasant buzz fills the air. … […]
Public Buses Across Country Quietly Adding Microphones to Record Passenger Conversations
December 10th, 2012Via: Wired: Transit authorities in cities across the country are quietly installing microphone-enabled surveillance systems on public buses that would give them the ability to record and store private conversations, according to documents obtained by a news outlet.
Newly Released Drone Records Reveal Extensive Military Flights in U.S.
December 8th, 2012Via: Electronic Frontier Foundation: Today EFF posted several thousand pages of new drone license records and a new map that tracks the location of drone flights across the United States. These records, received as a result of EFF’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), come from state and local […]
And Now… ‘Conservation Drones’
December 8th, 2012Via: Mother Jones: First things first: No, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is not using drones to vaporize poachers. But thanks to a five million dollar grant awarded by Google on Tuesday, the organization is expanding its use of unmanned aerial vehicles to track and deter criminals who illegally hunt endangered animal species around the […]
Dotcom Can Pursue Case Against Police, GCSB
December 6th, 2012Via: New Zealand Herald: Details of the top secret international spy agency ring known as Echelon will have to be produced after a new judgment in the Kim Dotcom case. The internet tycoon was also cleared to pursue a case for damages against the police and the Government Communications Security Bureau in a judgment which […]
New DVR Will Target Advertisements Based on Recordings of Users
December 5th, 2012USPTO: 20120304206 Via: Fierce Cable: Verizon (NYSE: VZ) has filed a patent application for targeting ads to viewers based on information collected from infrared cameras and microphones that would be able to detect conversations, people, objects and even animals that are near a TV. If the detection system determines that a couple is arguing, a […]
ITU Approves Deep Packet Inspection Standard Behind Closed Doors, Ignores Huge Privacy Implications
December 5th, 2012Via: Techdirt: Techdirt has run a number of articles about the ITU’s World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT) currently taking place in Dubai. One of the concerns is that decisions taken there may make the Internet less a medium that can be used to enhance personal freedom than a tool for state surveillance and oppression. […]
CyPhy Works Reveals Tethered UAV
December 5th, 2012It’s, “Impervious to weather, tracking and interception.” Hmm. How about scissors or 00-Buckshot? Via: Engadget: A new venture from an iRobot co-founder called CyPhy Works has borne fruit in the form of two flying drones dedicated to surveillance duty. The first, called Ease, is a mere foot in diameter by 16-inches tall and can fly […]
Attack of the Drones
December 4th, 2012Via: Journeyman Pictures: More: Robot Wars ‘Do we really want robots that can lie to us?’
RFID Tracking for Vatican Employees
December 3rd, 2012Via: Telegraph: Vatican clergy and employees will be issued with an identity card complete with a microchip-tracking device in sweeping new security measures designed to prevent a repeat of the Vatileaks scandal. Much tighter controls have already been introduced for anyone seeking access or photocopies of the Holy See’s archives, dossiers and documents. The Papal […]
