Archive for the 'Surveillance' Category
UK Government to Give Office of Communications Power to Police Internet Content
February 12th, 2020Via: Independent: The UK government will give Ofcom new regulatory powers to police what is posted on the internet, it has said. The decision was made as part of a new “online harms“ plan that ministers say will protect people as they use the internet. However, critics say the addition of new rules and regulations […]
For Decades, U.S. and Germany Owned Swiss Crypto Company Used by 120 Countries
February 11th, 2020I am Jack’s complete lack of surprise. Via: Ars Technica: Crypto AG, a Swiss cryptographic communications gear company that got its big break building code-making gear for the US Army in World War II, has been a provider of encryption systems for more than 120 countries. And according to a report by The Washington Post […]
Federal Agencies Use Cellphone Location Data for Immigration Enforcement
February 7th, 2020Via: Wall Street Journal: The Trump administration has bought access to a commercial database that maps the movements of millions of cellphones in America and is using it for immigration and border enforcement, according to people familiar with the matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The location data is drawn from ordinary […]
FBI Document Reveals Local and State Police Are Collecting Intelligence to Expand Terrorism Watch List
February 7th, 2020Via: Yahoo News: Despite a federal judge’s ruling last September that the U.S. government’s terror watch list violates constitutional rights, an FBI report obtained by Yahoo News shows local and state law enforcement agencies are being used to gather intelligence on individuals to collect information about those already in the database. Law enforcement “encounters of […]
The Army Wants Technology that Can See Through Walls—and Identify People on the Other Side
February 6th, 2020Via: Nextgov: People can’t see through walls but the Army wants to pioneer next-level technology that will help soldiers do exactly that—with the added bonus of instantaneously offering advanced, penetrating insights that go far beyond what meets the eye. According to a recent request for information, the Army is accepting white papers to identify commercially […]
7-Eleven Tests Cashierless Store At North Texas Headquarters
February 6th, 2020Via: CBS: A new 700-square foot 7-Eleven store has opened in Texas, but this one doesn’t have a human cashier. The pilot store, at 7-Eleven headquarters in Irving, uses a mixture of algorithms and predictive technology to separate individual customers and their purchases from others in the store. The concept location offers some of the […]
San Francisco: A Dystopian Nightmare of Addiction, Homelessness and Criminality
February 2nd, 2020They have been showing it to us for several decades in novels and on screens: Cyberpunk: High Tech, Low Life: Via: Daily Mail: ‘San Francisco has always had hobos but we’ve never seen anything like this. It’s become a vision of some kind of strange dystopian future,’ says Joel Kotkin, a widely respected professor in […]
A Russian “Inspector” Spacecraft Now Appears To Be Shadowing An American Spy Satellite
January 31st, 2020Via: The Drive: Publicly available data suggests that a Russian inspector satellite has shifted its position in orbit to bring it relatively close to a U.S. KH-11 spy satellite. Russia has a number of what it calls “space apparatus inspectors” in orbit, which the U.S. government and others warn the Kremlin could use to gather […]
University of Missouri Tracking Students with Phone App
January 29th, 2020Get them ready for life in those lovely “smart” cities! Via: Kansas City Star: Officials say it’s for the students’ own good. … The phone app is called Spotter, developed by a former Mizzou basketball coach. It works using short-range phone sensors and campus-wide WiFi networks. The university can tell when a student crosses a […]
Seattle Is the First Area in U.S. Where Residents Can Vote Via Smartphones
January 22nd, 2020Here are a few words from the Bradley Tusk Wikipedia page: “Campaign manager for New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg‘s successful 2009 re-election bid, as Deputy Governor of Illinois.” “Communications Director for US Senator Chuck Schumer.” “The firm develops and runs large-scale, multi-jurisdictional campaigns for companies, including Comcast, Google, Walmart, AT&T, Pepsi, and institutions including […]
