Archive for the 'Police State' Category
Police Can Now Knock On Your Door, Listen for Sounds Suggesting Evidence Is Being Destroyed (Whatever That Means), and Then Break In—No Warrant Necessary
May 17th, 2011Game over. Via: Los Angeles Times: The Supreme Court, in an 8-1 decision in a Kentucky case, says police officers who loudly knock on a door in search of illegal drugs and then hear sounds suggesting evidence is being destroyed may break down the door and enter without a search warrant. The Supreme Court on […]
Indiana Court: No Right to Resist Illegal Cop Entry Into Home
May 14th, 2011Via: NW Times: Overturning a common law dating back to the English Magna Carta of 1215, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Hoosiers have no right to resist unlawful police entry into their homes. In a 3-2 decision, Justice Steven David writing for the court said if a police officer wants to enter a […]
Britain: Pre-Cime Arrests
May 2nd, 2011Via: Guardian: Activists have condemned a series of “pre-crime” arrests carried out by the Metropolitan police on the eve of the royal wedding as disturbing, Orwellian and of doubtful legality. Republican activists planning events almost a mile away from Westminster Abbey were held for up to 24 hours in police cells around the capital on […]
Data from TomTom Navigation Devices Used by Dutch Police to Set Speed Traps
April 28th, 2011Via: Guardian: Dutch drivers might have wondered how it was that speed traps were always in just the right place to catch speeders. It turned out to be simple enough: if they owned a TomTom, their in-car satnav was spying on them, and the aggregated data about cars’ speed was being sold via the government […]
Kings Point, New York: ‘The Most Extensive Municipal Surveillance System In The United States’
April 26th, 2011Via: CBS: The wealthy Long Island village is planning an extensive network of security cameras that scan license plates to help reduce the number of property and home invasion crimes. The 3.3-square mile North Shore community is home to 5,000 residents. The plan calls for 44 cameras to eventually be installed at the village’s 19 […]
Michigan Police Copying Smartphone Data During Routine Traffic Stops?
April 20th, 2011Via: Popular Mechanics: In Michigan, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a complaint alleging that Michigan State Police officers used forensic cellphone analyzers to snoop in drivers’ cellphones during routine traffic stops. PM talked to a Fourth Amendment expert to sort through whether that amendment’s protections against illegal search and seizure should stop […]
Police Increasingly Peeping at E-Mail, Instant Messages
April 14th, 2011This article ignores the existence of the NSA’s large scale, warrantless intercept program that’s running inside the U.S. Via: MacWorld: Law enforcement organizations are making tens of thousands of requests for private electronic information from companies such as Sprint, Facebook and AOL, but few detailed statistics are available, according to a privacy researcher. Police and […]
New Zealand: Controversial Internet Piracy Bill Becomes Law
April 14th, 2011If at first you don’t succeed, try again under urgency. Via: Stuff: A bill that could see internet users have their access cut off if they repeatedly share copyright material has been passed by Parliament. The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill, which aims to stamp out internet piracy, passed by 111 votes to 11 […]
EFF to San Francisco Entertainment Commission: Don’t Turn SF into a Police State
April 13th, 2011Stark raving maniac fascism. Via: EFF: The city of San Francisco has a long history of political activism and cultural diversity, which could be in danger if the San Francisco Entertainment Commission has their way. The Electronic Frontier Foundation joined civil liberties and privacy groups in criticizing a proposal from the San Francisco Entertainment Commission […]
French Veil Ban: First Woman Fined for Wearing Niqab
April 12th, 2011Via: Guardian: Police have fined a woman in a shopping centre car park outside Paris for wearing a niqab, or full-face Islamic veil, in the first enforcement of France’s burqa ban. The 28-year-old woman was stopped by police in the car park in Les Mureaux, north-west of Paris, at 5.30pm on Monday, the day the […]
