Tag: police
  • Jan 31, 2020 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

What can we learn from the Clearview “end of privacy” story?

A couple of weeks ago, a story in the New York Times put facial recognition, and the serious problems it raises, firmly into the mainstream. It concerned the start-up Clearview AI, which, as the headline breathlessly informed us, “might end privacy as we know it.” The reason for this worrying description is not any breakthrough … Continue reading “What can we learn from the Clearview “end of privacy” story?”

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  • Jan 17, 2020 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Police forces around the world continue to deploy facial recognition systems, despite no evidence of their utility

Last month, this blog wrote about governments around the world continuing to trial facial recognition systems, and the growing concerns this is provoking. There’s one area in particular where facial recognition systems are deployed: law enforcement. That’s hardly a surprise, since the legal system can only operate if it identifies alleged criminals that need to … Continue reading “Police forces around the world continue to deploy facial recognition systems, despite no evidence of their utility”

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  • Dec 18, 2019 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Smile as you buy your holiday goods in a store – you are probably being watched, tracked and analyzed

Amazon may have started out by selling books, but it is now getting heavily into the surveillance market. There are four main sectors where it is already working on solutions that pose risks to privacy. Three of them have been covered extensively in this blog before. They are: the home, with its Alexa devices; the … Continue reading “Smile as you buy your holiday goods in a store – you are probably being watched, tracked and analyzed”

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  • Jul 20, 2019 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Amazon’s collaborations with local police turn its Ring doorbell cameras into unofficial community surveillance systems

Amazon was founded almost exactly 25 years ago. Initially it sold books, and people saw it as an interesting early example of e-commerce, but probably assumed that it would remain a fairly small player in a relatively unexciting market. Nothing could be further from the truth. Amazon soon started selling goods in other sectors, and … Continue reading “Amazon’s collaborations with local police turn its Ring doorbell cameras into unofficial community surveillance systems”

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  • Mar 27, 2019 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • General Privacy News, Governments,

AI-based predictive policing systems widely used in US and UK, despite concerns about privacy, and flaws in the approach

Back in 2017, Privacy News Online wrote about a massive police system being built in China that would allow “predictive policing” – the ability to spot criminals before they even commit a crime. As we warned then, China often turns out to provide an early glimpse of what will later happen in the West, and … Continue reading “AI-based predictive policing systems widely used in US and UK, despite concerns about privacy, and flaws in the approach”

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  • Dec 22, 2018 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

As facial recognition systems continue to spread, so do concerns about their deployment

Facial recognition is hardly new – Privacy News Online has been writing about the topic for years now. But it is becoming more and more the norm, as some recent news shows. For example, the following story from Rolling Stone: Taylor Swift fans mesmerized by rehearsal clips on a kiosk at her May 18th Rose … Continue reading “As facial recognition systems continue to spread, so do concerns about their deployment”

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  • Nov 1, 2018 |
  • Caleb Chen |
  • General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Starting November 1st, Chinese police can go to any Chinese ISP to copy your data

Earlier in October 2018, the Chinese government passed a law that grants local and central law enforcement the ability to enter the premises of any internet service providers (ISPs) or internet service companies (read: VPN companies) to inspect and copy anything. SCMP reports that this new law tightens China’s control of its cyberspace, which already … Continue reading “Starting November 1st, Chinese police can go to any Chinese ISP to copy your data”

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  • Aug 4, 2018 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments,

Dedicated first responder network raises privacy, transparency and net neutrality issues

Providing first responders such as the police, fire services and paramedics with the best available technology makes sense. Lives can be saved and disasters averted if action is taken as promptly as possible, and key information shared widely among relevant personnel. But as previous posts on Privacy News Online have noted, the enhanced capabilities of … Continue reading “Dedicated first responder network raises privacy, transparency and net neutrality issues”

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  • Jul 6, 2018 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • General Privacy News, Governments,

The Next Frontier in Threats to your Privacy: Voice Recognition

Privacy News Online has been tracking the increasing use of facial recognition technologies for some time. Concerns about their wider deployment are growing. But the surveillance world does not stand still. While people focus their attention on facial recognition, a new form of tracking is being rolled out: voice recognition – detecting who is speaking, … Continue reading “The Next Frontier in Threats to your Privacy: Voice Recognition”

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  • May 28, 2018 |
  • Glyn Moody |
  • Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

In China’s footsteps: Amazon and US schools normalize automatic facial recognition and constant surveillance

Amazon has developed a powerful cloud-based facial recognition system called “Rekognition”, which has major implications for privacy. It is already being used by multiple US police forces to carry out surveillance and make arrests, the ACLU has learned. Amazon claims that Rekognition offers real-time face matching across tens of millions of individuals held in a … Continue reading “In China’s footsteps: Amazon and US schools normalize automatic facial recognition and constant surveillance”

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