police Archives : Page 2 of 4 : PIA

Sep 13, 2021 |
Glyn Moody |
General Privacy News, Governments, Social Media, Surveillance,

What The West’s Disorderly Withdrawal from Afghanistan Tells Us About Privacy and its Preservation

In the wake of the West’s chaotic withdrawal from Kabul, and the rapid takeover of the country by the Taliban, Afghanistan continues to dominate the headlines. Given the major geopolitical implications of these events, with China already looking to capitalize on the West’s failure, that’s hardly surprising. What is more unexpected is how prominently issues … Continue reading “What The West’s Disorderly Withdrawal from Afghanistan Tells Us About Privacy and its Preservation”

Jun 14, 2021 |
Glyn Moody |
General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Yet another biometric surveillance system: using a person’s “micro-movements” to detect emotions

Surveillance systems often use biometrics to identify key aspects of individuals. A previous blog post discussed the use of gait recognition, behavioral biometrics, and even cardiac signatures for this purpose. But without doubt, the main technique here is facial recognition, and this has been discussed many times on this blog. The problems with this approach … Continue reading “Yet another biometric surveillance system: using a person’s “micro-movements” to detect emotions”

Jun 11, 2021 |
Glyn Moody |
Cybersecurity, Encryption, General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

What does the recent Trojan Shield sting tell us about privacy, trust and surveillance?

Police forces across the world have revealed details of Trojan Shield, what is probably the most successful digital sting operation yet: A series of large-scale law enforcement actions were executed over the past days across 16 countries resulting in more than 700 house searches, more than 800 arrests and the seizure of over 8 tons … Continue reading “What does the recent Trojan Shield sting tell us about privacy, trust and surveillance?”

Apr 13, 2021 |
Glyn Moody |
General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Privacy organizations call for facial recognition to be regulated or even banned, as police turn to Clearview AI

At the beginning of last year, concerns about facial recognition technology increased with the appearance of the start-up Clearview AI. It was problematic for two main reasons. First, the size of its database, which the company claimed held over three billion facial images. Secondly, for its business model, which was mainly based on providing police … Continue reading “Privacy organizations call for facial recognition to be regulated or even banned, as police turn to Clearview AI”

Feb 10, 2021 |
Glyn Moody |
General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Code is law: why software openness and algorithmic transparency are vital for privacy

This blog has written a number of times about the growing threat that low-cost, rapid DNA sequencing represents for privacy. The increased use of genetic material by the police to identify suspects poses particular problems. A recent case in the US involving a DNA sample raises a new issue. Because of its importance, both the … Continue reading “Code is law: why software openness and algorithmic transparency are vital for privacy”

Jan 13, 2021 |
Glyn Moody |
Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Not going dark: personal data from the Internet of Things ushers in a golden age for law enforcement

Last week, Privacy News Online wrote about the increasing use of vehicle forensics to solve crimes. These “smartphones on wheels” join a growing list of everyday devices that are becoming “smart” – that is, incorporating powerful computers, often linked to the Internet – and therefore of interest to law enforcement. Recent posts on this blog … Continue reading “Not going dark: personal data from the Internet of Things ushers in a golden age for law enforcement”

Dec 15, 2020 |
Glyn Moody |
General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Should we worry about the possibility of police surveillance using autonomous drones with added AI ? Too late: it’s already here

A couple of weeks ago, Privacy News Online wrote about France’s controversial Global Security Law. One striking element was the authorization of drones for routine police surveillance. These particular “eyes in the sky” have been discussed a number of times on this blog. But a recent article in the New York Times shows that we … Continue reading “Should we worry about the possibility of police surveillance using autonomous drones with added AI ? Too late: it’s already here”

Dec 1, 2020 |
Glyn Moody |
General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

France rocked again by demonstrations against the new “Global Security Law”, which includes mass surveillance by police drones

For the second time in a week, demonstrations took place across France against a new “Global Security Law”. The proposed legislation would bring in wide-ranging police surveillance in France, but the main concern of demonstrators is Article 24, which is designed to penalize the “malicious” dissemination of images of French police officers: Pending legislation in … Continue reading “France rocked again by demonstrations against the new “Global Security Law”, which includes mass surveillance by police drones”

Nov 24, 2020 |
Glyn Moody |
Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Amazon’s Ring moves even closer to becoming the perfect urban police surveillance system

Back in July last year, this blog wrote about Amazon’s Ring series, whose key product is a small Internet-connected camera built into a doorbell. At that time, it was already clear that the system posed a serious threat to privacy, particularly in the urban context. Since then, there has been a massive rise in the … Continue reading “Amazon’s Ring moves even closer to becoming the perfect urban police surveillance system”

Oct 23, 2020 |
Caleb Chen |
Cybersecurity, General Privacy News, Governments, Surveillance,

Police across America can break into locked phones, and often do so without a warrant

A new report by non profit in Washington D.C. has used FOIA requests to highlight that police departments across the country have tools to break into phones and download all data. The report is called “Mass Extraction: The Widespread Power of U.S. Law Enforcement to Search Mobile Phones.” Over 2,000 FOIA requests, Upturn discovered that … Continue reading “Police across America can break into locked phones, and often do so without a warrant”