Episodes

  • Surveil-links: Maine, Location, North Carolina, Schools, Oracle, and iOS

    Surveil-links: Maine, Location, North Carolina, Schools, Oracle, and iOS
    Apr 26 2021
    #142: The Defund Police Movement Takes Aim at Fusion Centers and Mass Surveillance

    April 21, 2021 | The Intercept by Alice Speri | ~2816 words

    #143: 'Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act' Would Ban Clearview and Warrantless Location Data Purchases

    April 21, 2021 | Motherboard by Joseph Cox | ~1097 words

    #144: NC lawmakers want to give police even more power to track your phone without a warrant

    April 21, 2021 | The News & Observer by Will Doran and Danielle Battaglia | ~700 words

    #145: ‘High-Surveillance’ Schools Lead to More Suspensions, Lower Achievement

    April 21, 2021 | Education Week by Sarah D. Sparks | ~1108 words

    #146: How a Chinese Surveillance Broker Became Oracle’s “Partner of the Year”

    April 22, 2021 | The Intercept by Mara Hvistendahl | ~4099 words

    #147: The New iOS Update Lets You Stop Ads From Tracking You—So Do It

    April 27, 2021 | Wired by Lily Hay Newman | ~923 words
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    8 mins
  • Surveil-links: iPhones, Biometrics, FLoC, New Zealand, and Russia

    Surveil-links: iPhones, Biometrics, FLoC, New Zealand, and Russia
    Apr 19 2021
    #136: The FBI wanted to unlock the San Bernardino shooter’s iPhone. It turned to a little-known Australian firm.

    April 14, 2021 | Washington Post by Ellen Nakashima and Reed Albergotti | ~2203 words

    #137: MEPs call for European AI rules to ban biometric surveillance in public

    April 15, 2021 | TechCrunch by Natasha Lomas | ~741 words

    #138: Nobody is flying to join Google’s FLoC

    April 16, 2021 | The Verge by Dieter Bohn | ~1603 words

    #139: Police call in experts to advise on facial recognition technology

    April 16, 2021 | RNZ Morning Report | 5:04 (audio)

    #140: Russia’s surveillance state still doesn’t match China. But Putin is racing to catch up.

    April 17, 2021 | Washington Post by Robyn Dixon | ~1331 words

    More by me, #141: Privacy is a human right. San Jose should treat it as such.
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    10 mins
  • Surveil-links: Backyards, Cameras, Proctorio, Tennessee, and Cohorts

    Surveil-links: Backyards, Cameras, Proctorio, Tennessee, and Cohorts
    Apr 12 2021
    #130: Can police spy on you without a warrant? Colorado Supreme Court to consider modern surveillance techniques

    April 6, 2021 | The Denver Post by Shelly Bradbury | ~656 words

    #131: Public forum: Mixed reaction to York City surveillance system proposal

    April 6, 2021 | York Dispatch by Logan Hullinger | ~618 words

    #132: Proctorio Is Using Racist Algorithms to Detect Faces

    April 8, 2021 | Motherboard by Todd Feathers | ~691 words

    #133: Bill would expand surveillance on Tennessee interstates

    April 9, 2021 | News Channel 5 Nashville by Cole Johnson | ~165 words

    #134: Am I FLoCed? A New Site to Test Google's Invasive Experiment

    April 9, 2021 | Electronic Frontier Foundation's Deep Links Blog by Andrés Arrieta | ~950 words

    ICYMI: The Movement to Ban Surveillance Advertising
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    8 mins
  • Bonus: The Movement to Ban Surveillance Advertising

    Bonus: The Movement to Ban Surveillance Advertising
    Apr 9 2021

    In surveil-link #120 I highlighted a Wired article reporting on the group behind the website bansurveillanceadvertising.com. A coalition of organizations posted an open letter to the website calling on law makers to ban trageting advertisements shown to a user based on their behavior, browsing habits, purchase history, etc. The business model, perhaps most famously used by Facebook and Google, has recently come under intense scrutiny in both the public and private sectors. Apple soon will roll out prompts on iOS devices asking if a user wants to allow apps to track them. The planned feature has caused quite a feud between Apple and Facebook and their respective CEOs, something I've talked about in surveil-links #10, #20, and #53.

    The coalition published the open letter just days before a congressional hearing with the Jack Dorsey, Sundar Pichai, and Mark Zuckerberg, CEOs of Twitter, Google, and Facebook respectively. During the hearing, Representative Anna Eshoo of California, and the congressional representative of both Pichai and Zuckerberg, stated that "Representative Schakowsky and I are doing a bill that is going to ban this business model of surveillance advertising" after calling the practice "dangerous."

    I was able to sit down and discuss the letter and Representative Eshoo's comments with Jesse Lehrich, co-founder of Accountable Tech, the nonprofit organization behind the letter. I also got his thoughts on how the events of 2020 particularly brought the issue to the forefront of public dialogue, what he thinks about Facebook defending its surveillance by masquerading as the hero of small business owners, and what he thinks needs to happen in order for enact lasting legislation that addresses the issue effectively. 

    What do you think about the idea of banning surveillance advertising? Drop a comment on surveillance.today and let's discuss!
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    29 mins
  • Surveil-links: Union Busting, Lobbying, NSA, Capitol Raid, and Emotions

    Surveil-links: Union Busting, Lobbying, NSA, Capitol Raid, and Emotions
    Apr 6 2021
    #125: Fired, interrogated, disciplined: Amazon warehouse organizers allege year of retaliation

    March 30, 2021 | NBC News By Olivia Solon and April Glaser | ~3086 words

    #126: The Little-Known Data Broker Industry Is Spending Big Bucks Lobbying Congress

    April 1, 2021 | The Markup by Alfred Ng and Maddy Varner | ~2123 words

    #127: Mind the Gap: How the NSA might use SolarWinds campaign to do warrantless spying

    April 1, 2020 | Zero Day by Kim Zetter | ~2,721 words

    #128: How America’s surveillance networks helped the FBI catch the Capitol mob

    April 2, 2021 | The Washington Post by Drew Harwell and Craig Timberg | ~4,034 words

    #129: Scientists create online games to show risks of AI emotion recognition

    April 4, 2021 | The Guardian by Nicola Davis | ~796 words
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    9 mins
  • Surveil-links: Advertising, Chinese Regulation, Administrative Subpoenas, Fixing Loopholes, and New Orleans

    Surveil-links: Advertising, Chinese Regulation, Administrative Subpoenas, Fixing Loopholes, and New Orleans
    Mar 29 2021

    #120: This Group Wants to ‘Ban Surveillance Advertising’

    #121: China to ban apps from collecting excessive user data starting May 1

    #122: This is what happens when ICE asks Google for your user information

    123: T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T Stop SMS Hijacks After Motherboard Investigation

    124: How Musicians and Sex Workers Beat Facial Recognition in New Orleans
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    7 mins
  • Surveil-links: TikTok, Clearview, Private Investigators, Racial Bias, and Amazon Drivers

    Surveil-links: TikTok, Clearview, Private Investigators, Racial Bias, and Amazon Drivers
    Mar 22 2021

    #114: TikTok wants to keep tracking iPhone users with state-backed workaround

    #115: Your Face Is Not Your Own

    #116: Tabloid Hired Gun Tells of Shady Hunt for Meghan Markle Scoops

    #117: York NAACP mulling public forum, polling about city surveillance proposal

    #118: For this Amazon van driver, AI surveillance was the final straw

    #119: True police reform requires regulating surveillance tech, San Jose
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    11 mins
  • 'You shouldn't be able to buy your way around the Fourth Amendment'

    'You shouldn't be able to buy your way around the Fourth Amendment'
    Mar 20 2021

    A conversation with Albert Fox Cahn from the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project.

    I have one small favor to ask. I've been writing this newsletter for about two months now and I'm still trying to figure out exactly where to take it, what the right release cadence is, and what not. I need your help to figure that out. I have a short, five question survey that will take you two minutes to fill out but would help me tremendously. You can find it at surveillance.today/survey.

    You can reference the sources cited at surveil.link/113.
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    16 mins