Surveil-links
By Ethan Gregory Dodge
Surveil-linksMar 19, 2021
Surveil-links: Maine, Location, North Carolina, Schools, Oracle, and iOS
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 PurchasesApril 21, 2021 | Motherboard by Joseph Cox | ~1097 words
#144: NC lawmakers want to give police even more power to track your phone without a warrantApril 21, 2021 | The News & Observer by Will Doran and Danielle Battaglia | ~700 words
#145: ‘High-Surveillance’ Schools Lead to More Suspensions, Lower AchievementApril 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 ItApril 27, 2021 | Wired by Lily Hay Newman | ~923 words
Surveil-links: iPhones, Biometrics, FLoC, New Zealand, and Russia
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 publicApril 15, 2021 | TechCrunch by Natasha Lomas | ~741 words
#138: Nobody is flying to join Google’s FLoCApril 16, 2021 | The Verge by Dieter Bohn | ~1603 words
#139: Police call in experts to advise on facial recognition technologyApril 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.
Surveil-links: Backyards, Cameras, Proctorio, Tennessee, and Cohorts
April 6, 2021 | The Denver Post by Shelly Bradbury | ~656 words
#131: Public forum: Mixed reaction to York City surveillance system proposalApril 6, 2021 | York Dispatch by Logan Hullinger | ~618 words
#132: Proctorio Is Using Racist Algorithms to Detect FacesApril 8, 2021 | Motherboard by Todd Feathers | ~691 words
#133: Bill would expand surveillance on Tennessee interstatesApril 9, 2021 | News Channel 5 Nashville by Cole Johnson | ~165 words
#134: Am I FLoCed? A New Site to Test Google's Invasive ExperimentApril 9, 2021 | Electronic Frontier Foundation's Deep Links Blog by Andrés Arrieta | ~950 words
Bonus: The Movement to Ban Surveillance Advertising
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!
Surveil-links: Union Busting, Lobbying, NSA, Capitol Raid, and Emotions
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 CongressApril 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 spyingApril 1, 2020 | Zero Day by Kim Zetter | ~2,721 words
#128: How America’s surveillance networks helped the FBI catch the Capitol mobApril 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 recognitionApril 4, 2021 | The Guardian by Nicola Davis | ~796 words
Surveil-links: Advertising, Chinese Regulation, Administrative Subpoenas, Fixing Loopholes, and New Orleans
#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
Surveil-links: TikTok, Clearview, Private Investigators, Racial Bias, and Amazon Drivers
#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
'You shouldn't be able to buy your way around the Fourth Amendment'
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.
Actvists sue Thomson Reuters for 'Detailed Cradle-to-Grave Dossiers'
The plaintiffs and attorneys leverage California common law to enact privacy changes.
View the sources cited in this episode at surveil.link/112.
Google's Privacy Slip Ups Could Cost Them $5 Billion
How one judge thinks the tech giant hasn't been entirely truthful with their users about surveillance.
To view all the sources cited in this episode, visit surveil.link/111.
Your Text Messages Are Trivially Intercepted, Motherboard Shows
How a mere $16 highlights the need for more widespread adoption of encrypted messaging.
Read this edition at surveil.link/110
What countries are surveilling their journalists and with what tools? CPJ has documented the answers.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, published a map yesterday, comprehensively illustrating publicly documented efforts by state actors to surveil journalists, commentators, and in some cases, their family and associates. The map was accompanied by a press release caling on world leaders to "regulate spyware" and "halt surveillance of journalists." The report also documents the surveillance tools known to have been used in these operations and the companies that develop them.
The Crypto Wars are Ramping Up Again
Senate hearings and a recent indictment show how the FBI and DOJ continue to attack encryption.
You can see the article text and all sources at surveil.link/108
Surveil-link #107: Facial recognition ban proposed in Nebraska. The police are opposed.
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Surveil-link #106: Clubhouse users in Saudi Arabia are being surveiled
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Surveil-link #105: Is your hospital, employer, or even your favorite bar using facial recognition?
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Surveil-links March 9, 2021: China Brings Surveillance to the Living Room, Tech Company is Providing Nation-wide License Plate Readers, and more
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Surveil-links March 2, 2021: India Surveils Climate Activists, Amazon and McDonald's Spying on Labor Organizers, and More
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Surveil-links Feb 23, 2021: Oracle is Advertising Surveillance Tech to China, London Using Chinese Surveillance Tech, and More
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Surveil-links February 16, 2021: Apparently Warrantless Searches of Devices at Border are Constitutional, Another Location Data Broker Banned, and More
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Surveillance in Black History: Martin Luther King
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Surveil-links February 8, 2021: The Times Tracks Insurrectionists To Their Homes, Amazon to Constantly Surveil Drivers, and More
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Surveil-links: February 2, 2021
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Surveil-links: January 26, 2021
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