law enforcement
Loopholes in Law Enforcement Facial Recognition Bans Reveal Major Legal Blemishes
A new article from The Washington Post reveals how law enforcement bodies in major municipalities are circumventing their jurisdictions’ bans on facial recognition. Specifically, the report used police departments in Austin and San Francisco, both of which prohibit police … Read more »
Report On Leak Investigation By CBP Reveals Unrestricted Surveillance Powers
According to an investigation by Yahoo News, a little-known division of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) was found to regularly snoop on journalists, nonprofit workers, and even members of Congress using CBP’s vast arsenal of surveillance tools. Moreover, … Read more »
Facial Recognition Adoption Remains Unchecked Even as Government Warns of Anti-Minority Bias
A new piece by Motherboard reports that the US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued a warning that facial recognition technology remains dangerously biased against those of non-white racial backgrounds, women, and other historically marginalized groups. Specifically, … Read more »
Law and Technology Quickly Converging to Allow Unblinking Aerial Surveillance
As its law enforcement application continues to evolve and proliferate, drone deployment in municipalities across the country has attracted spirited resistance by civil libertarians. Considering the degree to which drones can compromise the privacy of individuals, notably in their … Read more »
Report: Justice Department Convenes Forum to Expand Police Use of Drones with Zero Concern for Privacy Implications
Last week, the US Department of Justice issued a press release announcing the start of a forum designed to help law enforcement agencies across the country expand their use of drones. The release, which took the form of a … Read more »
Border Warrant Exemption for Smartphone Search Under New Challenge in Newly Filed Lawsuit
This week, Ars Technica reported that a new lawsuit has been filed challenging the federal government’s practice of searching without warrants the digital devices of Americans entering or leaving the country. The suit takes aim at the dubious, though judicially … Read more »
Law Enforcement Around the Country is Quietly Enlisting the Private Sector to Develop Real-Time Facial Recognition Capability
Once relegated to the fanciful flights of science fiction, facial recognition technology has not only reached sufficient maturity to enter the market, but has even entered mainstream consumer consciousness as a tool of convenience. One need only ask the satisfied … Read more »
Report: Coalition of Immigrant Rights Groups Reaffirms Constitutional Protections for Locally Detained Immigrants and Backs Sanctuary Cities
A new report published by a coalition of immigrant rights organizations challenges a key immigration policing technique employed by the federal government. The document outlines the glaring legal deficiencies inherent in ICE-issued detainers and other administrative forms for requesting the … Read more »
From Bridgeview to Black Lives Matter, Targets May Change, But the Surveillance Remains the Same
Two new reports released in as many weeks, one by WBEZ and the other by Al Jazeera, vividly illustrate how politically motivated policing is a thread that runs through law enforcement from before the start of the war on … Read more »
New Security Features in iOS 11 Will Reinforce Digital Fourth and Fifth Amendment Protections
According to a new article in Ars Technica, the latest version of the iOS mobile operating system will include new features allowing users to more easily safeguard their digital rights. The iOS 11 update, scheduled for release later … Read more »
