Privacy

DIGITAL IDThe UK Has It Wrong on Digital ID. Here’s Why.
By Paige Collings
In late September, the U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced his government’s plans to introduce a new digital ID scheme in the country to take effect before the end of the Parliament (no later than August 2029). This is the latest example of a government creating a new digital system that is fundamentally incompatible with a privacy-protecting and human rights-defending democracy.
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SURVEILLNCE STATEState Election Officials in Letter Ask Whether They Were “Misled” by Trump Administration
By Quentin Young
A group of Democratic secretaries of state in a letter to top Trump administration officials say they’re concerned the administration misled them about how it would use voter data collected from their states.
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PRIVACYDHS Wants States to Hand Over Driver’s License Data for Citizenship Checks
By Jen Fifield and Zach Despart
It’s the latest step in an unprecedented initiative to pool confidential data that the Trump administration claims will help identify noncitizens on voter rolls and tighten immigration enforcement.
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PRIVACYWilliamson v. United States Brief: Ten Months of Warrantless Video Surveillance Violates the Fourth Amendment
By Matthew Cavedon
In October 2018, law enforcement, without a warrant, surreptitiously installed two video cameras near the top of utility poles to surveil Rolando Williamson’s home.The Eleventh Circuit reasoned that the police did not require a warrant because only parts of Williamson’s home and yard were visible from the alleyway. Cato Institute filed an amicus brief supporting Williamson, arguing that partial exposure does not automatically extinguish Fourth Amendment protections.
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ACCOUNTABILITYThere’s a Right to Record ICE Raids–and There’s No Blanket Immunity for Raiders
By Walter Olson
DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and department spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin have repeatedly asserted that citizens have no right to photograph or video record ICE raids or identify the officers by name. This is not an accurate description of the state of the law, and it is dangerous to tell ICE agents that they have blanket immunity whatever they do. If the agents are hearing a persistent message from their higher ups of “you’re immune no matter what you do,” it’s up to the rest of us to disabuse them of that error.
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SURVEILLANCEThe Spy Who Came in from the Wi-Fi: Beware of Radio Network Surveillance
New technology is able to infer the identity of persons with no WiFi device on them through signals in radio networks. Researchers warn of risks to privacy and call for protective measures.
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SURVEILLANCEA Simple, Low-Cost Method Detects GPS Trackers Hidden in Vehicles, Empowering Cyberstalking Victims
Novel algorithm transforms commercial radio device into user-friendly, effective tracker detector.
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SURVEILLANCEPervasive Surveillance of People Is Being Used to Access, Monetize, Coerce, and Control
New research has underlined the surprising extent to which pervasive surveillance of people and their habits is powered by computer vision research – and shone a spotlight on how vulnerable individuals and communities are at risk.
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SURVEILLANCEFinancial Surveillance Is Expanding—but So Is the Resistance
By Nicholas Anthony
The last few months were hectic, but not all bad. Amidst the government surveilling cash, prosecuting people in bad faith, and creating new surveillance mechanisms, there were significant wins: Courts pushed back on overreach and Congress began to offer reforms to correct past mistakes.
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DATA PROTECTIONHow We Think About Protecting Data
By Peter Dizikes
A new study shows public views on data privacy vary according to how the data are used, who benefits, and other conditions.
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COMMON-SENSE NOTES // By Idris B. OdunewuThe Future of Open Data in the Age of AI: Safeguarding Public Assets Amid Growing Private Sector Demands
AI offers immense potential, but that potential must be realized within a framework that protects the public’s right to its own information. The open data movement must evolve to meet this new challenge—not retreat from it.
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SURVEILLANCEFrom Help to Harm: How the Government Is Quietly Repurposing Everyone’s Data for Surveillance
By Nicole M. Bennett
The data that people provide to U.S. government agencies for public services such as tax filing, health care enrollment, unemployment assistance and education support is increasingly being redirected toward surveillance and law enforcement.
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DATA PROTECTIONProtecting Americans’ Sensitive Data from Foreign Adversaries
Last week DOJ took steps to move forward with implementing a program to prevent China, Russia, Iran, and other foreign adversaries from using commercial activities to access and exploit U.S. government-related data and Americans’ sensitive personal data to commit espionage and economic espionage, conduct surveillance and counterintelligence activities, and otherwise undermine our national security.
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PRIVACYCan Border Patrol Go Through Your Phone? A Legal Expert Explains What Rights Travelers Have Entering the U.S.
By Cody Mello-Klein
A Northeastern legal expert explains the complexities involved with searches of phones and social media and what rights citizens and visitors have when entering the country.
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DATA SECURITYDOGE Threat: How Government Data Would Give an AI Company Extraordinary Power
By Allison Stanger
The Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has secured unprecedented access to at least seven sensitive federal databases. Since information is power, concentrating unprecedented data in the hands of a private entity with an explicit political agenda represents a profound challenge to the republic. I believe that the question is whether the American people can stand up to the potentially democracy-shattering corruption such a concentration would enable. If not, Americans should prepare to become digital subjects rather than human citizens.
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