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SURVEILLANCEDigitally Watched without Consent: Spyware as a Tool of Coercive Control
Spyware, once primarily used by intelligence agencies and nation-states, has become a tool of intimate partner abuse, quietly deployed against people – mostly women – who have no idea they are being watched.
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SPYWAREThe Indo-Pacific Could Shape Control of the Growing Spyware Market
The market for commercial cyber intrusion capabilities (CCICs) is moving faster than the frameworks designed to govern it. What began as a niche ecosystem of surveillance vendors has evolved into a sprawling, fragmented industry.
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SURVEILLANCEU.S. Government Ramps Up Mass Surveillance with Help of AI Tech, Data Brokers – and Your Apps and Devices
To understand the issues, it is critical to know how these technologies function, who collects what data about you, how that data can be used against you, and why the laws you might think are protecting your data do not apply or are ignored.
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SURVEILLANCESchmidt v. City of Norfolk Brief: Automated License Plate Readers Commit Fourth Amendment Searches
Norfolk, Virginia, has deployed nearly 200 automated license plate readers (ALPRs) across the city, capturing every passing vehicle’s location, time, and identifying details—and storing that data for weeks. Now, two residents are suing.
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SURVEILLANCEFISA Reauthorization Fearmongering and Disinformation Kicks Into Overdrive
With just 10 days to go before Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) expires, surveillance hawks have intensified their propaganda and fearmongering campaign. But FISA’s many problems are reasons for Congress to hit the “pause” button on FISA Section 702 reauthorization, unless and until these problems are eliminated.
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SURVEILLANCECameras Have Quietly Appeared in Thousands of U.S. Cities – Now, Their Integration with AI Is Sounding Alarms
For decades, cars dictated urban planning in the United States. Few could have predicted that they would one day also double as nodes for surveillance. What began as a tool to identify threats to national security is becoming a surveillance infrastructure that can be used to track everyone.
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SURVEILLANCEWorried About Surveillance, States Enact Privacy Laws and Restrict License Plate Readers
As part of its deportation efforts, the Trump administration has made a push for personal data from voter rolls, driver’s license records and programs such as Medicaid and food stamps.
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CHINA WATCH“DeepSeek Is in the Driver’s Seat. That’s a Big Security Problem”
Democratic countries have a smart-car problem. For those that don’t act quickly and decisively, it’s about to become a severe national security headache.
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DIGITAL IDThe UK Has It Wrong on Digital ID. Here’s Why.
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
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
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
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
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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The long view
SURVEILLANCECameras Have Quietly Appeared in Thousands of U.S. Cities – Now, Their Integration with AI Is Sounding Alarms
For decades, cars dictated urban planning in the United States. Few could have predicted that they would one day also double as nodes for surveillance. What began as a tool to identify threats to national security is becoming a surveillance infrastructure that can be used to track everyone.