Peter Aldhous reports: For the first time on record, the new forensic science of genetic genealogy has been used to identify a suspect in a case of violent assault. Cops in Utah had to obtain special permission to upload crime scene DNA to a website called GEDmatch, which had previously only allowed police to investigate…
Category: Featured News
Judge Forwards Class Action Suit Against Adult Toy Maker
Helen Christophi reports: A federal judge in Oakland advanced the bulk of a class action lawsuit Wednesday accusing a Chinese sex technology company of using customers’ cellphones to harvest intimate details about how they use its remote-controlled vibrators. In a 17-page order, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White rejected Hong Kong-based Hytto Ltd.’s contention it can’t…
Government access to airline PNR data challenged in German courts
Seen on Papers, Please! Complaints filed today in German courts and administrative complaints to data protection authorities in Austria challenge government access to and use and retention of Passenger Name Record data (commercial airline reservation records) as a violation of fundamental rights guaranteed by European Union, German, and Austrian law Read more on Papers, Please!
San Francisco Bans Facial Recognition Technology
Kate Conger, Richard Fausset and Serge F. Kovaleski report: San Francisco, long at the heart of the technology revolution, took a stand against potential abuse on Tuesday by banning the use of facial recognition software by the police and other agencies. The action, which came in an 8-to-1 vote by the Board of Supervisors, makes…