Earlier this month, the Project for Privacy and Surveillance Accountability (PPSA) wrote: The Texas Observer reports that the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) signed a 5-year, nearly $5.3 million contract for the Tangles surveillance tool, originally designed by former Israeli military officers to catch terrorists in the Middle East. In its acquisition plan, DPS references the…
Category: Surveillance
Federal civil rights watchdog sounds alarm over DOJ, DHS and HUD use of facial recognition technology
Suzanne Smalley reports: The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (UCCR) on Thursday released a report which asserts that three federal agencies’ use of facial recognition technology (FRT) is deeply concerning, not sufficiently standardized and not transparent enough. The commission studied how the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Housing…
Tor Project downplays deanon attacks in Germany
Catalin Cimpanu reports: The Tor Project says that regular Tor browser users are not affected by a deanonymization attack used by German law enforcement to catch the administrator of a dark web CSAM forum named Boystown. German TV network NDR reported on Wednesday that German police had been secretly recording traffic entering the Tor network via nodes located…
FTC Staff Report Finds Large Social Media and Video Streaming Companies Have Engaged in Vast Surveillance of Users with Lax Privacy Controls and Inadequate Safeguards for Kids and Teens
From the Federal Trade Commision (FTC): A new Federal Trade Commission staff report that examines the data collection and use practices of major social media and video streaming services shows they engaged in vast surveillance of consumers in order to monetize their personal information while failing to adequately protect users online, especially children and teens….