Stephen Fowler and Jenna McLaughlin report: Fewer than 50 people have access to Social Security Administration databases containing hundreds of millions of people’s private financial and personal information. But only one also has access to the government’s human resources and student loan files. Akash Bobba is one of many Department of Government Efficiency staffers who have embedded…
Category: Surveillance
Warrantless Home Searches Under the Alien Enemies Act?
Orin S. Kerr writes: In the New York Times, Devlin Barrett reports that “Trump administration lawyers have determined that an 18th-century wartime law the president has invoked to deport suspected members of a Venezuelan gang allows federal agents to enter homes without a warrant, according to people familiar with internal discussions.” From the story: The disclosure…
Paragon spyware deployed against journalists and activists, Citizen Lab claims
Iain Thomson reports: Israeli spyware maker Paragon Solutions pitches its tools as helping governments and law enforcement agencies to catch criminals and terrorists, but a fresh Citizen Lab report claims its software has been used to target journalists, activists, and other civilians. Paragon Solutions was co-founded in 2019 by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak…
Taking $200 Out of an ATM Should Not Trigger Federal Financial Surveillance
Joe Lancaster writes: One of President Donald Trump’s Day 1 executive orders designated “certain international cartels” as “foreign terrorist organizations,” a classification that according to the State Department “play[s] a critical role in our fight against terrorism and [is] an effective means of curtailing support for terrorist activities and pressuring groups to get out of the terrorism business.” To that end,…