John Kaag writes: In this age of information and surveillance, privacy has become a necessary watchword—a countermeasure to the constant documentation of what we say, do, buy, and consume. Though the implications of the term have changed with the rise of the internet and other digital technologies, people have long been wary of intrusion into their…
Category: Surveillance
Police can access mobile phone data for minor crimes, EU top court rules
Sam Clark reports: European police can access data on people’s phones even when they aren’t suspected of serious crimes, the EU’s top court ruled Friday. “To consider that only the fight against serious crime is capable of justifying access to data contained in a mobile telephone would unduly limit the investigative powers of the competent…
UNDELIVERED: Drug-Sniffing Police Dogs Are Intercepting Abortion Pills in the Mail
Debbie Nathan reports: It was a tip that brought a dog to the main post office in downtown Jackson, Mississippi. An employee there had reported seeing someone in the lobby putting pills into hot pink envelopes. Hours later, Ed Steed, a police officer from the small city of Richland, just south of Jackson, walked into a…
Europe launches ‘gait recognition’ pilot program to monitor border crossings
Suzanne Smalley reports: A European Commission-funded biometric “gait recognition” program to study how to more easily identify people crossing the European Union’s external borders by examining their unique walking styles kicked off Thursday. The initiative, dubbed the PopEye Project, is supported by a €3.2 million ($3.5 million) grant that covers a three-year pilot testing the…