This is troubling. Jeffrey Schweers reports from Florida: State police brandishing firearms Monday raided the home of Rebekah Jones, the former Department of Health data scientist who built the state’s much-praised COVID-19 dashboard before being fired over what she said was refusing to “manipulate data.” “They pointed a gun in my face. They pointed guns at…
Category: U.S.
Public interest groups take aim at Pasco sheriff’s data-driven policing programs
Unsurprisingly, there is pushback against a Pasco sheriff’s program (previously noted on this site, here). Neil Bedi and Kathleen McGrory report: Civil liberties groups are vowing to take action after a Tampa Bay Times investigation revealed organized harassment of Pasco County residents and data-driven profiling of Pasco’s schoolchildren by the Sheriff’s Office. One public interest law firm…
Feds logged website visitors in 2019, citing Patriot Act authority
Kate Cox reports: The federal government gathered up visitor logs for some websites in 2019, the Office of Director of National Intelligence disclosed in letters made public this week. And the feds cited authority derived from a provision of the Patriot Act to do it. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe confirmed these actions in…
Police Drones Are Starting to Think for Themselves
Cade Metz reports: When the Chula Vista police receive a 911 call, they can dispatch a flying drone with the press of a button. On a recent afternoon, from a launchpad on the roof of the Chula Vista Police Department, they sent a drone across the city to a crowded parking lot where a young…