Dan Goodin reports: On Tuesday, Google made client-side encryption available to a limited set of Gmail and Calendar users in a move designed to give them more control over who sees sensitive communications and schedules. Client-side encryption is a generic term for any sort of encryption that’s applied to data before it’s sent from a…
Surveillance or savior? New data deepens divide over Houston gunshot tech
Kennedy Sessions reports: Since its implementation in December 2020, the gunshot detection system ShotSpotter Technology Inc. has become an ongoing subject of controversy and debate among Houston civic leaders, police and city residents. Some view ShotSpotter, a network of auditory sensors placed in handful of the city for the stated purposes of detecting gun-related crimes in progress, as…
Signal says it’ll shut down in UK if Online Safety Bill approved
Thomas Claburn reports: Encrypted chat service Signal says it will stop operating in the UK if the British government goes ahead with its Online Safety Bill. The Online Safety Bill contemplates bypassing encryption using device-side scanning to protect children from harmful material, and coincidentally breaking the security of end-to-end encryption at the same time. It’s currently being considered in…
Fake Friends: Leak Reveals Israeli Firms Turning Social Media Into Spy Tech
Omer BenjakobPhineas Rueckert report: Like most of the public, A., a former Israeli journalist, knows little to nothing about the OSINT industry. However, the OSINT system sold by an Israeli-owned cyber firm being revealed here for the first time knows a lot about her – and about all of us, too. Forbidden Stories, a non-profit…