Do you want the police to keep a record of everywhere you’ve ever been? It would be awfully convenient for the police to have that information. Law enforcement could simply make a list of places where illegal things are likely to happen or where certain people are not...
privacy rights
Google AI falsely flagged people for child porn and it wasn’t stopped
How would you feel if your innocent pictures were falsely flagged as child pornography? It would be horrifying. Unfortunately, there are situations where that can easily happen. Some people, sometimes even prosecutors, don’t understand what child pornography is and...
Reports: Feds eager to buy predictive policing, phone-cracking tech
There is good reason to believe that predictive policing software simply reinforces past, biased information to predict crime. It is certainly under heavy scrutiny, as it seeks to predict in advance exactly who will commit crimes. It’s the subject of dystopian...
Crime prediction software is here. Data show it perpetuates bias.
Statistics have long shown that people of color are no more likely, due to their races, than White people to commit crimes. However, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, Black people, Latinos, and poor people are more likely that wealthier white...
Cops need a warrant to search phones? Not for parolees, probationers
In 2014’s Riley v. California, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that law enforcement cannot search the contents of your phone without a warrant, even when they’re arresting you. The high court specifically found that modern cellphones are not like the contents...
Wisconsin high court: Cops can search phone data they already have
In 2016, George B. agreed to allow the Green Bay Police Department to review his phone for a hit-and-run investigation in which he was never charged. The consent form he signed didn’t specify exactly what the police would be allowed to download – and they downloaded...
Supreme Court: Cops in hot pursuit may still need a warrant
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects Americans from “unreasonable” searches and seizures by the government. That doesn’t always mean that police officers need a warrant before they can search you, but courts start with the base assumption that a...
Wisconsin Supreme Court: Can cops run your ID with no suspicion?
When should you be free to go after a traffic stop? The law only allows police officers to detain you if they have good reason to suspect you are involved in a specific crime. When they have no suspicion, they are supposed to let you go. That didn’t happen for Heather...
Wisconsin Supreme Court to decide on phone searches and seizures
Police in Wisconsin and in all 50 states are using mobile forensic tools to copy the entire contents of cellphones. While the law generally requires a search warrant before a cellphone can be searched, this technology allows the entire phone to be recorded and saved...
The IRS is buying and using location data without a warrant
In 2018’s Carpenter v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that law enforcement is generally not entitled to use cell site location information unless it obtains a warrant for the information. This means that state and federal law enforcement agencies cannot...