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...
surveillance
Should the police be allowed to access newborns’ DNA?
Our DNA contains a tremendous amount of sensitive, personal information. Not only about us, but about our family members. It can tell us who we’re related to, whether we have genetic disorders and even how likely we are to get certain cancers. According to one study,...
What will President Biden’s executive order on policing tactics do?
Recently, President Joe Biden signed an executive order meant, among other things, to restrict some of the more controversial tactics used by police. The order only applies federal law enforcement, but it could be used as a model for states to provide better...
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...
Apple announces plan to scan your iPhone for child pornography
It’s tempting to set aside the privacy rights of people who may be involved in child pornography. Most people have no sympathy for that type of criminal offense, and many people feel that policing child pornography should be aggressive. The problem with doing so is...
Should police be allowed to collect your ‘abandoned’ DNA without your consent or a warrant?
The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures by government agents such as police. It is among our primary sources of constitutional protection against government overreach and surveillance. This is because, in criminal...
Large tech companies refuse to sell facial recognition to police
In the wake of nationwide and global protests over police racism and brutality, several large tech companies have backed off of plans to sell facial recognition technology to law enforcement.Facial recognition technology has been broadly criticized as a privacy...
Does police use of Amazon’s Ring constitute illegal surveillance?
The Ring doorbell sold by Amazon offers homeowners security by filming and recording everyone who enters its field of vision. Along with the product comes access to a social network called Neighbors, where Ring users can share and discuss the footage their systems...
Bipartisan group pushes for restrictions in FISA reauthorization
A group of House lawmakers from both sides of the aisle has agreed to support extending the FISA Amendments Act, the law authorizing warrantless surveillance by the National Security Agency, through 2023. It is currently set to expire at the end of this year. In...