law enforcement

Tue
09
Feb
John Lister's picture

3 Billion Online Pics Scraped for Face-Match Database

Canadian privacy regulators say a company that used online photos to train artificial intelligence tools breached privacy rules. They said Clearview had used "the mass collection of biometric information from billions of people, without express ... consent." US company Clearview offers services to law enforcement agencies and private businesses trying to identify people from a photo. It maintains a database of more than three billion images which it uses to try to find a match using artificial intelligence. Clearview gathered most of these pictures by "scraping" online sites such as Flickr. That ... (view more)

Wed
28
Oct
John Lister's picture

Zoom to Completely Encrypt Video Calls

Zoom is to completely encrypt video calls at all times for most users. It will mean neither Zoom itself nor law enforcement agents or security services can access the content of calls. At the moment, Zoom encrypts the data that flows between ... individual participants on a call. However, it's Zoom's own servers which generate the encryption key issued to each participant. That means it's technically possible for Zoom to decrypt calls. While Zoom insists it's never had any intention of doing so, it does leave it open to pressure or legal threats from law enforcement officials to get access to ... (view more)

Wed
22
Jan
John Lister's picture

Apple Drops Plan to Tighten iCloud Encryption

Reports suggest that Apple has been pressured by the FBI to drop plans to improve the security of its customer backups. The plan was to better encrypt backups on the iCloud service. iCloud serves two purposes: it's a way for Apple users to store ... data and documents online and access them from anywhere (from any Apple device) with a password; it's also a way to automatically backup the contents of iPads and iPhones. Data from the iCloud is stored on Apple servers in an encrypted format, which means that if somebody gained access to the files (either through a remote hack, or a physical breach ... (view more)

Thu
13
Oct
John Lister's picture

Social Media Monitoring Service Sold Data to Cops

A company accused of selling social media data to the police has been blocked from accessing some or all content from three major sites. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter made the move after complaints from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU.) ... According to the ACLU, Geofeedia markets its social media monitoring product to police forces as a way to monitor people who may be involved in protests. In one marketing message, a company representative specifically cited the use of the service during the high-profile unrest that followed the shooting of a man by police officers in Ferguson, ... (view more)

Wed
20
May
John Lister's picture

FBI Wants to Ban Secure Internet using Backdoors

Some of the largest tech firms are urging President Obama to drop plans to make it easier for law enforcement and security agencies to access Internet communications. They say the President should resist any idea for such firms to implement ... mandatory "backdoors." The proposal means that firms are only allowed to use encryption if they also build in a way that makes it possible for law enforcement groups to access the data in an unencrypted form. The "key" to unlock the data would effectively be split into two parts: one held by the Internet firm, and the other by the ... (view more)

Mon
29
Sep
Brandon Dimmel's picture

FBI: Mobile Phone Encryption Puts Americans at Risk

The Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) director believes encrypting information on smartphones makes Americans less safe from violent criminals. In fact, James Comey suggests that smartphone companies may be marketing the feature in a way that ... actually encourages criminal behavior. Largely in response to the scandal involving the National Security Agency (NSA) and Edward Snowden , the world's largest mobile phone technology companies have introduced encryption systems designed to help users protect their data against government snooping. Last week Google announced it would enable ... (view more)

Tue
18
Sep
Dennis Faas's picture

New Law Would Block Authorities From Reading Emails

A U.S. senator wants to close a legal loophole that allows law enforcement officials to read private emails without first obtaining a warrant. If successful, the change would mean users of webmail services, such as Gmail and Hotmail, will receive ... extra protection against prying eyes. Private email content is currently protected by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986. However, email usage is far greater today than it was then, and new procedures leave open the opportunity for officials to read private emails in secret. Years ago most email users downloaded their messages, which ... (view more)

Thu
16
Aug
Dennis Faas's picture

US Court Approves Cellphone GPS Tracking by Police

A U.S. federal appeals court has ruled that police and other law enforcement officials have the right to use Global Positioning System (GPS) data from a suspect's cellphone without a warrant. The judges decided a technicality in existing law means ... such actions do not violate the Fourth Amendment, which forbids unreasonable search and seizure by the federal government. The Appeals Court ruling came in the case of convicted drug dealer Melvin Skinner, who was tracked down by GPS after an investigation. The investigation involved acquiring a cellphone number used by Skinner. Drug enforcement ... (view more)

Mon
14
Dec
Dennis Faas's picture

ISPs Remain Silent on Lucrative Wiretap Business

A barely-noticed letter from Yahoo to the U.S. Marshals Service has revealed surveillance policies that allow the US Justice Department to request wiretaps of its users. The 12-page letter (in PDF format), in response to a Freedom of Information Act ... request, claimed that Yahoo couldn't provide the information on their policies because their pricing scheme would 'shock' customers. (Source: rawstory.com ) A Yahoo lawyer wrote that if the pricing information was disclosed, it would be used to shame Yahoo and other companies and to traumatize their customers. (Source: rawstory.com ) Yahoo: ... (view more)

Wed
07
Nov
Dennis Faas's picture

ISP Bungle Earns Customer 50 Days In Jail

An Indian man has spent 50 days in prison after his Internet service wrongly accused him of posting images that insulted a historical figure. Police swooped on the home of Lakshmana Kailash K, a 26 year old technology worker, after offensive ... pictures appeared on Orkut, a social networking site run by Google. The images depicted Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the 17th century founder of India's Maratha empire. Officials asked Google to hand over the IP address of the poster, then checked with ISP Airtel to find the person behind that address. Airtel incorrectly told them it belonged to Kailash. ... (view more)

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