Privacy Matters | Privacy SOS

Is the FCC’s coziness with Big Telecom making Americans vulnerable to hacking and surveillance?

06/04/2018 - Corporate Spying, Mass Surveillance, Mobile Security

The Supreme Court will soon decide whether law enforcement must get a warrant to obtain historical cell site location records, which show where mobile phones (and their users) have been over a period of months or years. But even if SCOTUS mandates...
Amazon should follow Google’s lead and stop selling face surveillance tech to cops

06/02/2018 - Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Biometrics, Corporate Spying, Dissent, Mass Surveillance, Police Militarization, Racism

In response to internal and external protest and expressions of revulsion, Google yesterday announced it would stop contracting with the Department of Defense to provide artificial intelligence technology to the US military. Google’s move is a rare instance in which one of...
Technology news you can use

05/21/2018 - Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Corporate Spying, Data Mining, FBI, Internet Freedom, Law Reform

SENATE VOTES TO REINSTATE NEUTRALITY // From The Hill: Senate votes to save net neutrality rules Thanks to Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey’s leadership, last week the US Senate voted 52-47 to overturn the FCC’s decision to end net neutrality. The bill now moves...
Take emergency action to stop wiretap expansion in Massachusetts!

05/16/2018 - Drug Wars, Law Reform, Security Theater

Next week, the Massachusetts state senate is set to consider vast new surveillance powers for law enforcement. We cannot allow this dangerous legislation to become law. We beat back similar privacy-invasive plans last fall, and now we must do it again. Back...
ACLU and Boston-area technologists ask Trump admin for info about federal facial recognition surveillance programs

05/16/2018 - Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Biometrics, DHS, Mass Surveillance, Security Theater

Today, the ACLU of Massachusetts and two technology experts affiliated with the Berkman Klein Center and MIT Media Lab filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Department of Homeland Security to learn about the federal government’s use of facial recognition...
Technology news you can use

05/14/2018 - Censorship, Corporate Spying, Freedom of Speech, Internet Freedom, Law Reform

SENATE WILL VOTE ON NET NEUTRALITY RESOLUTION // From Motherboard: Democratic Senators Are Officially Forcing a Net Neutrality Vote When net neutrality protections officially end on June 11, internet service providers will be able to prioritize, throttle, and block lawful content. To prevent...
Ticketmaster enters the face recognition biz, but customers should beware

05/08/2018 - Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Biometrics, Corporate Spying, Data Mining, Dissent, Freedom of Speech, Immigration, Mass Surveillance, Racism

Ticketmaster’s parent company, Live Nation, has invested in a facial recognition firm with ties to the Department of Defense. According to Live Nation’s first quarter financial report, the firm, Blink Identity, uses “cutting-edge facial recognition technology, enabling you to associate your digital...
News roundup: Facial recognition, dragnet surveillance, and information sharing between local cops and ICE

04/30/2018 - Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Biometrics, Data Mining, Immigration, Mass Surveillance

There’s been a lot of important technology and civil liberties news over the past week. Here’s what you may have missed. Civil Liberties Groups Caution Against Use of Facial Recognition on Body Worn Cameras Dozens of groups including the ACLU and NAACP...
Cambridge Surveillance Oversight Ordinance, Draft and ACLU Comments

04/17/2018 - Algorithms, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Biometrics, Dissent, Freedom of Speech, Law Reform, Mobile Security

Over the weekend, the City of Cambridge released a draft surveillance oversight ordinance. Today at 2pm the Public Safety Committee of the City Council will hold a hearing on the draft, and take comments from the public and interested organizations. The ACLU...
Add your voice, Cambridge: Demand community control over police surveillance!

04/12/2018 - Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Biometrics, Dissent, Freedom of Speech, Law Reform, Secrecy

Communities across the nation are fighting for control over police surveillance, and now’s the time to act in Cambridge to pass a strong local law requiring it. Facial recognition, drones, license plate readers, biometric finger print readers, surveillance cameras, social media monitoring...