A breathtaking new report from the Center for Privacy and Technology at Georgetown Law School finds that one in two American adults is in a face recognition database. The numbers are so huge in large part because states are increasingly allowing the...
Police departments across the country have gone to great lengths to keep secret information about cell phone tracking and wiretapping devices known as “stingrays.” These devices, technically called cell site simulators or IMSI catchers, trick cell phones into communicating with the cops,...
Tonight the non-profit advocacy organization Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) hosts a national security themed town hall featuring presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, moderated by NBC’s Matt Lauer. Here are some basic facts you probably won’t hear from...
Can the FBI keep secret the number of chairs it has in its Boston office? How about the number of investigations its local Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) conducted in the year 2014, or how many parking spaces it reserves for its...
The Village Voice has published the results of an investigation into New York City’s ambitious new wifi system, called LinkNYC. Ultimately, there will be as many as 7,500 kiosks throughout New York’s five boroughs, providing passersby and residents with super fast wifi,...
Mea culpa: I’ve been on vacation; that’s why no recent posts. Here is some news I missed while I was partying and relaxing. It is extremely easy for the FBI to spy on journalists, without warrants As Freedom of the Press Foundation’s...
A new Vice documentary explores the current state of surveillance with whistleblower Edward Snowden. Watch. Please note that by playing this clip YouTube and Google will place a long-term cookie on your computer.
Newly released Cambridge Police Department records cast doubt on FBI claims about its agents’ activities in Cambridge in the critical hours before the Tsarnaev brothers allegedly shot and killed MIT police officer Sean Collier, carjacked another man, and engaged in a spectacular firefight...
Yesterday, the Massachusetts legislature did something historic: both chambers unanimously passed significant public records reform legislation. Now the Governor has the opportunity to push the reform effort over the finish line and make it the law of the land. It’s not an...
How do you spell chutzpah? I submit an alternate spelling: O-B-A-M-A D-O-J. How the Obama administration interprets the phrase “government transparency,” in three acts. Act One: Secret Law The Obama administration is trying to keep secret a 2003 Office of Legal Counsel memo...