surveillance

LAS VEGAS - The American Civil Liberties Union wants to know how police around the country are using automatic license plate readers to track people's movements.

The ACLU today sent requests for information to police departments in 38 states and filed federal Freedom of Information Act requests with the departments of Justice, Homeland Security and Transportation to try to find out how much the governments use the technology and how much it is paying to expand the program.

Mounted on patrol cars, telephone poles and under bridges, the automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) can snap a photograph of every … Read more

Being a boss can lead to a paranoid life.

You think you know who's on your side. But do you? After all, in order to become a boss, you did have to betray a couple of people along the way. How can you tell who's doing it to you?

Thankfully, technology has offered you more than one easy option.

Today's revelations in the New York Times that the FDA spied on its scientists' e-mails offers a picture of large-scale prying into not merely work correspondence but personal matters too.

The Times' discovery shows a systematic level of … Read more

Wireless carriers say they received 1.3 million requests last year from law enforcement agencies for subscriber text messages, caller locations, and other information, reflecting a steady increase during the past five years.

Carriers' responses to a congressional inquiry, as reported by the New York Times, reveal that thousands of records were turned over on a daily basis in response to law enforcement emergencies, subpoenas, and other court orders.

Nine carriers supplied reports in response to the inquiry, including AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon. The number of requests addressed by the study -- the first time law enforcement'… Read more

Dropcam, the company behind the popular home surveillance system, has picked up $12 million in its second round of funding, suggesting that investors have a lot of confidence that an even better product is on its way.

Menlo Ventures lead the round of investments -- announced today, along with an improved Android app -- with existing investors, including Accel Partners and Bay Partners. The company funding totals $17.8 million. Not bad for a company started to address dog poop.

The camera comes with a cloud-based DVR system that records video footage when it picks up on sounds or movements. … Read more

Some friends of mine recently bumped into a member of the Canadian Secret Service. He said he spent most of his time gardening because Canada doesn't really have enemies.

Perhaps the northern sister of the U.S. has decided to give its security forces a little more to do, as Ottawa airport will now be graced with bugging microphones.

No, these aren't necessarily being strategically placed where suspicious people might gather -- wherever that might be. And yes, they will be capable of recording conversations between any travelers (or airport employees) who happen to fall within their range.… Read more

To say that the FBI had its work cut out for it after 9/11 is an understatement. As part of its anti-terrorism efforts, the agency cozied up to telecom companies, like Verizon and AT&T. The relationship was so tight that some telecom employees actually had offices at the FBI.

This convenient arrangement paved the way for FBI agents to ultimately hand post-it notes with phone numbers to their telecom pals to find out if those accounts were worth investigating. It's the sort of stuff that makes privacy advocates shudder. And it's what Jennifer Lynch, staff … Read more

I know that many people rely on the fine and perceptive foresight of fortune-tellers.

I am sure that you, like me, have been victim to someone telling you that their fortune-teller has told them to steer clear of you, because the heavens say so.

So I am lifted to a higher plane on hearing that two fortune-tellers in Romania have been exposed as being allegedly fraudulent of spirit.

For, instead of having a special psychic connection with the dead, they reportedly used their Wi-Fi connection to Google their customers and their loved, but dead, ones.

They also reportedly trawled their … Read more

The FBI is asking Internet companies not to oppose a controversial proposal that would require firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance.

In meetings with industry representatives, the White House, and U.S. senators, senior FBI officials argue the dramatic shift in communication from the telephone system to the Internet has made it far more difficult for agents to wiretap Americans suspected of illegal activities, CNET has learned.

The FBI general counsel's office has drafted a proposed law that the bureau claims is the best solution: requiring that social-networking Web sites and … Read more

Despite big name tech companies -- such as Facebook, Microsoft, and Oracle -- supporting the controversial Internet surveillance bill that passed in the House last week, Mozilla has come out against the legislation.

"While we wholeheartedly support a more secure Internet, CISPA has a broad and alarming reach that goes far beyond Internet security," the tech company wrote to Forbes reporter Andy Greenberg. "The bill infringes on our privacy, includes vague definitions of cybersecurity, and grants immunities to companies and government that are too broad around information misuse."

Mozilla is the first major tech company to … Read more