Related Updates
No Hunting Undocumented Immigrants with Stingrays
In the latest sign of mission creep in domestic deployment of battlefield-strength surveillance technology, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) earlier this year used a cell site simulator (CSS) to locate and arrest an undocumented immigrant, according to a report yesterday by The Detroit News . CSSs, often...
EFF, Sen. Anderson Sponsor California License Plate Privacy Legislation
Sacramento—The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Sen. Joel Anderson (R-Alpine) have introduced a California bill to protect drivers’ privacy by allowing them to cover their license plates while parked to avoid being photographed by automated license plate readers ( ALPRs ). The legislation will be considered by the California...
How to Disappear Is it possible to move through a smart city undetected?
As the tools of surveillance have become more sophisticated, detecting them has become a harder task. “There was a time when you could spot cameras,” Tien says. Maybe a bodega would hang up a metal sign warning passersby that they were being recorded by a clunky, conspicuous device. “But now,...
Hollow Privacy Promises from Major Internet Service Providers
It’s no surprise that Americans were unhappy to lose online privacy protections earlier this month. Across party lines, voters overwhelmingly oppose the measure to repeal the FCC’s privacy rules for Internet providers that Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed into law. But it should come as...
Mass Arrests On Inauguration Day Swept Up Journalists And Legal Observers — And Their Phones
Mass arrests that sweep up journalists — enabling police and prosecutors to collect electronic evidence they might not otherwise have access to — threatens the independence of the press, said Stephanie Lacambra, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. The EFF has been working with Jan. 20 arrestees to...
The Four Flavors of Automated License Plate Reader Technology
utomated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) may be the most common mass surveillance technology in use by local law enforcement around the country—but they're not always used in the same way. Typically, ALPR systems are comprised of high-speed cameras connected to computers that photograph every license plate that passes. The...
An Update on Verizon's AppFlash: Pre-Installed Spyware Is Still Spyware
This post is an UPDATE to a piece we originally published last week . Verizon recently rolled out a new pilot project to pre-install on customers’ devices an app launcher/search tool that, we believe, is really just spyware. This software, called AppFlash, is preloaded on...
UPDATE: Verizon Software on Android Phones
UPDATE: We have received additional information from Verizon and based on that information we are withdrawing this post while we investigate further. Here is the statement from Kelly Crummey, Director of Corporate Communications of Verizon: "As we said earlier this week, we are testing AppFlash to make app discovery...
Congress is Trying to Roll Back Internet Privacy Protections As You Read This
Call congress now! Back in 2014 over 3 million Internet users told the U.S. government loudly and clearly: we value our online security, we value our online privacy, and we value net neutrality . Our voices helped convince the FCC to...
