Clearview AI—Yet Another Example of Why We Need A Ban on Law Enforcement Use of Face Recognition Now
This week, additional stories came out about Clearview AI, the company we wrote about earlier that’s marketing a powerful facial recognition tool to law enforcement. These stories discuss some of the police departments around the country that have been secretly using Clearview’s technology, and they show,...
After Nonprofits Protest at ICANN, California's Attorney General Steps Into the .ORG Battle
Once appearing to be a done deal, the sale of the .ORG registry to private equity is facing new delays and new opposition, after a successful protest in front of ICANN last week by nonprofits and an intervention by the California Attorney General. Private equity firm Ethos Capital’s proposed...
Lawsuit in India Seeks to Shut Down Access to U.S. Journalism Website
Computer security researchers and journalists play a critical role in uncovering flaws in software and information systems. Their research and reporting allows users to protect themselves, and vendors to repair their products before attackers can exploit security flaws. But all too often, corporations and governments try to silence reporters, and...
Same Old NFL: League Abuses Trademark to Shut Down New York Jets Parody Store
The National Football League seems to be gunning for a spot in our Hall of Shame by setting a record for all-time career TDs—no, not touchdowns, but takedowns. We’ve written before about the NFL’s crusade against anyone who dares use the words “Super Bowl” to talk about, well, the...
Speaking Freely: An Interview with Christian Frank
New Bill Would Make Needed Steps Toward Curbing Mass Surveillance
The Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act is a Strong Bill That Builds on Previous Surveillance ReformsLast week, Sens. Ron Wyden (D–Oregon) and Steve Daines (R–Montana) along with Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D–California), Warren Davidson (R–Ohio), and Pramila Jayapal (D–Washington) introduced the Safeguarding Americans’ Private Records Act (SAPRA), H.R 5675....
U.K. Police Will Soon be able to Search Through U.S. Data Without Asking a Judge
Law enforcement officials in the U.S. and U.K. have negotiated a deal that sells out the privacy rights of the public in both nations. For Americans, it will effectively abrogate Fourth Amendment protections, and subject their data to search and seizure by foreign police.This is all going to start happening...
Why Public Wi-Fi is a Lot Safer Than You Think
If you follow security on the Internet, you may have seen articles warning you to “beware of public Wi-Fi networks" in cafes, airports, hotels, and other public places. But now, due to the widespread deployment of HTTPS encryption on most popular websites, advice to avoid public Wi-Fi is...
Design Patents Are Useless. So Why Are They Getting a Boost in DC?
When we talk about patents, we’re usually talking about “utility” patents. Utility patents protect inventions that claim to have some practical application or use. (A lot of them still claim things that are actually useless, but they’re supposed to be potentially useful.)“Design” patents, by contrast, protect only the ornamental...
Off-Facebook Activity is a Welcome but Incomplete Move
Today Facebook announced the roll-out of its Off-Facebook Activity tool (initially introduced as “Clear History” nearly two years ago). The tools shows you a list of apps, websites, and businesses that Facebook knows you have visited through its business tools (including Facebook Login, Facebook’s tracking...
