surveillance

You can find a lot of weird shit for sale on eBay, including, apparently, a used police Harris Stingray that could allow you to intercept the cellular traffic of your friends and enemies.

Read more...

A little-known U.S. Postal Service program dubbed the “mail covers program” has long provided information about certain Americans’ mail to federal law enforcement agencies, the Washington Post reported on Monday.

Last week, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California released a ruling that concluded state highway police were acting lawfully when they forcibly unlocked a suspect’s phone using their fingerprint. You probably didn’t hear about it. The case didn’t get a lot of coverage, especially because the courts weren’t…

Read more...

Axon, the public safety contractor that popularized the Taser, has launched a new product that is less actively terrifying but still vaguely concerning: an AI-powered software program that lets cops automate their police reports.

This week, Congress is expected to vote on a bill that would update key federal surveillance authorities. The legislation has been packaged by its proponents as a reform but is, in reality, an attempt to vastly expand the government’s spying powers, privacy advocates say.

Read more...

Citing a supposed spike in crime, New York State and New York City officials have launched a heavy-handed, police-state-flavor