Privacy
Coverage of the way technology is changing the kinds of data state and local government collects about citizens, how it uses that data and the ethical and security implications of that. Includes stories about police body cameras, facial recognition, artificial intelligence, medical data, surveillance, etc., as well as privacy policy nationwide.
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The City Council has approved a three-year, $200,000 contract to install the surveillance devices. Data collected may be used by other state and local law enforcement at city discretion, the police chief said.
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After roughly 90 minutes of public comment, nearly all in opposition, the Flagstaff City Council voted to end its contract for automated license plate readers. The devices came into use last year.
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The city’s police chief reviewed its contract with the vendor providing the cameras and will brief the Common Council, as officials contemplate placing more devices. The city, not the vendor, owns the data collected.
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The gang database “typecast minority youths as gang members without evidence, putting them at risk of false arrest and wrongful deportation,” according to a report by the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project.
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The MTA’s OMNY payment system could reveal your trip history to anyone who has your credit card number — and cybersecurity experts said Wednesday the setup might threaten your privacy.
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A surveillance tool shares local data with out-of-state agencies — a practice among many law enforcement departments and one that some lawyers, privacy advocates and legislators say is illegal.
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Under a deal with the Minnesota Department of Human Services, approved by the St. Paul City Council in June, police officers have around-the-clock access to a controversial smartphone-hacking device called GrayKey.
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An ongoing education equity deals with a policy whereby researchers, in order to gain access to private education data, must agree not to release information from the data or testify about it without advance permission.
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The Irvine City Council has started to take inventory of the city’s public security cameras as the first part of its preliminary planning for more security cameras to be added in additional public spaces.
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Lexington police say their newest technological investigative tool will not intrude on citizen privacy despite the system making use of security cameras that are owned by businesses and residents.
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A school district in North Carolina uses Here Comes the Bus, a free online bus-tracking system that allows families to check their child’s school bus routes, real-time location and actual arrival times.
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While recent security updates prevent random adults from accessing student information, the schedule-sharing app Saturn has some parents and educators worried about how it tracks students and collects data.
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Congress is considering two proposed laws governing Internet use — one prohibiting companies from collecting data on youth without their consent, and another requiring social media to have parental controls.
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The deadline for Facebook users to get a piece of the $725 million settlement from the exploitation of their personal data is coming this week. Users have until Friday to complete the necessary forms.
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Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly announced yesterday that she has directed executive branch agencies to adopt a statewide policy on generative AI that outlines how the technology can be used safely.
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Managers in charge of the Saturn mobile app are tightening its account-verification process after a public school district in Florida alerted parents that anyone could create an account and contact students.
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says it’s investigating the Dallas ransomware attack from earlier this year. The city now says 30,253 people were impacted by the cyber attack.
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Gov. Chris Sununu’s executive order calls on the Department of Education and other state agencies to gather public input from students and families and develop guidelines for a social media curriculum by Sept. 4.
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Earlier this month, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law a measure that makes anyone in Illinois who engages in doxxing to be found civilly liable in court, despite objections from the ACLU.
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The Detroit Police Department is pursuing changes to its facial recognition policy in the wake of a woman's federal lawsuit alleging she was arrested at eight months pregnant based on an unreliable hit.
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The police department will be installing Flock Safety Raven gunshot audio detectors in conjunction with additional Flock Safety license plate recognition cameras. The plan is raising privacy concerns.