Privacy

A trio of U.S. senators — two Democrats and one Republican — have written a letter to Amazon about the company’s biometric payment system, Amazon One. Privacy and competition are the two main concerns.

After announcing its plan to scan users' devices for photos that qualify as child sexual abuse material, Apple is coaching employees on how to respond to customers who complain about a perceived privacy violation.

Though it did not demonstrate harm had come to students as a result of social media posts by their schools, recent research has identified risks and privacy concerns stemming from such public posts and photos.

Apple said it will scan devices for photos uploaded to the cloud that would qualify as child pornography. This decision raises questions about the company's previous commitment to user privacy.

Chris Carr, attorney general of Georgia, has sided with a large coalition of attorneys general across the country. The group wants the Federal Communications Commission to take quicker action on illegal robocalls.

Advocacy groups say they received five New York City Police Department contracts that were significantly redacted. These documents seem to violate a law that requires the NYPD to be transparent about surveillance tech.

Thanks to a judge’s permission, Hartford County authorities wiretapped a suspect’s Facebook audio calls in 2020 for a drug trafficking case. A handful of similar wiretaps have occurred in Maryland since 2018.

A lengthy investigation that involved scouring surveillance videos and using facial recognition software connected a Harrisburg man to the shooting death of a Houston truck driver, court records state.

Earlier this week, UC San Diego Health disclosed that it experienced a data breach between December 2020 and April 2021 that could have compromised sensitive patient information. The breach occurred through phishing.

The Richmond County Sheriff's Office in Georgia is employing a camera system from Altanta-based company Flock Safety to track down criminals. Those who use the system claim it's not a threat to privacy.

Between April 27 and July 16, hackers attacked Florida's unemployment insurance website. The criminals may have acquired up to about 58,000 Social Security numbers of unemployed Floridians, among other data.

Hesperia, Calif., will buy seven more automated license plate reader cameras, despite a number of residents who expressed concern that the surveillance technology could turn the city into an Orwellian dystopia.

Last year, fraudsters swindled thousands of dollars from Michigan’s unemployment insurance program using the celebrity names “Kimberly Kardashian” and “Kylie Jenner.” Michigan has since improved its fraud detection.

A now-deactivated private website published the names, vaccination details and other personal information of almost 5,000 employees of the Los Angeles County Fire Department. Firefighters have demanded an investigation.

The federal government recently approved an idea from Amazon to track people's sleep patterns through new technology. Experts warn that Amazon is taking a creepy step into American bedrooms with this approach.

As more government entities look to adopt facial recognition, concerns have been raised about its potential risks and how the technology might have disproportionate impacts for transgender and nonbinary individuals.

The federal government believes it has identified a group of criminals stationed in Maryland that took millions of dollars from states, particularly California, through unemployment insurance fraud.

Law enforcement uses facial recognition systems with little oversight and, at times, disastrous impact. During a congressional hearing this week, members and experts talked through how new laws could head off greater harm.