Privacy

A recent incident at Tampa International Airport showed what can happen when facial recognition technology is in use. Transportation Security Administration officers used it to identify and arrest a person with an active arrest warrant.

The ACLU of Maryland is calling for safeguards to be incorporated in a statewide policy governing the use of facial recognition technology by law enforcement.

More than 500 applications of AI are in use across Texas agencies, a state representative said, but individual rights remain paramount. Efficiency must not come at the expense of privacy, panelists said.

The state legislature last month approved new legislation that gives local police departments the option to target loud vehicle stereos, exhaust systems and the like with the automated listening devices.

The Minnesota-based group has begun sending letters to patients whose information may have been accessed during a large cyber attack in February. The attack may have impacted data from as many as 1 in 3 Americans.

Gov. Mike Parson’s administration will spend $243,750 to purchase 21 additional license plate readers, to supplement law enforcement during a personnel shortage. A contract with Atlanta-based Flock Safety took effect Aug. 1.

Recent data walks, and the city’s newly launched digital rights platform, inform residents on how city technologies collect their personally identifiable information, and how it is stored.

The technology has been used since 2021 at Raleigh-Durham International Airport to check arriving international passengers. The Transportation Security Administration is now using it at checkpoints for all departing passengers.

The inaugural yearly report aims to address privacy and lack of transparency concerns. It shows how the Boston Police Department uses technology to prevent crime, including cellphone monitoring and cameras in neighborhoods.

A new lawsuit says the city has ignored its law that requires elected official approval for facial recognition use for at least four years, allowing officers to use whatever surveillance techniques they choose.

The Senate Commerce Committee will mark up the long-delayed legislation before Congress’ recess in August, Chair Maria Cantwell said. The markup of a House version was canceled last month, but it retains support, she said.

The incident, first publicly reported in October, appears to have not resulted in any victimizations by identity theft or fraud. It’s unclear how the data breach happened, but the city’s Law Department has notified those affected.

U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal urged customers to seek credit monitoring the company is providing. Data from 560 million customer accounts may have been exposed in the May incident.

A proposal set for a vote Wednesday in the House of Representatives would ban “data brokering” firms from selling, leasing, trading or renting location data. Consumer consent would be required before collection or processing.

The new police chief is using emergency powers to quickly get more surveillance cameras in Hillcrest amid an increase in hate crimes against the LGBTQ community and before the Pride Parade this month.

Michael Simeone, who became the city’s inaugural chief technology officer in March, said his focus has been “getting the Board of Education and the city back on track” after a June 2023 breach.

Law enforcement agencies statewide offer data collected via automated license plate readers to federal and out-of-state counterparts. But state Attorney General Rob Bonta has ordered agencies to safeguard that information.

Heritage Valley Health System will pay the federal government $950,000 to settle potential patient privacy violations after a ransomware attack in 2017 crippled the system's electronic medical records system.