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’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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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has introduced two new pieces of legislation: one to protect consumers from the costs of AI data centers and one that would establish an Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights.
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The Olympia Police Department has contacted the vendor and requested their deactivation, which is imminent. The move follows community concerns around issues including privacy and immigration enforcement.
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The Frederick County State's Attorney's Office expects its evidence review unit's workload to nearly quadruple under new state rules requiring the adoption of body-worn cameras by 2025.
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An automated license plate reader system from Flock Safety, a company based in Atlanta, Ga., has made its way to two communities in Summit County, Ohio. The system utilizes cloud technology.
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The judge found the petition by New York Civil Liberties Union, which alleged that Lockport City School District's camera system violated privacy laws, was unnecessary in light of a recent bill.
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DuPage Medical Group, the biggest independent physicians group in Illinois, told 600,000 patients that their data may have been stolen by criminals. Cyber attacks have become common for health-care organizations.
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The Government Accountability Office recently released a report detailing the past and future uses of facial recognition technology within 24 federal agencies. The report found that nearly half plan to increase use.
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The standard U.S. vaccine card is a piece of paper — and thus quite easy to forge. So Holy Name Medical Center in New Jersey has turned to blockchain for secure and valid digital vaccine cards.
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U.S. data protection laws often widely permit using data for profit but are more restrictive of socially beneficial uses. We wanted to ask a simple question: Do U.S. privacy laws actually protect data in the ways that Americans want?
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In Maine, police departments in Lewiston and Auburn have moved to a new encrypted radio system that cannot be picked up by civilian scanners. Proponents say the tech will help reduce misinformation and fraud.
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Hackers have found their way again into T-Mobile's systems, the fourth reported breach of the company since early 2020, and this haul included sensitive personal information associated with about 48 million people.
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The Newark Liberty International Airport is using facial recognition to verify passengers for boarding at a single gate in a new pilot program. The goal is to make boarding a smoother process.
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A cybersecurity company that searches for weaknesses was able to obtain the personal information of about 750,000 Indiana residents who took a contact tracing survey. The company destroyed the data eventually.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.