Santa Clara County may ditch camera vendor amid privacy issues

Santa Clara County officials signaled growing distrust with Flock Safety, a company that sells license plate reading cameras to cities across California, over concerns the cameras are being used by federal immigration authorities.

#SiliconValley #California #FlockSafety #surveillance #privacy #ice #technology #tech

https://sanjosespotlight.com/santa-clara-county-may-ditch-camera-vendor-amid-privacy-issues/

Electronic Frontier Foundation is backing the ICE Out of Our Faces Act, a bill to ban biometric surveillance by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/02/yes-ice-out-my-face-act

#eff #ice #ban #biometric #surveillance #cbp #bill
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🕵️‍♀️ Privacy Check! How comfortable are you with the amount of personal data you share online every day?

#Privacy #Surveillance #PrivacyTools #Poll #DataControl

Featured story: By converting a digital camera to reveal infrared light, photographer Jordan Vonderhaar turns surveillance tech back on itself, with bright foliage highlighting the intensity of Texas' #border militarization. https://www.texasobserver.org/the-river-and-the-fever-dream-photo-essay/

#Texas #photography #art #tech #surveillance #immigration #military #politics #USpol

Alt...

A soldier stands on a pier by the river at the border, with a hazy, surreal look to everything due to the infrared filter, which cases foliage across the shore in bright red while emphasizing browns in the solider's uniform.

Why wouldn’t you just want a minster to be able to edit any software or hardware used in a critical service? Fed up with E2EE then just remove it for national security reasons, want more surveillance capacity just add it in to the software or hardware. #cyberbill #statepower #surveillance

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Amendment to part 4 of the cybersecurity and resilience bill.

#Facialrecognition #ICE #surveillance –

„This may be another reason so many immigration officers are masked while on duty: They know better than we do what it means to show one’s face. In Minneapolis and elsewhere, agents now carry tools of surveillance into the field, just as they do their guns.“ David Wallace-Wells

#Palantir #giftarticle

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/opinion/ice-surveillance.html?unlocked_article_code=1.J1A.D2YV.BPFga1qzpzxM&smid=url-share

🚀 New episode out now:

“Hijacked Homework” – We unpack how free‑to‑use apps like ClassDojo, LMS platforms, smartboards, school ISPs, and even AI‑powered tutor apps harvest every click, badge, and whisper.

👉 Learn the legal landscape (FERPA, COPPA, GDPR) and concrete steps you can take, like burner devices, VPN everywhere, paper opt‑outs, data‑deletion requests, and contract advocacy.

🎙️ Listen and let’s keep our kids’ homework private.

#Privacy #EdTech #Surveillance

🎧 impracticalprivacy.com

My message for #GlobalEncryptionDay... for every entity interested in #surveillance:
I will resist and it's my human right.
Encryption is not for bad actors only, it protects innocent people every day.
We are not criminals.

#privacy #encryption

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My modified photo. Woman in grey hoodie and black trousers, with right hand up and close to camera, is blurred. Top and bottom parts of the image are covered with added dark blue shadow. Whole picture is covered with semi-transparent Base64 PGP message. There is pale yellow text near bottom part: "I am not a criminal. I am not a terrorist. I USE ENCRYPTION."

Ce mercredi aura lieu la rencontre mensuelle de Technopolice Paris-Banlieue ✨

C'est l'occasion de participer au travail de collecte d’information, visibilisation et mobilisation autour de la surveillance de l'espace public et des usages de technologies répressives. Mais aussi tout simplement de discuter et s'informer !

📅 19:00 Mercredi 4 février

📍 Le Bar Commun, 135 rue des Poissonniers (Paris 18e, métro marcadet poissonnier)

🌐 https://www.agendamilitant.org/Rencontre-Technopolice-Paris-Banlieue-7631.html

#Technopolice #surveillance #barcommun #vsa #videosurveillance #paris #paris18 #iledefrance

#Kansas Town Uses #LicensePlateReaders to Go After Man Who Wrote Op-Ed

Police in #Lenexa , Kansas used automated license plate reader ( #ALPR ) technology to pursue a man who wrote a critical op-ed about the police department, according to reporting by Kansas public radio station #KCUR. This is a rare public example of exactly the kind of #abuse that we’ve long warned against when it comes to mass-surveillance systems like #licenseplate readers.
#surveillance #privacy

https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/alpr-against-op-ed-writer

As expected, the #UK House of Lords recently voted in favor of banning VPNs for under-18s. It's now the turn of The House of Commons, and the British government has announced three months of consultations on "online safety for children."

Some larger, less privacy-oriented #VPN providers (ExpressVPN, Surfshark, NordVPN, Windscribe) already said they wanted to "engage" with the consultations.

So: age verification for VPNs is coming to the UK, and the government will be delighted to point out "the big providers" were "involved in the consultations".

It's only a matter of time before this will also be on the agenda of other European countries.

If you want to resist such surveillance you should choose privacy-oriented VPN providers such as @ivpn and @mullvadnet. They can be paid for in unconventional ways, including even the good old cash-in-an-envelope.

However, dodgy allegedly "free" VPNs with their snooping browser plugins are not a solution. They're a massive attack on privacy.

(This PSA certainly wasn't written just for adults.)

https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/vpn-companies-open-to-meaningful-dialogue-with-uk-government-during-childrens-online-safety-consultation

#privacy #surveillance

[THREAD] Will be updated until the law is passed
[Status, 9th May]: Waiting on the Publication and Evaluation of the consultation results.
As it is not a new law, but an update of an existing Federal law, the process is shorter and it doesn't have to pass through the parliament. The Federal Council will decide about the next steps.

An update of the surveillance law in Switzerland is currently being discussed.
In the proposed text, content and end-to-end encryption are *explicitly* excluded from surveillance.
They want to go after metadata, being able to identify users of the different services and have better real-time capabilities.
We'll see how this evolves and how the final proposal will look like in the coming months.

https://www.demokratis.ch/consultation/confederation/revision-partielle-de-deux-ordonnances-sur-la-surveillance-de-la-correspondance-par-poste-et-telecommunication_mk8v5uyr

#e2ee #surveillance #switzerland

Our Zine About #ICE #Surveillance Is Here

We are very proud to present 404 Media’s zine on the surveillance technology used by #Immigrations and #Customs Enforcement. While we have always covered surveillance and #privacy, for the last year, you may have noticed that we have spent an outsized amount of our attention and time reporting on the ways technology companies are powering Donald Trump’s #deportation raids.
#Trump

https://www.404media.co/icezine/

Surveillance States Are Expanding... and the courts aren't helping.

#News #TechNews #Cybersecurity #Surveillance #Flock #Ring #Privacy

https://youtu.be/OlFDupB3nts

Daily podcast: Surveillance States Are Expanding... and the courts aren't helping.

#News #TechNews #Cybersecurity #Surveillance #Flock #Ring #Privacy #podcast

https://soundcloud.com/nickaesp/sse

The Guide to Peer-to-Peer, Encryption, and Tor: New Communication Infrastructure for Anarchists

"An exhaustive anarchist overview and guide to various apps and tech that utilize peer-to-peer and encryption.

Shhhhh
This is a discussion about digital tools for communicating securely and privately. To begin, it must be stressed that a face-to-face meeting, out of sight of cameras and out of earshot from other people and devices, is the most secure way to communicate. Anarchists were going for walks to chat long before encrypted texting existed, and they should still do so now, whenever possible."

Download and Print PDF Version from @igd_news
For Reading online
https://itsgoingdown.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/petguide_read.pdf
For Printing
https://itsgoingdown.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/petguide_imposed.pdf

https://darknights.noblogs.org/post/2023/03/26/the-guide-to-peer-to-peer-encryption-and-tor-new-communication-infrastructure-for-anarchists/

#Surveillance #Metadata #Datasecurity #Datenschutz #activism #antireport #support

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Karikatur einer Hand mit einem Handy mit Sprechblase. Aus der Sprechblase kommt eine Flamme in Rot. Beschriftung : "The Riot is one Night..... (oben) ......but Metadata Lasts Forever (unten)

ICE’s New Surveillance Nightmare Exposed
#ice #privacy #surveillance #technology

https://substack.com/@legalaf/note/p-186554062?r=8jpw8

RE: https://med-mastodon.com/@cbarbermd/115988249147912979

The thing about a lot of these law enforcement #biometric databases is that it’s very easy to get out into them and very difficult to ever get out.

Did you know that something like 1 in 2 people living in the US are in federal facial recognition databases because of drivers license/state ID sharing and passports. (Source: https://www.law.georgetown.edu/privacy-technology-center/publications/the-perpetual-line-up/) #surveillance #FacialRecognition

Sharing this Proton article with their 2026 internet predictions 📱

🔍 EU eyes permanent "voluntary" message scanning
🪪 Global age verification laws risk ID breaches
⚠️ VPN blocks expand in democracies as rogue AI agents loom

@protonprivacy

🔗 https://proton.me/blog/2026-internet-predictions

#TechNews #Privacy #VPN #AI #Surveillance #Encryption #Regulation #Data #Security #DigitalRights #Cybersecurity #UserRights #BigTech #InternetFreedom #AgeVerification #Proton #ProtonMail #EU #Europe #ChatControl #VPN #ID

UK launches major police reforms with expanded AI and live facial recognition 📹
AI analyzes CCTV footage to free up 6M officer hours yearly; facial rec vans rise to 50 🔍
Privacy concerns grow as surveillance scales without clear civil liberty protections ⚖️

🔗 https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/police-overhaul-shabana-mahmood-home-office-ai-b2907845.html

#TechNews #Privacy #AI #FacialRecognition #Surveillance #Security #Data #Regulation #BigTech #Police #CivilLiberties #Ethics #DigitalRights #Cybersecurity #UserRights #UK #UnitedKingdom #CCTV

WhatsApp faces lawsuit alleging end-to-end encryption is a sham 📱
Meta calls claims "false and absurd," vowing to countersue 🔐
Users must weigh trust in encryption claims against need for verification 🧩

🔗 https://www.pcmag.com/news/lawsuit-alleges-that-whatsapp-has-no-end-to-end-encryption?test_uuid=04IpBmWGZleS0I0J3epvMrC&test_variant=B

#TechNews #Privacy #Encryption #Security #WhatsApp #Meta #Data #Surveillance #UserRights #BigTech #Transparency #Cybersecurity #Consent #OnlineSafety #Messaging

TikTok’s new US-based ownership is rolling out an updated privacy policy 📱
The app now collects more data — including users’ precise locations 🌎
Ownership change or not, data minimization remains the real test of accountability 🔍

🔗 https://www.wired.com/story/tiktok-new-privacy-policy/

#TechNews #Privacy #Data #Security #AI #BigTech #Surveillance #SocialMedia #Policy #Transparency #UserRights #Ethics #Consent #Regulation #OnlineSafety #TikTok #US #USA

Netflix’s $ bid to acquire Warner Bros. raises fresh privacy questions 🎥
Merging two massive data sets—viewing, search, and location—could deepen user profiling risks 🔍
Regulators must weigh not just competition, but consent 🧩

🔗 https://news.bloomberglaw.com/privacy-and-data-security/netflixs-bid-for-warner-bros-highlights-privacy-concerns

#TechNews #Privacy #Data #Streaming #BigTech #Antitrust #Regulation #AI #Surveillance #Security #Ethics #ConsumerRights #Policy #DataProtection #Transparency #Netflix #Stream

I just updated the RTA blog post about #Meta with this nugget of info that I had overlooked: they have your #WhatsApp #encryption keys.... 🤦🏼‍♂️

So they can say "your content is end-to-end-encrypted" until the cows come home, but they can still access it whenever they want! (and they always want to, because they are an #advertising and #AI business, and supplier-of- #surveillance -info-to-the-cops business)

FYI Signal do NOT have your encryption keys.

Original blog post: https://blog.rebeltechalliance.org/know-your-enemy-pt-2-meta/

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Do you trust Meta with your keys? One key 'feature' of WhatsApp (and iMessage for that matter) is that they also handle your encryption keys. This undoubtably makes life easier for people (messages can be easily restored/ported to another device) but it also means that ultimately the keys to your encrypted messages are owned by people who you cannot trust (i.e. Meta). And sure enough in a lawsuit against Meta it has been alledged that Meta actually can see your message content, and they scan it for their advertising and AI business, and for security agencies.

Here's the Seattle Police's own map of their warrant-less surveillance camera network.

If you, a loved one, neighbor or even frenemy are illegally stopped by ICE in these marked areas you should write to Mayor Katie Wilson and demand her office facilitate evidence gathering.

IF WE the people of Seattle have to be watched all the time by the cops in certain areas SO should ICE.

https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/483fdf81c01c4fa9977b38fb7649615e

#FuckICE #Seattle #SPD #PNW #Privacy #surveillance

"What we are witnessing in America is technofascism. This is fascism partnered with advanced surveillance technologies. And this is what we see playing out in Minneapolis in real time, and with one company playing a pre-eminent role: Palantir.

It’s not just Palantir. We’ve seen other data-harvesting monopolies and Silicon Valley companies paying homage to Trump: Meta and Google and OpenAI and Oracle and Amazon and Nvidia, many of which have financial and other links to Thiel. Palantir is the very tip of this extremely poisonous spear.

What is happening in Minneapolis is a trial balloon. It’s where Trump is testing the limits of his power. That includes his ability to suppress dissent, to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, to break people’s will. And surveillance is at the heart of this.

It’s no coincidence that ICE officers wear masks. For them, privacy is impunity. That’s what the killing of Alex Pretti showed last week: that no one would be held to account. But for everyone else, there was another lesson: that there is nowhere to hide.

Personal data is the key to Trump’s political project. It’s an essential part of ICE’s work, the foundation for what is now under construction, and Minneapolis is where you can see it being built: an authoritarian surveillance state."

https://www.thenerve.news/p/technofascism-us-america-fascism-trump-palantir-peter-thiel-uk-nigel-farage-reform

#USA #Trump #Palantir #TechnoFascism #Fascism #UK #Reform #ICE #Surveillance #PoliceState

I've published a new essay on my website.

“Into the Dark Wood: The Right to Be Unknown.”

Oblivion, autonomy, surveillance, and resisting a world that refuses to let us disappear.

https://ominous.net/The_Right_to_Be_Unknown.html

#Privacy #Surveillance #DigitalRights #DigitalAutonomy

#DID #DIDay #DIDIt #NeuHier #Google #Surveillance

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Google sells your information to cops (schwarze Beschriftung mit braun melliertem Hntergrund) - Google steht groß über das ganze Bild - das L ist in blau. Darunter "Sells your information to cops"

“Despite repeated assurances of strict protocols and privacy safeguards, the Mountain View Police Department disclosed this week that it had inadvertently violated its own policies and allowed hundreds of unauthorized law enforcement agencies to search information captured by the city’s license plate cameras for more than a year.”

Yeah, this is why you don’t even BEGIN to install surveillance tech when the data is actually owned by a third party. Because that makes it profitable for the third party to sell surveillance data.

WRITE AND CALL YOUR CITY REPRESENTATIVES and demand that they take down these Flock cameras.

#surveillance #fuckFlock