If you were properly creeped out by Wegman's collecting biometric data, the same should apply to Shaw's, Star Market, the other Albertson's stores, Walmart--of course--and Best Buy.

Was Big Brother this...petty?

#surveillance #capitalism

https://www.boston.com/news/business/2026/01/06/is-wegmans-collecting-biometric-data-on-mass-shoppers/

Founder of spyware maker pcTattletale pleads guilty to hacking and advertising surveillance software | TechCrunch https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/06/founder-of-spyware-maker-pctattletale-pleads-guilty-to-hacking-and-advertising-surveillance-software/

#spyware #hacking #surveillance #press

The State of Anti-Surveillance Design

To outsmart #surveillance systems, it’s helpful to understand them. #Facialrecognition —which identifies an individual face—works differently from #biometric scans that look at a person’s #iris or #fingerprints , & those systems work diff from #ALPR , which could in theory match an individual’s movements to a car through a DB. & consumer-level facial recognition systems, like #Pimeyes , operate using diff #algorithms & DB
#privacy

https://www.404media.co/the-state-of-anti-surveillance-design/

404 Media: Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves

https://www.404media.co/flock-exposed-its-ai-powered-cameras-to-the-internet-we-tracked-ourselves/

#privacy #AI #surveillance #bigbrother #dystopia

Alt...

Unlike many of Flock’s cameras, which are designed to capture license plates as people drive by, Flock’s Condor cameras are pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras designed to record and track people, not vehicles. Condor cameras can be set to automatically zoom in on people’s faces as they walk through a parking lot, down a public street, or play on a playground, or they can be controlled manually, according to marketing material on Flock’s website. We watched Condor cameras zoom in on a woman walking her dog on a bike path in suburban Atlanta; a camera followed a man walking through a Macy’s parking lot in Bakersfield; surveil children swinging on a swingset at a playground; and film high-res video of people sitting at a stoplight in traffic. In one case, we were able to watch a man rollerblade down Brookhaven, Georgia’s Peachtree Creek

"The latest disclosures, released this week by Markey, indicate that Ring’s new facial recognition feature, “Familiar Faces,” launched this week despite what Markey calls “reckless” failures to safeguard the biometric data of people who are unknowingly scanned."

https://www.biometricupdate.com/202512/ring-faces-new-scrutiny-as-lawmaker-warns-of-biometric-surveillance-crisis

#privacy #surveillance #cybersecurity #ring

The Guardian: Home Office admits facial recognition tech issue with black and Asian subjects

Calls for review after technology found to return more false positives for ‘some demographic groups’ on certain settings

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/dec/05/home-office-facial-recognition-tech-issue-black-asian-subjects

#surveillance #bigbrother #privacy #policing #facialrecognition #bias

@autonomysolidarity Aujourd'hui, un amendement à la loi sur la police a été adopté à #Berlin. Il autorise à peu près tout ce qui est possible en matière de surveillance numérique : scanners comportementaux, recherche faciale, analyse de données de type Palantir, trojan d'État....'.

https://netzpolitik.org/2025/neues-polizeigesetz-berlin-wirft-die-freiheit-weg/

#Netzpolitik #Surveillance #Allemagne #Palantir #Reconnaissance faciale #Protection des données #Données #Privacy

EFF: How Cops Are Using Flock Safety's ALPR Network to Surveil Protesters and Activists

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/how-cops-are-using-flock-safetys-alpr-network-surveil-protesters-and-activists

#alpr #surveillance #privacy #fascism

📻 Tune into WPLR radio at 8AM eastern for an exclusive interview with @JohnKiriakou about his time in the #CIA and what you can do to defend yourself from #surveillance https://wplr.audio.one/

Per the article: "Signal chats have end-to-end encryption, so law enforcement could have only accessed the group chat if an agent was part of the chat, had access to a member’s phone, or was sent copies of the conversation. According to the FBI, a “sensitive source with excellent access” provided the information, dodging the requirement for a warrant."

#ICE #Fascism #Surveillance #Signal

FBI Caught Spying on Signal Group Chat of Immigration Activists

Keep a close eye on who’s joining your group chats.

https://newrepublic.com/post/203500/fbi-spy-signal-group-chat-immigration-activists

#privacy #fascism #ice #surveillance #signal

Just a reminder that ALPR and surveillance tech like this is a major problem, and flock is bottom of the barrel choice.

Flock intentionally makes their devices insecure and easy to hack.

https://youtu.be/uB0gr7Fh6lY

#Privacy #Security #Surveillance #Flock

Just noticed that CBP/ICE have posted an app publicly to the google play store that they say is meant to be used by partner policing organizations.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.dhs.cbp.mobile.identify.global

#Android #Google #ICE #DHS #CBP #ACAB #privacy #surveillance

Es gibt viele Beispiele die aufzeigen, wie die vielbeschworene Digitalisierung und "Smartifizierung der Welt" vor allem eine Transformation in eine noch autoritärere und repressivere Zukunft bedeuten kann.

Die biometrische Überwachung/Verfolgung von Frauen in Iran und von Kriegsdienstverweigernden in Russland sowie die Zero-Covid-Politik des chinesischen Staates sind offensichtliche Beispiele dafür. Und auch im Überwachungskapitalismus des "demokratischen Westens" werden solche Entwicklungen schon seit einer ganzen Weile auf hohen Ebenen herbeigesehnt, wie z.B. das Dokument "Smart City Charta" von Bundesinstituten und dem Bundesumweltministerium aus dem Jahr 2017 zeigt.

Eine schön deutliche Einordnung dieses Dokuments (im Rahmen einer vergangenen Veranstaltung) findet sich hier:

https://frevel.noblogs.org/post/2022/01/25/februar-2022/

#Überwachung , #Surveillance , #ZeroCovid , #biometrie , #Iran , #Russland

„Klinische Tests ohne Genehmigung, autonome Autos ohne Auflagen, Kernreaktoren und Nuklearenergie ohne staatliche Überwachung und eine Sonderwirtschaftszone, in der es kaum Steuern zu zahlen gibt und auch die Rechte von Arbeitskräften außer Kraft gesetzt werden. So stellen sich zahlreiche Chefs der Big-Tech-Unternehmen und US-Investoren die Zukunft vor – von Peter Thiel bis Sam Altman und Marc Andreessen. Donald Trump soll es möglich machen. Schon 2023 hatte er im Wahlkampf davon gesprochen, solche Freedom Cities in den USA zu ermöglichen.…“

Unregulierte Tech-Tests: Thiel, Altman und Co wollen Freedom Cities

https://www.heise.de/news/Unregulierte-Tech-Tests-Thiel-Altman-und-Co-wollen-Freedom-Cities-10309769.html?wt_mc=sm.red.ho.mastodon.mastodon.md_beitraege.md_beitraege&utm_source=mastodon

#Überwachungskapitalismus #Technology #Thiel #Trump #Musk #Usa #FreedomCities #AI #Surveillance

Meta earns $16B a year from targeted scam ads.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/11/bombshell-report-exposes-how-meta-relied-on-scam-ad-profits-to-fund-ai/

This is fine and normal.

#BigTech #Facebook #Instagram #WhatsApp #Meta #shutItDown #regulation #SurveillanceCapitalism #surveillance #capitalism #PeopleFarming #adtech

"...More than 80 law enforcement agencies across the United States have used language perpetuating harmful stereotypes against Romani people when searching the nationwide Flock Safety automated license plate reader (ALPR) network, according to audit logs obtained and analyzed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

When police run a search through the Flock Safety network, which links thousands of ALPR systems, they are prompted to leave a reason and/or case number for the search. Between June 2024 and October 2025, cops performed hundreds of searches for license plates using terms such as "roma" and "g*psy," and in many instances, without any mention of a suspected crime. Other uses include "g*psy vehicle," "g*psy group," "possible g*psy," "roma traveler" and "g*psy ruse," perpetuating systemic harm by demeaning individuals based on their race or ethnicity. ..."

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/license-plate-surveillance-logs-reveal-racist-policing-against-romani-people

#ALPR #racism #surveillance #bigbrother

Die digitale autoritäre Transformation schreitet in den USA zügig voran. Videos zeigen, dass Beamte der CBP (Border Patrol) und des ICE (militarisierte Zoll und Polizeibehörde des Innenministeriums) inzwischen immer mehr Menschen in der Öffentlichkeit bedrängen und bedrohen, um sie zu biometrischen Gesichtsscans zu nötigen.

Vor wenigen Monaten wurde für das ICE eigens eine App entwickelt, mit der solche Scans zur Identifizierung möglich sind. Biometrische Datenbanken und vernetzte Systeme spielen bei der technologisierten Faschisierung eine zentrale Rolle. Auch die autoritäre EU baut derzeit ihre biometrischen Datenbanken nicht nur für Grenzkontrollen aus und möchte die biometrischen Daten der Mitgliedsstaaten der US-Regierung und Behörden überlassen.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/ice-facial-recognition

https://netzpolitik.org/2025/grenzpartnerschaft-mit-den-usa-eu-kommission-will-biometriedaten-aus-mitgliedstaaten-freigeben/

#USA #Surveillance #Überwachung #ice #Racism

Russia has its own WeChat now https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-internet-restrictions-9.6960036 #Surveillance #Privacy #Censorship

"The web was designed without the concept of personal identity at all, and without any tracking system built in. It was designed for anybody to be able to create what they want, and even for anybody to be able to make their own web browser. Not long after its invention, people came up with ideas like cookies and made different systems for logging in, and then big companies started coming in and realized that if they could control the browser, they'd control all the users and the ways of making money. Ever since, there's been a long series of battles over privacy versus monetization, but there's been some small protection for users, who benefitted from those smart original design choices back at the birth of the web.

It's very clear that a lot of the new AI era is about dismantling the web's original design. The last few decades, where advertising was targeting people by their interests instead of directly by their actual identity, now sees AI companies trying to create an environment of complete surveillance. That requires a new Internet where there's no concept of consent for either users or those who create content and culture — everything is just raw materials, and all of us are fair game.

The most worrisome part is that Atlas looks so familiar, and feels so innocuous, that people will try it and mistake it for a familiar web browser just like the other tools that they've been using for years. But Atlas is a browser that actively fights against the web, and in doing so, it's fighting against the very idea that you should have control over what you see, where you go, and what watches you while you're there."

https://www.anildash.com//2025/10/22/atlas-anti-web-browser/

#AI #GenerativeAI #AIBrowser #OpenAI #ChatGPT #AIAgents #Atlas #Privacy #DataProtection #Surveillance #OpenWeb #AntiWeb #ChatGPTAtlas

Which surveillance gadget/technology do you despise the most, and why? 👁️‍🗨️

#Privacy #Surveillance

The U.S. government allowed and even helped American firms sell tech used for surveillance in China.

@AssociatedPress reports on the actions of five Republican and Democratic administrations.

https://flip.it/1sGY.l

#China #Surveillance #Tech #Technology #Privacy #News

@MichaelRoss I guess there's no point of even trying to go to the US, now. We have to submit to facial-recognition at the border, and if any of your socials have your face on it, you're connected. The border guards won't even have to ask "what is your opinion of President Trump". You'll probably be guilty by your associations. #Surveillance

U.S. to photograph Canadian travellers when they enter and exit at all land borders, airports https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/u-s-photograph-border-9.6953627 #Privacy #Biometrics #Surveillance #CDNPoli

The #surveillance system, called “Harmony,” relies on a constellation of seabed sensors to detect #US #submarines entering Russian naval “bastions,” disrupting Western attempts to track or, if war broke out, destroy Russian submarines that exist to ensure #Russia can launch a #nuclear strike even if its land-based missile silos are disabled, according to naval experts.

#law #finance #business #tech #money #power #complicity #geopolitics

Alt...

Map of Russia's "Harmony" submarine-bastion surveillance system & military bases

All were integral to a secret, multiyear project to erect an invisible #surveillance net across the Barents Sea & other frigid waters where Russian #submarines operate carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles [#ICBM] in case of #nuclear conflict with the #UnitedStates, according to German court records as well as #US & Western #security officials and experts.

#law #finance #business #tech #money #power #complicity #geopolitics #Russia

Disguising its role in transactions through layers of front companies, #Russia was able to obtain sensitive sonar systems, an underwater drone capable of operating at depths up to 3,000 meters, sophisticated subsurface antennas & a fleet of ships that posed as commercial or research vessels while carrying out installation tasks for the Russian military, according to officials and documents.

#law #finance #business #tech #money #power #complicity #surveillance #geopolitics

#Russia acquired #WesternTechnology to protect its #nuclear submarine fleet

Russia is protecting its nuclear submarine fleet in the #Arctic with an undersea #surveillance system built using high-tech equipment acquired from #US & #Europe companies through a secret procurement network, acc/to newly uncovered financial records, court documents & Western #security officials.

#law #finance #business #tech #money #power #complicity #geopolitics
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/23/russia-nuclear-subs-western-technology-surevillance/

Saw on the evening #Toronto news that #Vaughn is planning on beefing up their CCTV network but also wants ALPR on the 407 and a gunshot detection network (like Flock?). Don't see an associated article yet. #Surveillance #ONPoli

BTW this bit of #surveillance #fascism from #Amazon
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/10/ring-cameras-are-about-to-get-increasingly-chummy-with-law-enforcement/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

reminds of a question been meaning to ask: are Amazon’s Kindles so bad that’s why people throw them away the minute they get them?

i’ve been looking for a used tablet to root and every other fucking tablet in the second-hand market is a friggin’ #Kindle.

why are people throwing them away?

also, are they that hard to root and reformat?

btw: rumbas and rings are also flooding the second-hand market . it’s bananas.

In another project, #ICE has disclosed in recent days its potential plans to set up a #socialmedia monitoring team of 16 analysts who would sift through information from social media platforms & other databases to generate leads to locate *targeted individuals*. An Oct 2 “request for information,” …listed Facebook, X, TikTok, LinkedIn, Reddit, WhatsApp, YouTube, Pinterest, Tumblr, Instagram, Flickr, Myspace & Google+ as some of the platforms that the team would scour…

#Trump #law #surveillance

3 Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter to #DHS Secy #KristiNoem on Oct 6 expressing concern over reports of #ICE’s contract with #Paragon for #Graphite #spyware. “Graphite can gain unauthorized access into mobile phones without the owner’s knowledge or #consent, allowing access to encrypted applications, the phone’s location data, as well as messages & photographs saved to the phone,” Reps. Summer Lee (PA), Shontel Brown (OH) & Yassamin Ansari (AZ) wrote.

#Trump #law #4A #surveillance #NoKings

#ICE purchased #spyware in recent weeks that enables it to remotely hack into #smartphones & extract #data, even if phones are locked or communication is encrypted. One of them, developed by #Paragon, has drawn considerable concern from #CivilRights groups due to its use by other govts to monitor #dissidents & #journalists. ICE’s initial $2M contract for the spyware was suspended by #Biden due to those ethical concerns, but the contract was reactivated Aug 29.

#Trump #law #surveillance

A number of #ICE’s #surveillance orders this year are explicitly for #immigration enforcement, such as a $30 million contract to #Palantir to build #ImmigrationOS, a platform for granularly tracking undocumented immigrants’ movements and any self-deportations. But #US officials have also begun to say that their efforts may serve the crackdown on #antifa as well.

#Trump #law #privacy #immigration #tech #SurveillanceState #MilitaryState #fascism #tyranny #NoKings

Technologies purchased by #ICE in recent weeks include an iris-scanning app that agents plan to use in the field, spyware that can hack into smartphones remotely & cellphone location software that can enable the tracking of a phone’s movements without a court #warrant.

“The acquisition & deployment of this technology in this environment is going to raise substantial concerns,” said John Sandweg, who was an acting director of ICE under the Obama admin.

#Trump #law #privacy #tech #Surveillance

But Democratic lawmakers, #CivilRights watchdogs & fmr officials have expressed concern that #ICE now has a green light not only to monitor immigrant communities, but also to carry out broad #surveillance of Americans exercising their #FirstAmendment right to oppose government action.

#Trump #law #privacy #immigration #tech #SurveillanceState #MilitaryState #fascism #tyranny #NoKings

The blitz of #surveillance purchases is motivated in large part by ICE’s intensive, nationwide campaign to find & deport undocumented #immigrants. But documents show that some of the #technology may also be used to target what the admin regards as anti-ICE extremist groups. Late last month, #Trump declared “#Antifa” a domestic #terrorist organization in the wake of a few violent clashes & a Dallas shooting at an #ICE facility.

#law #privacy #immigration #MilitaryState #fascism #tyranny #NoKings

#ICE has been rapidly building out its #surveillance capabilities in recent weeks, signing a string of contracts for technologies to identify individuals by their irises or facial features & to monitor their cellphone activity, social media posts & physical movements, according to a review of federal spending disclosures.

#Trump #law #privacy #immigration #tech #SurveillanceState #MilitaryState #fascism #tyranny #NoKings