"Military contractor Palantir is helping the IRS analyze dozens of different data sets on Americans to investigate a broad range of financial crimes, according to records shared with The Intercept.

Since 2018, the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division has used Palantir’s Lead and Case Analytics platform to aggregate and analyze a sprawling list of sensitive federal databases and data sets.

Public records detailing Palantir’s IRS contract, obtained by the nonprofit watchdog group American Oversight and shared exclusively with The Intercept, reveal the immense volume of data plugged into the military contractor’s software. The LCA uses both Palantir’s Gotham and Foundry applications to facilitate “analysis of massive-scale data to find the needle in the hay stack,” the contract paperwork says.

Documents indicate the IRS has paid Palantir over $130 million for these services to date.

Palantir’s LCA is ostensibly directed toward cracking down on fraud, money laundering, and other financial crimes. According to a 2024 agency privacy impact assessment, IRS “Special agents and investigative analysts … utilize the platform to find, analyze, and visualize connections between disparate sets of data to generate leads, identify schemes, uncover tax fraud, and conduct money laundering and forfeiture investigative activities.”

https://theintercept.com/2026/04/24/palantir-irs-contract-data/

#USA #Palantir #Surveillance #BigTech

"1. Programmers working on the Internet have a moral responsibility to the entire world, not a single country. The Internet has been designed since its inception as a universal system for the sharing of knowledge without censorship. The Internet is not the property of any one government or nation.

2. The Internet enables mass surveillance at a scale unimaginable to the Gestapo and the Cheka. Far too many programmers have wasted their lives building surveillance systems under the guise of Web advertising. Today, these web tracking systems are being used to monitor, control, and even kill humans by companies like Palantir that seek to combine state violence with corporate efficiency, and thus create a new form of technofascism.

3. Surveillance justified by external national security threats will be turned against citizens inside the nation-state. Mass surveillance was once the exclusive domain of the NSA, but today it has been privatized to corporations like Palantir that are unaccountable to any democratic process. What begins as fear of external foreign nation-states turns inwards to focus on immigrants, dissidents, and eventually anyone that might challenge the status quo or try to exit an increasingly dysfunctional society.

4. Everyone is a target. The “enemy within” continually expands until it encompasses the entire population of a nation regardless of their status and beliefs, justifying evermore paranoid and totalizing surveillance. The line between policing and military operations blurs, with legal frameworks being replaced by technological violence operating with total impunity."

https://nym.com/pt/blog/anti-palantir-manifesto

#Palantir #Surveillance #Technofascism

"Malenfant says that five to ten years from now, CAPTCHA challenges likely won’t be viable at all. Instead, much of the web will have a constant, secret Turing test running in the background."

#JoshDzieza, 2019

https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/1/18205610/google-captcha-ai-robot-human-difficult-artificial-intelligence

In other words, constant realtime surveillance of every possible things humans do while using these platforms.

(1/2)

#CAPTCHA #RECAPTCHA #privacy #surveillance #ConstantTuringTest

Proton CEO warns global age verification push will mean "the death of anonymity online"

Protecting children online is crucial, but forcing every user to hand over their ID is a privacy nightmare waiting to happen, according to the head of the Swiss privacy firm

https://www.techradar.com/vpn/vpn-privacy-security/proton-ceo-warns-global-age-verification-push-will-mean-the-death-of-anonymity-online

#Proton #privacy #AgeVerification #IDVerification #surveillance #technology

Federal Surveillance Tech Becomes Mandatory in New Cars by 2027

Your next car purchase comes with an unwelcome passenger: a federal mandate requiring surveillance technology that monitors your every blink, glance, and head nod.

https://www.gadgetreview.com/federal-surveillance-tech-becomes-mandatory-in-new-cars-by-2027

#cars #privacy #surveillance #enshittification #dystopia #technology

Free software offers trust and privacy; #Ring offers mass surveillance: https://u.fsf.org/4aw #Flock #privacy #surveillance

#Surveillance #Sabotage

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surveillance cameras can have a little spray print as a treat hand mit sprühdose welche auf eine überwachungskamera zielt

#Surveillance vendors caught abusing access to telcos to track people's phone locations
#CitizenLab, a digital rights organization which exposes surveillance abuses, published a new report detailing two newly identified campaigns. The surveillance vendors behind them, which Citizen Lab did not name, operated as “ghost” companies pretending to be legitimate cellular providers, and would piggyback their access to those networks to look up the location data of their targets.
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/23/surveillance-vendors-caught-abusing-access-to-telcos-to-track-peoples-phone-locations-researchers-say/

And when you think surveillance has gotten as bad as it can, DHS and Meta team up to bring smart glasses to ICE.
#surveillance
https://thehill.com/homenews/nexstar_media_wire/5845998-homeland-security-smart-glasses/amp/

#Surveillance vendors caught abusing access to telcos to track people’s phone locations, researchers say

https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/23/surveillance-vendors-caught-abusing-access-to-telcos-to-track-peoples-phone-locations-researchers-say/

#privacy #cybersecurity

A bill for the people? We nearly forgot the government could do that 👀

The US government regularly gets around the 4th Amendment by buying data from “third-party” data brokers, to invade your privacy with no oversight.

Why this is legal? We have no idea, but Rep. Thomas Massie (KY) just introduced the Surveillance Accountability Act (with help drafting from Naomi Brockwell!) which closes this loophole.

The bill would mandate warrants for all surveillance, including a ban on invasive AI and facial recognition mass surveillance in public spaces 💪

Check it out here and let us know what you think: https://surveillanceaccountability.com

#SurveillanceAccountabilityAct #Privacy #USpol #Surveillance #USgov #USA

"When he drives through his neighborhood now, Brian Page passes rows of police cars and AI‑powered cameras that track nearly every movement.

For most of his life, Page, who goes by “Scapegoat Jones,” felt safest in the community that Atlanta officials have since flooded with officers and surveillance technology in the name of “public safety.” He bought a house six minutes from the one he grew up in in DeKalb County, is raising his daughter in the same majority‑Black neighborhood, and cherished the forest trail where his family used to jog and ride bikes.

Now, a massive police training complex and an expanding web of surveillance rise in its place, and it makes him feel watched, not protected.

The network, he said, “certainly feels like an invasion of privacy.”

The 41-year-old’s unease about the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center, more commonly known as “Cop City,” is at the center of a much larger experiment.

Built atop 85 acres of one of Atlanta’s last urban forests, the training center is now wired into what has become the most expansive surveillance network of any city in the U.S., part of more than 60,000 public and private cameras linked to law enforcement across the metro area."

https://capitalbnews.org/atlanta-cop-city-ai-policing-black-community/

#AI #AIPolicing #USA #CopCity #Atlanta #Surveillance

The Supreme Court will decide when the police can use your phone to track you

modern technology enables the government to invade everyone’s privacy in ways that would have been unimaginable when the Constitution was framed. The Supreme Court has spent the past several decades trying to make sure that its interpretation of the Fourth Amendment keeps up with technological progress.

#legal #SCOTUS #constitution #fourthamendment #surveillance #privacy #technology #tech

https://www.vox.com/politics/485973/supreme-court-chatrie-cell-phone-geofence-warrant

Surveillance vendors caught abusing access to telcos to track people’s phone locations, researchers say

The Citizen Lab found two separate surveillance vendors abusing the backbone of cellular networks to spy on several victims across the world.

#cybersecurity #diameter #israel #location-tracking #privacy #security #ss7 #surveillance
https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/23/surveillance-vendors-caught-abusing-access-to-telcos-to-track-peoples-phone-locations-researchers-say/

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Surveillance vendors caught abusing access to telcos to track people’s phone locations, researchers say

Meta is cutting another 8000 jobs, but not before they surveil their employees and use their behaviors for #AI training.

“The company told employees in a memo on Thursday that it planned to cut 10% of its workforce - roughly 8,000 staff. It said it would also not fill thousands more open jobs it had been hiring for.”

“The company just this week informed employees that it would begin tracking and logging their interactions with work computers in order to help train and improve its AI models, a move one employee called "dystopian" given the looming layoffs.”

#slop #layoffs #surveillance #FuckZuck

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crm1y89vek8o

House Republican leaders unveiled a new legislative proposal to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for three years, just ahead of an April 30 expiration deadline. The proposal omits a mandatory warrant requirement. #FISA #Surveillance #Congress #USPolitics
https://blazetrends.com/fisa-section-702-house-gop-unveils-3-year-spy-powers-plan-ahead-of-deadline/?fsp_sid=4833

Inspiring!

#Surveillance #Sabotage #DirectAction #Art

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Painted picture. A 360° surveillance camera on a lantern. Below it a hand with a gray glove pressing on a yellow spray bottle and spraying yellow paint on the camera. The background is light blue

Age verification is expanding from laws into platforms and operating systems, linking access to identity checks across services and devices 🌐
Implementations often require IDs or biometrics, creating centralized data targets and reducing anonymity despite privacy claims 🔐

🔗 https://proton.me/blog/age-verification-explained

#TechNews #AgeVerification #Privacy #DigitalID #Cybersecurity #OpenSource #FOSS #DataProtection #Security #Encryption #Surveillance #Regulation #Infosec #Tech #Identity

UK regulator Ofcom probes Telegram under the Online Safety Act over alleged CSAM sharing, alongside teen chat platform investigations 📱
Case tests compliance powers like fines or blocking, raising tensions between enforcement, encryption, and user privacy rights ⚖️

🔗 https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/uk-probes-telegram-teen-chat-sites-over-csam-sharing-concerns/

#TechNews #Telegram #Ofcom #OnlineSafetyAct #Privacy #Cybersecurity #Encryption #ContentModeration #DigitalRights #Surveillance #Regulation #Infosec #DataProtection #UK #Tech #CSAM #Teen #ChildSafety

EU age verification app was declared ready and privacy-presing, but researchers bypassed protections in under 2 minutes despite open-source code 🔍
Flaws in config-stored controls, disabled biometrics, and exposed credentials highlight risks of identity linkage and centralized tracking ⚠️

🔗 https://proton.me/blog/eu-age-verification-app-hacked

#TechNews #EU #Europe #AgeVerification #Privacy #Cybersecurity #OpenSource #FOSS #DataProtection #Security #Encryption #DigitalID #Surveillance #Infosec #Tech #Regulation

"Key Findings:

- Multi-Vector Surveillance: We identified actors using multiple techniques to track targets by combining 3G and 4G signalling network protocols with direct device exploitation via SMS.
SIM Card Exploitation: One campaign sent a malicious SMS containing hidden SIM card commands to extract location information, attempting to turn the device into a covert tracking beacon.
- Sophisticated and Customized Tooling: Both actors used customized surveillance tooling to spoof operator identities, manipulate signalling protocols, and steer traffic through specific interconnect network paths to evade defenses and mask attribution.
- Global Network Infrastructure: The attacks leveraged identifiers and infrastructure associated with operators worldwide, including networks based in the UK, Israel, China, Thailand, Sweden, Italy, Liechtenstein, Cambodia, Mozambique, Uganda, Rwanda, Poland, Switzerland, Morocco, Namibia, Lesotho, and the self-governing Island of Jersey, demonstrating extensive global reach.
- Persistent Campaign Activity: Telemetry shared by mobile signalling security provider Cellusys reveals that operator identifiers were reused over multiple years, forming consistent clusters that enabled long-running surveillance operations.
- Weak Intercarrier Provider OPSEC: Weak screening of interconnect traffic allowed attackers to route surveillance messages through trusted operator pathways, enabling access to targeted networks."

https://citizenlab.ca/research/uncovering-global-telecom-exploitation-by-covert-surveillance-actors/

#Surveillance #CyberSecurity #BigTelco

Homeland Security is developing glasses that allow federal agents to identify individuals from a distance, according to Ken Klippenstein. #Surveillance #Privacy

These advanced glasses aim to enhance identification capabilities, raising privacy concerns. Klippenstein’s report highlights the potential for increased surveillance, sparking debate over civil liberties. The technology’s development und... https://instagr.am/p/DXfk2enhR00/

Episode 23 of Impractical Privacy: Smart vacuums are mapping our homes in incredible detail - but at what cost?

We’re talking about the data they collect, how it’s used, and the potential privacy implications.

It’s a surprisingly complex issue! Listen & let me know your thoughts: impracticalprivacy.com

Also, corrected show notes for this episode coming this evening. It's been a busy few days for me, sorry.

#privacy #smartdevices #technology #data #opsec #dataprivacy #surveillance

“According to the report, the first one is Israeli operator #019Mobile, which researchers said was used in several #surveillance attempts. British provider #TangoNetworks U.K. was also used for surveillance activity over several years, the researchers say.”

https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/23/surveillance-vendors-caught-abusing-access-to-telcos-to-track-peoples-phone-locations-researchers-say/

What is dynamic pricing at grocery stores? Maryland now bans it

surveillance pricing is when a store charges different shoppers different prices for the same item at the same time, based on something the store “knows” about them as an individual

#Maryland #retail #pricing #SurveillancePricing #PredatoryPricing #privacy #surveillance #technology #tech

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2026/04/15/maryland-bans-dynamic-pricing-practice-popular-among-retailers/89621751007/

Court challenge over Met Police's use of live facial recognition lost

Privacy campaigners have lost a High Court challenge aimed at limiting the Metropolitan Police's use of live facial recognition technology.

Opening the doors for facial recognition technology to be rolled out across the country with "record investment".

#London #UK #BigBrotherWatch #facialrecognition #police #privacy #surveillance #technology #tech

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq59x4vv954o

Court challenge over #Met #Police's use of live #FacialRecognition lost

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq59x4vv954o

#UK #FRT #privacy #surveillance

Surveillance vendors caught abusing access to telcos to track people's locations

https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/23/surveillance-vendors-caught-abusing-access-to-telcos-to-track-peoples-phone-locations-researchers-say/

#HackerNews #surveillance #privacy #telcos #locationtracking #dataabuse #cybersecurity

"Online privacy has always been tenuous. But with age verification, we’re on the cusp of, once and for all, requiring ID for every single person going online, for any reason, legal or not, adult or not. And that should terrify us all. "

https://proton.me/blog/keep-age-verification-from-killing-anonymity-online

#privacy #privacyMatters #ageverification #surveillance

Warrantless Surveillance Needs to Stop! A Call to Action
#surveillance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cQ1YpTTN7E

"This is why labour law belongs at the centre of these debates. Labour law is not merely a technical field regulating wages, contracts and dismissal. It is one of the principal ways in which the rule of law enters the workplace. Employers are granted legal powers to direct, monitor and discipline workers. Those powers are not natural facts. They are constituted and structured by law. Labour law exists, in part, to ensure that these powers do not become arbitrary and all-encompassing, and that workers do not cease to be citizens the moment they enter the workplace. Workers’ rights, in that sense, are not just social entitlements. They are democratic safeguards.

The urgency of this becomes clearer still once we turn to artificial intelligence and algorithmic management at work. These technologies are usually discussed in the language of innovation, efficiency and competitiveness. But they also reorganise and reinforce authority. Employers increasingly use digital systems to hire, direct, evaluate and discipline workers, while collecting immense quantities of data about productivity, pace, location, communications and behaviour. The point is not simply that privacy is endangered, though it is. The point is that managerial command is being intensified through technology."

https://www.socialeurope.eu/silicon-valleys-anti-democratic-turn-begins-at-work

#SiliconValley #EconomicDemocracy #Authoritarianism #Surveillance #AI

#Maryland becomes first state to pass bill banning ‘#SurveillancePricing’

https://www.denver7.com/life/money/maryland-becomes-first-state-to-pass-bill-banning-surveillance-pricing

#privacy #surveillance #PersonalFinance

"Behind the scenes, the atmosphere is so rooted in paranoia that former Knicks players warn one another about rooms being bugged, and staffers worry about being watched when they go out to local bars." — Noah Shachtman and Robert Silverman for Wired https://www.wired.com/story/madison-square-garden-jim-dolan-surveillance-machine/?src=longreads #surveillance #security #journalism #reporting #longreads

Last night, my city council voted unanimously to continue using #Flock’s ALPR system to surveil vehicles in #Sunnyvale #California #sfba. I have repeatedly voiced my opposition to my representative (who is exceedingly difficult to reach), but I guess they decided that “safety”, no matter the cost, is something worth spending my tax dollars on even when it means ICE may have access to our data.

I will vote against my incumbent representative next election. They are either craven, or gullible, or stupid, or worse, support this nonsense.

#surveillance #kakistocracy

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Facebook post by Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein: Last night, City Council voted unanimously to continue Sunnyvale’s use of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) with FLOCK Systems, adding strengthened oversight and transparency measures. 🙏THANKS to all of the residents and business owners who spoke, and to those who stayed until 2am as we deliberated. Since their installation, ALPRs have generated over 28,000 alerts related to stolen vehicles, found missing persons, and discovered vehicles linked to criminal activity. The system has supported more than 140 investigations and contributed to 61 arrests. ALPR technology has also helped prevent and solve crimes, including identifying suspect vehicles in organized retail theft and robbery cases—such as the incidents involving jewelry stores last year. As part of our action, the Council affirmed that the system is not configured to share data with ICE or federal immigration enforcement nor has any data violation taken place. The Council’s decision follows along staff recommendations prioritizing privacy, transparency, and data security, including: • Annual independent IT audits of the system • Annual public reports to City Council • Ongoing compliance with state law and privacy protections

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Council also put in additional safeguards, if data breaches happen. This decision reflects Council’s commitment to balancing public safety, privacy, and accountability for our community. ALPRs are an important tool that our Sunnyvale DPS needs in order to help keep our community safe; we need to give our officers the TOOLS to do their job. Trust is a big thing. While residents and Council raised trust issues with FLOCK Systems, we have trust in City Staff to be vigilant and raise issues with Council (and inform us if/when there are viable alternatives). City Council needs to balance personal privacy with personal safety, and ALPRs provide a critical component to help keep our community safe. “Sunnyvale City Council Votes to continue FLOCK ALPR use”

Irony as Meta staff unhappy about running surveillance software on work PCs

https://www.theregister.com/2026/04/22/meta_employee_surveillance_software/

#HackerNews #Meta #Surveillance #EmployeeRights #PrivacyConcerns #Irony #TechNews

They were talking about #FacialRecognition for shops on GMB and it just seems to me like a scam to make tech bros richer.

There's the #surveillance culture to consider, but really, how much will this technology reduce crime?

It would only work if you had a van full of police in in every shopping area. So if you're going that, you might as well have police patrols instead with local police remembering repeat offenders rather than relying on technology to remember them. How will facial recognition be a better service service since you still need police to be nearby to stop shoplifting.

They say they'd target high crime areas so the tech allows for that targeting. But won't offenders just then move to low crime areas? It will just spread the crime out, not reduce it.

It's a scam.

Thornton Police looking into complaint that officer ran nearly 20,000 Flock searches
#colorado #denver #privacy #surveillance

https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/colorado-news/thornton-police-looking-into-complaint-that-officer-ran-nearly-20000-flock-searches/73-cf59c995-f38b-4b5b-a883-ee36a5b06c50

The Weird, Twisting Tale of How #China Spied on #AlysaLiu and Her Dad

https://www.wired.com/story/the-weird-twisting-tale-of-how-china-spied-on-alysa-liu-and-her-dad/

#privacy #surveillance #olympics

🛡️ #Cybersecurity news & tips across the #fediverse

“Li (in contrast) was no dissident, only* a man late for an appointment who road his bike on the pavement [US: sidewalk] and got fined €6 by text message. #surveillance

*of course that can be quite dangerous, good rea...”

https://bsky.brid.gy/r/https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:tkbweudpy6tvzjqdiza4z3p5/post/3mjylfk5k3s2b

🤖 via RSS feed. Not an endorsement.

#Nevada #police may be tracking your phone’s location without a warrant. Here’s how.

https://apnews.com/article/nevada-police-fog-data-cellphone-location-tracking-ab6f7d75864cf0bfb949f0c6770f3b44

#privacy #surveillance #FogDataScience #Fog

🚨Age verification seems to be unstoppable. 🚨

Following the Australian precedence, Greece & Brazil now also passed laws that will require age checks for social media.🇦🇺🇬🇷 🇧🇷

What’s sold as “online safety” means #surveillance via IDs checks or face scans.

Privacy & anonymity protect journalists, whistleblowers & activists.

We must fight against age verification - or the free web dies!

👉 More: https://tuta.com/blog/age-verification-kills-anonymity

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Country flags where age verification is required: Austrlia, Brazil, Greece & smaller flags where it is being planned.

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16 crossed out