Location Data Markets, Landlord Tech Watch, And Big Tech Hides Behind Privacy
Whose Streets? Our Streets! (Tech Edition) Issue 19
T👁️p 3 St👁️ries 👁️f the Week
Market: Data Broker Looking To Sell Real-Time Vehicle Location Data To Government Agencies, Including The Military
”Location data is the new growth market. Data harvested from apps is sold to data brokers who, in turn, sell this to whoever's buying. Lately, the buyers have been a number of government agencies, including the CBP, ICE, DEA, Secret Service, IRS, and -- a bit more worryingly -- the Defense Department. The mileage varies for purchasers. The location data generally isn't as accurate as that obtained directly from service providers. On the other hand, putting a couple of [middlemen] between the app data and the purchase of data helps agencies steer clear of Constitutional issues related to the Supreme Court's Carpenter decision, which introduced a warrant mandate for engaging in proxy tracking of people via cell service providers. But phones aren't the only objects that generate a wealth of location data. Cars go almost as many places as phones do, providing data brokers with yet another source of possibly useful location data that government agencies might be interested in obtaining access to.” [Techdirt and VICE, see also Groups Call for Ethical Guidelines on Location-Tracking Tech from WIRED]
Watching the Watchers: Keeping an Eye on Landlord Tech
The landlord tech industry, while alive and well prior to COVID-19, has ramped up in the past year to develop new ways to accumulate wealth at the expense of tenants.”
“Most renters know too well that COVID-19 has exacerbated racialized housing injustice, despite the powerful organizing efforts of an ever-growing housing justice movement...At the same time, an array of new real estate-oriented tech startups has emerged with tools to help landlords evict unruly or non-paying tenants. These technologies make up part of what the real estate industry describes as “property technology,” or “proptech,” and what we, as researchers with the Anti-Eviction Mapping Project and the AI Now Institute, in collaboration with people.power.media, and the Ocean Hill-Brownsville Tenants Association, describe as ‘landlord technology.’ The landlord tech industry, while alive and well prior to COVID-19, has ramped up in the past year to develop new ways to accumulate wealth at the expense of tenants.” [Shelterforce]
Policy: Platforms vs. PhDs
How tech giants court and crush the people who study them: A legal standoff between NYU researchers and Facebook sheds light on the increasingly fraught dynamic between tech companies and academics.
“Facebook's crackdown on Ad Observer, which has yet to be resolved, is just one of the most extreme examples of the increasingly fraught relationship between platforms and the people who study them. Over the last few years, amid mounting scrutiny of Silicon Valley, tech platforms have made overtures to the research community, opening up previously inaccessible data sets that academics can use to study how tech platforms impact society. Twitter, for one, recently launched a free API for pre-approved academics to gain access to its full back catalog of tweets. Facebook, meanwhile, has made a huge trove of Facebook data available to researchers through its Facebook Open Research and Transparency project and is currently working with a team of more than a dozen researchers to study the impact of the platform on the 2020 election. But even as this work progresses, tech companies are simultaneously cracking down on academics whose methods break their rules.” [Protocol via Techdirt, see also EPIC on not being about to hide behind attorney/client privilege necessarily though]
This last one is admittedly a bit out of scope for public surveillance, but seeing how privacy claims can prevent scrutiny is not.
City Watch
Boston, MA, U.S. - A Police Camera That Never Tires Stirs Unease at 1st Circuit [Courthouse News]
Chula Vista, CA, U.S. - Chula Vista police get OK to fly drones citywide [San Diego Union-Tribune]
London, U.K. - Suspend Uber’s facial recognition checks in UK: Drivers’ union [Telangana]
New Orleans, LA, U.S. - How Musicians and Sex Workers Beat Facial Recognition in New Orleans [VICE]
New York, NY, U.S. - New York lawmaker wants to ban police use of armed robots [Ars Technica]
Philadelphia, PA, U.S. - CBP’s Biometric Screening Program Debuts at Philadelphia Airport [Find Biometrics]
Poznan, Poland - Smart city biometrics and event detection launch in Poznan, Poland to enhance public safety [Biometric Update]
Various Global Cities - Delta eyes post-pandemic business with contactless payments, WestJet benefits [Biz Journals]
Various Global Cities - Smart cities: what works/what doesn’t? [Fierce Electronics]
Various Global Cities (Update) - The smart city tech most at risk for cyberattacks: report [Smart Cities Dive, see also Radio World]
Various Global Cities - Taiwan holds 2021 World System Integration Conference, focusing on AI and IoT to Lead Smart City Progression. [IT New Online]
Market Watch
Acquisitions & Financing
Other: Envisage Acquires Guardian Tracking for Policing Software [Government Technology]
Personnel
Mobility: Lacuna Technologies Adds Tamika L. Butler and Rashinda Richardson to Board of Directors [Cision]
Patents/New Tech
Video:
Other: Computer vision software has the potential to reinvent the way cities moves [Tech Crunch]
Purchasing Trends
Video: Drone Manufacturers Are Amping Up Surveillance Capabilities In Response To Demand From Government Agencies [Techdirt]
Policy Watch
China - China to ban apps from collecting excessive user data starting May 1 [Tech Crunch]
China - China turns its face away from secret store surveillance [The Times]
U.S. Federal - High tech can heighten discrimination; here are some policy recommendations for its ethical use [ABA Journal]
U.S. Federal - The Agency at the Center of America’s Tech Fight With China [NY Times]
U.S. Federal - FTC Announces new Rulemaking Group [EPIC]
Utah, U.S. - Mugshots are prohibited from disclosure in UT now. [h/t @taniel see more details via Route Fifty]
Various U.S. Cities - Facing Bias in Facial Recognition Technology [Regulatory Review]
Watching the Watchers Watch
Various Global Cities - Five Tech Commandments to a Safer Digital Life [NY Times]
Washington, D.C. (Update) - The Hidden Hand Of Facial Recognition In The Capitol Insurrection Manhunt [Huffington Post]
Bonus Section…A Film to Watch
A Film 🎥: Coded Bias [PBS]
Events related to local watch parties have been popping up, such as: Is facial recognition technology discriminatory? 'Coded Bias' dives into the issue on LPB at 9 p.m. Monday [The Advocate]
Whose Streets? Our Streets! (Tech Edition) documents trends in the surveillance of public space. Curated by Rebecca Williams and Madeleine Smith as part of "smart city" surveillance research for the Technology and Public Purpose Project at Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center.