The Hacked Issue: A Pipeline, Police Data, And Private Cameras
Whose Streets? Our Streets! (Tech Edition) Issue 26
T👁️p 3 St👁️ries 👁️f the Week
Market: Server glitch allowed Eufy owners to see through other homes’ cameras
“Last night, a number of Eufy home security camera owners discovered they were able to access smart camera feeds and saved videos from users they had never met, due to an apparent security glitch. First reported by 9to5Mac, the issue came to light in an extended Reddit thread, in which users from around the world detailed their experiences.
‘Basically I could see every camera, their front door and backdoor bells, master bedroom, living room, garage, kitchen, their motion recordings, everything,’ one Eufy owner noted. ‘I was wondering what was going on as it still had my email and name assigned in and noticed that some unknown email, I’m guessing of the Hawaii owner, was in my shared guest account.’” [The Verge]
City: Colonial Pipeline reportedly paid the hackers nearly $5 million, despite suggestions to contrary
“After a devastating and deeply embarrassing cyberattack on one of the United States’ largest oil pipelines, one that forced many gas stations to shut down and reportedly caused average national gas prices to rise above $3 for the first time since 2014, the oil is flowing again. But Bloomberg is reporting that Colonial Pipeline had to pay a nearly $5 million ransom to get there, and it paid that ransom within mere hours. The Wall Street Journal’s sources have now also confirmed that Colonial Pipeline paid the ransom.” [The Verge, see also NY Times; also will smart grids help protect us from energy hacks? Double-encryption as the new ransomware trick and DarkSide goes dark]
City: Hackers release personal info of 22 D.C. police officers
“A ransomware gang that hacked Washington's Metropolitan Police Department published extensive profiles of 22 officers Tuesday as part of an extortion attempt.
The files on current and former police officers are detailed and include personal information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, results of psychological assessments, copies of driver’s licenses, fingerprints, polygraph test results, as well as residential, financial, and marriage history. NBC News reached two officers whose profiles were published using the phone numbers listed in them and verified their identities. Both said they had not been told by the department that their specific information had been accessed.” [NBC News]
City Watch
Detroit, MI, U.S. - ‘Detroit Will Breathe’ protester blinded flight crew, feds say [The Detroit News]
Paterson, New Jersey (Update) - ‘Was It Malicious or Was It Lazy?’: 3rd Black Man Arrested Based on ‘Faulty Facial Recognition’ Technology Files Federal Lawsuit Alleging Excessive Force, False Imprisonment [Atlanta Black Star]
Los Angeles, CA, U.S. - LAPD allows the use of facial recognition. Here’s how it works. [YR Media]
Portland, OR, U.S. - Portland in Conversation: The Infrastructure of the Public City [Portland State University]
Salem, MA, U.S. - In Salem, Mass., a traffic camera has spawned an online community [Boston Globe via JTDL]
Market Watch
Acquisitions & Financing
Mobility: Lidar startup Innovusion closes %64M round led by Temasek [TechCrunch]
Legal
Biometrics
Amazon Facing Calls From Civil Rights Groups To Permanently Ban Police Use Of Facial Recognition As Deadline Approaches [Forbes, see also Weber Legacy]
Clearview hires DC lobbyists to educate on face biometrics technology [Biometric Update]
Other: Xiaomi and the US government bury the hatchet, settle investment ban [Ars Technica]
Personnel
Mobility: Apple fires Antonio Garcia Martinez after employee backlash [Apple Insider]
Public-Private Partnerships
Biometrics: Leading facial recognition technology provider Corsight AI, announces Netpoleon as distribution partner for Asia [Yahoo]
Purchasing Trends
Biometrics: Facial Recognition Technology Market Report Examines Analysis by Latest Trends, Growth Factors, Key Players, and Forecast to 2028 [Brockville Observer]
Mobility: Censorship, Surveillance, and Profits: A Hard Bargain for Apple in China [NY Times]
Other: Smart Cities Market Future Prospects 2025 | PQ Solutions, Infineon, Qubitekk, Quintessencelabs, Nucrypt [Brockville Observer]
Policy Watch
California, U.S. - EFF tells California Court that Forensic Software Source Code Must Be Disclosed to the Defendant [EFF]
Canada - Canadian Privacy Commissioner says facial recognition risks not addressed in proposed law [Biometric Update]
Detroit, MI U.S. - Detroit City Council should adopt this surveillance technology ordinance | Editorial [Detroit Free Press]
Madison, WI, U.S. - Organizations call for facial recognition technology ban for private use [NBC 15]
U.S. Federal -
Congress: How Klobuchar and Hawley See Things When It Comes to Technology [NY Times]
DHS:
FTC:
Various Global Cities - Digital IDs Might Sound Like a Good Idea, But They Could Be a Privacy Nightmare (featuring a new report: Identity Crisis: What Digital Driver’s Licenses Could Mean for Privacy, Equity, and Freedom) [ACLU]
Various Global Cities - The Impact of Dark Patterns on Communities of Color [Data & Society Points]
Various U.S. Cities - After EPIC-Led Coalition Letter, DC Area Facial Recognition System Will Shut Down [EPIC]
Various U.S. Cities - As Congress Dithers, States Step In to Set Rules for the Internet [NY Times, see also 3X more US residents lack broadband access than FCC estimates: report and Governor Newson’s Budget Proposes Historic Investment in Public Fiber Broadband]
Various U.S. Cities - People of color have a new enemy: techno-racism [WRCBTV, see also Triple Pundit]
Various U.S. Cities - Putting a Price on Privacy: Ending police data purchases [Hill via JTDL]
Various U.S. Cities - U.S. Biometric Laws & Pending Legislation Tracker [JD Supra]
Watching the Watchers Watch
Various Global Cities - Top 8 AI-Powered Privacy Tools To Fool Facial Recognition Systems [Analytics India Mag]
Various U.S. Cities - The New York Times Derides the Very Dark Patterns It Uses [OneZero]
Bonus Section…A Critique to Watch, um, Read
📣 Op-ed: Privacy activists are winning fights with tech giants. Why does victory feel hollow? Evgeny Morozov [The Guardian]
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.
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