Tracking Anti-Asian Hate Crimes, Millions of Cars, And Data Broker Lobbyists
Whose Streets? Our Streets! (Tech Edition) Issue 20
Tđď¸p 3 Stđď¸ries đď¸f the Week
City: The Unsettling Surveillance of Anti-Asian Racism
âA month after the video of Diazâs attack was released, I went down to Oakland Chinatown to try to see if I could find the specific surveillance camera on which it was captured. I did. It wasnât hard. The camera was hidden in plain sight outside an unassuming Chinese tailor shop. Though when I went inside to ask whether they owned the camera, I was redirected to the Asian Resource Center next door, where a security guard told me that all of the cameras around the building belonged to the Oakland police. The Oakland Police Department denied a records request for the video. After several emails with the departmentâs media office, a spokesperson responded but was unable to provide details of where the exact footage of Diazâs attack came from. Instead, they informed me that the department does not technically own any cameras in Chinatown and that they were typically maintained by commercial or residential property owners. With this new information, I returned to Chinatown in hopes of clarifying who exactly did own the surveillance camera. Back at the Asian Resource Center, a different security guard told me that, while he had no idea who managed the security system around the building, he was pretty sure the police had access. As to who owned the surveillance cameras? This security guard wasnât sure about that either, but he suggested I try property management. Iâd put in a call to building management a month ago, and they also would not confirm if the footage had been given to anyone.â [The Verge]
Market: These Companies Track Millions Of CarsâImmigration And Border Police Have Been Grabbing Their Data
âIn previously undisclosed uses of that power, in the last 18 months, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigrations Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials demanded location data from three companies who collectively track the movements of tens of millions of vehicles every day: GM OnStar, Geotab and Spireon. The cases show not only that immigration agencies have yet another valuable tool to help locate unknown individuals of interest, but also highlight how car systems constantly collect location and car use information from a vehicle, data that can be provided to the government when it makes a valid request.â [Forbes, see also LexisNexis To Provide Giant Database Of Personal Information To ICE by The Intercept]
Watching the Watchers: The Little-Known Data Broker Industry Is Spending Big Bucks Lobbying CongressÂ
âCollectively, data broker spending on lobbying in 2020 rivaled the spending of individual Big Tech firms like Facebook and Google. The Markup searched lobbying disclosures in the U.S. Senateâs Lobbying Disclosure Act database and the watchdog Center for Responsive Politicsâ tool OpenSecrets for the names of companies that registered as data brokers in Vermont or California. Those states are the only two that require companies to annually disclose that they collect, sell, or share peopleâs personal information without having a direct relationship to them.Â
All in all, we found 25 companies whose combined spending on federal lobbying totaled $29 million in 2020. Many of the top spenders were not pure data brokers but companies that nonetheless have massive data operations. Oracle, which has spent the past decade acquiring companies that collect data, spent the most by far, with disclosure documents showing $9,570,000 spent on federal lobbying.â [The Markup]
City Watch
China - Report: Chinese government-run facial recognition system hacked by tax fraudsters [The Star]
Europe - Facial recognition camera projects raise concerns in Eastern Europe [ZDNet]
Florida, U.S. - Broward County Police Departments exploring the use of facial recognition technology to identify criminals [Florida Insider]
Guwahati, India - Just 200 CCTV cameras for 12L people in Guwahati raise security concerns [Times of India]
India - Facility for face recognition planned [The Hindu]
Japan - Facial recognition system allowing smooth boarding to start July at Narita, Haneda airports [The Mainichi]
Maine, U.S. - Maine Should Take this Chance to Defund the Local Intelligence Fusion Center [EFF]
Myanmar - Myanmarâs government shuts down internet indefinitely in response to protests [The Verge]
New York, NY, U.S. - New NYC Affordable Housing Must Come With Internet Service, City Says [Next City]
Pembroke Pines, FL, U.S. - South Florida law enforcement using facial recognition technology to identify criminals [Local10]
San Diego, CA, U.S. - San Diego restaurant taps facial recognition kiosk as part of COVID recovery [Kiosk Marketplace]
Tucson, AZ & Newark, NJ U.S. - Two Cities Share How AI Is Improving Their Water Utilities [Government Technology]
Various Global Cities - Singapore tops global smart city rankings again, NYC leads US [Smart Cities Dive]
Market Watch
Legal
Biometrics (Update): Hyderabad driver says Uber app locked him out after shaving head, Uber denies [The News Minute, India Times]
Patents/New Tech
Biometrics: Facial Recognition Technology Enables Copyright Protection of Mobile Proofs [Novus Light]
Video: Google is making some big upgrades to directions in Google Maps [The Verge]
Other:
How digital twins will troubleshoot â and even help design â the buildings of the future [World Economic Forum]
Satellite internet: digital divide solution or âscience experimentâ? [Smart Cities Dive]
Public-Private Partnerships
Biometrics: Candriam launches facial recognition technology engagement initiative [Investment Week]
Purchasing Trends
Other: Smart Pole Market Industry Statistics, Overview, Trends and Forecast 2030 [The Courier]
Policy Watch
California, U.S. - California Supreme Court Rules Phone Calls Cannot Be Recorded Without Consent of All Parties [EPIC]
Illinois, U.S. - Illinoisâ Law Protecting Biometric Privacy Could Be Changed [WTTW]
Lockport City, NY, U.S. - NYCLU's court fight over Lockport's facial recognition system continues [Security Info Watch]
New York, NY, U.S. - EPIC, Coalition Urge New York City Council to Enact Comprehensive Ban on Government Use of Facial Recognition [EPIC]
Oregon, U.S. - âThe Oregon Court of Appeals found [t]he digital medium undermines the rationale supporting the plain view doctrine in the first place . . . Allowing investigators to use evidence that comes within âplain viewâ during an electronic search would amount to an end of the particularity requirement so critical to cabin searches of electronic devices.â [State of Oregon Law Library via Upturn]
U.S. Federal - Privacy Oversight Board Releases Report on EO 12333 [EPIC]
U.S. Federal (Update) - Bidenâs Plan to Fix Americaâs Internet [NY Times]
U.S. Federal - CDT Joins Letter Urging Incoming FTC Commissioners to Address Civil Rights Principles [CDT]
Various Global Cities - What is the Internet of Things? [World Economic Forum]
Various Global Cities - If Your Company Uses AI, It Needs an Internal Review Board [HBR]
Various Global Cities - A Third Way Approach to Regulating Facial Recognition Systems [Inside Sources]
Various Global Cities - What We Got Wrong About Uber and Lyft [NY Times]
Various U.S. Cities - More Surveillance Isnât the Answer to the SolarWinds Hack [ACLU]
Virginia U.S. - Virginiaâs bill to ban facial recognition [passed] [Security Magazine] and [Security Sales]
Watching the Watchers WatchÂ
Various Global Cities - How Journalists and Academics Hold Tech Accountable [OneZero]
Various Global Cities - You Can Fight Facial Recognition [OneZero]
Various U.S. Cities - Surveillance and Inequality [American Inequality]
Washington, DC., U.S. - How Americaâs surveillance networks helped the FBI catch the Capitol mob [Washington Post]
Bonus SectionâŚA Podcast to Watch, um, Listen To
Fellow Fellow, Episode 4. âWhose Streets? Our Streets!â - Tech Edition
Rebecca Williams takes us into a deep conversation on her research on the future of technology in cities. Weaving together her background working in data analysis, policy analysis, city planning, law, and civic technology, Rebeccaâs work highlights five key harms that unchecked and unregulated technology in cities can bring to our society.
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.