UK Curbing Chinese Smart City Tech, CA's License Plate Privacy, And the Clearview AI Effect
Whose Streets? Our Streets! (Tech Edition) Issue 18
T👁️p 3 St👁️ries 👁️f the Week
Market: Your Face Is Not Your Own
When a secretive start-up scraped the internet to build a facial-recognition tool, it tested a legal and ethical limit — and blew the future of privacy in America wide open
“It seemed entirely possible that Clearview AI would be sued, legislated or shamed out of existence. But that didn’t happen. With no federal law prohibiting or even regulating the use of facial recognition, Clearview did not, for the most part, change its practices. Nor did it implode. While it shut down private companies’ accounts, it continued to acquire government customers. Clearview’s most effective sales tool, at first, was a free trial it offered to anyone with a law-enforcement-affiliated email address, along with a low, low price: You could access Clearview AI for as little as $2,000 per year. Most comparable vendors — whose products are not even as extensive — charged six figures. The company later hired a seasoned sales director who raised the price. “Our growth rate is crazy,” Hoan Ton-That, Clearview’s chief executive, said.” [New York Times Magazine, see also What We Learned About Clearview AI and Its Secret ‘Co-Founder’ from NY Times]
City: UK spy agencies push for curbs on Chinese ‘smart cities’ technology
“UK intelligence agencies are pushing for new curbs on local authorities’ use of Chinese smart cities technology over concerns Beijing could use it for espionage, surveillance or collection of sensitive data…But the potential scale of Chinese smart city procurement were highlighted last month, when freedom of information requests obtained by Reuters revealed that at least half of London’s boroughs have bought and deployed surveillance systems made by Chinese suppliers, including Hikvision. The company is one of the Chinese suppliers blacklisted by the US over Beijing’s repression of Uyghur Muslims in China.” [Financial Times, see also Telecompaper]
Policy: EFF Joins Effort to Restrict Automated License Plate Readers
“One year ago, the California State Auditor released a damning report on the use of automated license plate readers (ALPRs) by local law enforcement agencies that confirmed concerns EFF has raised for years. Police are using these camera systems to collect enormous amounts of sensitive data on Californians' travel patterns. Yet they often haven't followed the basic requirements of a 2015 state law, S.B. 34, passed to protect privacy and civil liberties from ALPRs…This legislative session, State Sen. Scott Wiener has introduced the License Plate Privacy Act (S.B. 210), a bill that would address many of these deficiencies by strengthening the law with additional requirements and safeguards. EFF is proud to co-sponsor this legislation alongside our ally, the Media Alliance.” [EFF, see also the video hearing tomorrow]
City Watch
Florida, U.S. - Florida Prisons Are Buying Up Location Data From Data Brokers [Techdirt]
Florida, U.S. - Florida Sheriff’s Office Sued For Using ‘Predictive Policing’ Program To Harass Residents [Techdirt]
Gurugram, India (Update) - GMDA to install facial recognition cameras at 10 busy points [Hindustan Times]
Los Angeles, CA, U.S. - What Is Going On With LAPD Helicopter Surveillance? [Kock-LA]
Myanmar - Myanmar facial recognition software raises concerns for persecution of ethnic groups including Christians [Barnabas Fund]
Nevada, U.S. (Update) - Nevada smart city: A millionaire’s plan to create a local government [BBC]
New York, NY, U.S. - Data Shows The NYPD Seized 55,000 Phones in 2020; Returned Less Than 35,000 To Their Rightful Owners [Techdirt]
New York, NY, U.S. - The NYPD released a police officer data portal to withering criticism [@ciccolinijulie h/t Cynthia Conti-Cook via JTDL]
San Jose, CA, U.S. - Dodge: True Police Reform Requires Regulation Surveillance Tech, San Jose [Patch]
San Leandro, CA, U.S. - Smart city ups and downs, from a city CTO [Fierce Electronics]
Various Global Cities - Digital colonialism: the evolution of the American empire [Roar]
Various Global Cities - Here’s how digital infrastructure can make cities more inclusive for elderly people [World Economic Forum]
Various Global Cities - Rest of World Wants to Set a New Path for International Tech Coverage [OneZero]
Various U.S. Cities - Survey finds alert systems and video surveillance are riskiest 'smart city' technologies [Statescoop, see also Security Magazine]
Various U.S. Cities - White Supremacists, Conspiracy Theorists Are Targeting Cell Towers, Police Warn [The Intercept, see also The Verge]
Market Watch
Acquisitions & Financing
Biometrics:
MWAA sells facial recognition system to Pangiam [Virginia Business]
Why did Microsoft fund an Israeli firm that surveils West Bank Palestinians? [NBC News]
Legal
Biometrics:
China state TV raps Kohler, BMW for using facial recognition [AP News]
Facial Recognition Co. Dodges Suit Over OkCupid Photos [Law360]
(Update) Surveillance Camera Hack Raises Legal Risk of Digital Device Use [Bloomberg Law]
Uber under pressure over facial recognition checks for drivers [Tech Crunch]
Personnel
Biometrics: “Jen Psaki [White House Press Secretary] just disclosed doing crisis comms for AnyVision, a facial recognition firm that reportedly helped Israel surveil Palestinians in the West Bank” [@andrewperezdc via Daily Poster]
Patents/New Tech
Biometrics:
Renowned Analyst Kuo Predicts Apple’s VR Headset Will Have Eye-Tracking Technology [Mobile ID World]
This BYU facial recognition technology is designed with hackers and accessibility in mind [KSL]
Mobility:
What’s Up with the Apple App Store’s Privacy Changes [The Markup]
Zuckerberg: Facebook could be in stronger position after Apple tracking change [Ars Technica]
Video: Satellites Can Help Detect When a Volcano’s About to Blow [WIRED]
Other:
A.I.’s Most Important Dataset Gets a Privacy Overhaul, a Decade Too Late [OneZero]
I-spy: Poznań firm set to revolutionise how cities are monitored with innovative smart surveillance system [The First News]
Purchasing Trends
Other: Huawei has a plan to get a bigger cut of 5G, even with its phone sales limited [The Verge]
Policy Watch
California, U.S. - California Bans ‘Dark Patterns’ That Subvert CCPA’s Opt-out Rights [EPIC, see also EFF and The Verge]
Massachusetts, U.S. (Update) - “Dangerous when it works and when it doesn’t”: ACLU, state lawmakers’ efforts to restrict facial recognition [MassLive, see also Telegram]
New Hampshire, U.S. - Should there be limits on facial recognition technology in New Hampshire? [NHBR]
New York, NY, U.S. - A New York Lawmaker Wants to Ban Police Use of Armed Robots [WIRED]
New York, NY, U.S. - NYC proposes regulations for sale of biometrics by business [Biometric Update]
U.S. Federal (Update) - US House to examine bill setting new standards for biometric, digital privacy rights [Biometric Update]
Various Global Cities - Five Ethical Risks to Consider before Filling Missing Race and Ethnicity Data [Urban Institute]
Various U.S. Cities - Biden Creates Road Map for Equitable State and Local Data [Government Technology]
Watching the Watchers Watch
Lake Wales, Florida - Cop's Lies About A Traffic Stop Are Exposed By A Home Security Camera Located Across The Street [Techdirt]
Various Global Cities - Google and the Age of Privacy Theater [WIRED]
Various U.S. Cities - EFF’s Crowd-Sourced Atlas of Surveillance Project Honored with Award for Advancing Public’s Right to Know About Police Spying [EFF]
Various U.S. Cities - EPIC Seeks Documents on Protest Monitoring and Advanced Surveillance Technologies from Federally-Funded Fusion Centers [EPIC]
Various U.S. Cities - This Transparency Project is Creating a Massive Collection of Police Data [VICE]
Bonus Section…Fiction to Watch, um, Read
📕 Fiction: Let There Be Light by Chen Qiufan [LOGIC]
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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