Vehicle Forensics, PimEyes is Stalkerware, And CARES Act Funded Surveillance
Whose Streets? Our Streets! (Tech Edition) Issue 25
T👁️p 3 St👁️ries 👁️f the Week
Watching the Watchers: Your Car Is Spying on You, and a CBP Contract Shows the Risks
A “vehicle forensics kit” can reveal where you’ve driven, what doors you opened, and who your friends are.
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection purchased technology that vacuums up reams of personal information stored inside cars, according to a federal contract reviewed by The Intercept, illustrating the serious risks in connecting your vehicle and your smartphone.
The contract, shared with The Intercept by Latinx advocacy organization Mijente, shows that CBP paid Swedish data extraction firm MSAB $456,073 for a bundle of hardware including five iVe ‘vehicle forensics kits’ manufactured by Berla, an American company. A related document indicates that CBP believed the kit would be ‘critical in CBP investigations as it can provide evidence [not only] regarding the vehicle’s use, but also information obtained through mobile devices paired with the infotainment system.’ The document went on to say that iVe was the only tool available for purchase that could tap into such systems.” [The Intercept, see also The Verge]
Watching the Watchers: Anyone can use this powerful facial-recognition tool — and that's a problem
“If you upload a picture of your face to PimEyes' website, it will immediately show you any pictures of yourself that the company has found around the internet. You might recognize all of them, or be surprised (or, perhaps, even horrified) by some; these images may include anything from wedding or vacation snapshots to pornographic images.
PimEyes is open to anyone with internet access. It's a stark contrast from Clearview AI, which became well-known for building its enormous stash of faces with images of people from social networks and limits its use to law enforcement (Clearview has said it has hundreds of such customers).
PimEyes' decision to make facial-recognition software available to the general public crosses a line that technology companies are typically unwilling to traverse, and opens up endless possibilities for how it can be used and abused.” [CNNBusiness, see also Know Techie]
City: Blue Bailout
Covid-19 Cash Is Militarizing Cops Across the Country
“Using stimulus from the multi-trillion-dollar CARES Act, which passed in March 2020, the Department of Justice has awarded at least $845.8 million of emergency grants to state and local law enforcement officers across the U.S. and its colonized territories. The relief has gone to more than 1,800 of these agencies, ranging from $30,000 boosters for small-town cops to tens of millions of dollars for a single police department in states like Florida and Texas. In legally required public spending reports, some of these agencies have since followed up with details on how they’re using the grant money. And though a chunk of those reported expenses cover basics like PPE, much of it subsidizes militarization, surveillance, and tech that would be funded with or without a pandemic, from encrypted radios to body cameras to a range of communications upgrades.” [Rolling Stone]
City Watch
Chennai, India - Mangaluru Smart City’s control centre [Big News Network]
Honolulu, HI, U.S. - Honolulu airport rolls out facial recognition technology [Biz Journals]
Lagos, Nigeria - Lagos to Bridge Digital Divide with Innovative Technologies [This Day]
Massachusetts, U.S. - Massachusetts Homes in on Facial Recognition Accountability [Government Technology]
New York, NY, U.S. - Facial recognition technology approved at New York border crossings [WCAX 3]
San Diego, CA, U.S. (Update) - San Diego Accused Of Withholding Facial Recognition Info From Congress [iHeart]
San Diego, CA, U.S. - VOSD Podcast: Fraud, Facial Recognition and Bears, Oh My! [Voice of San Diego]
Seoul, Korea - Seoul vows ‘smarter’ system of surveillance after death of medical student [UPI News via Internet Archive]
South Orange, CA, U.S. - SOPD to expand surveillance network, adding dozens of facial recognition cameras [The Setonian]
Seattle, WA, U.S. - Seattle, King County mull ban on facial recognition technology amid racial bias concerns [Komo News]
Various U.S. Cities - How video analytics are helping cities reopen safely [Cities Today]
Various U.S. Cities - Lawmakers lobby for local infrastructure projects [Smart Cities Dive]
Various U.S. Cities - NATCO to award 10 cities street design grants to aid recovery [Smart Cities Dive]
Market Watch
Legal
Biometrics: Clearview AI Fights Consumer Push to Shut Down Face Recognition [Bloomberg Law]
Patents/New Tech
Biometrics: New facial recognition tools and defences for data and privacy protection [Biometric Update]
Mobility: How streetlamps could help make cities smarter [The Star]
Other:
Facebook’s Nextdoor-clone Neighborhoods is coming soon to four US cities [The Verge]
Google Play’s app listings will require privacy info next year, just like the App Store [The Verge]
Outsight Introduces the First LiDAR Pre-processing Software Engine [Street Insider]
Purchasing Trends
Biometrics: Facial Recognition Park Entry Test Ends at Walt Disney World [WDWNT]
Mobility:
(Update) 96% of US users opt out of app tracking in iOS 14.5, analytics find [Ars Technica]
New report forecasts unmanned aerial vehicle market [New Business Ethiopia, see also Business Wire]
Border Police Wants a Bite of Burgeoning Anti-Drone Industry [The Intercept]
Other: 5G Infrastructure Market By Application (Consumer, Smart City, Enterprise, Industrial, E-health, Media & Entertainment, Transportation & Logistics, Aerospace & Defense, Government, Smart Retail, Smart Agriculture and Others): Global Forecast 2027 [FLA News]
Policy Watch
Columbus, OH, U.S. - States push back against use of facial recognition by police [Sumter ITEM, see also Click On Detroit]
King County, WA, U.S. - King County Council puts off vote on proposal to ban facial recognition technology [My Northwest]
U.S. Federal - Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Rubber Stamps Mass Surveillance Under Section 702 - Again [EFF]
Various Global Cities - ‘Smart’ Cities Are Surveilled Cities [Foreign Policy]
Various U.S. Cities - EPIC, Coalition Urge Spotify to Abandon Speech-Recognition Technology [EPIC]
Watching the Watchers Watch
New York, NY, U.S. - Internal NYPD Documents Show Cops Were Sent to Protests With Barely Any First Amendment Training [The Intercept]
Various Global Cities - ‘How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism’ Audiobook [OneZero]
Various Global Cities - Security researcher successfully jailbreaks an Apple AirTag [Ars Technica]
Various Global Cities - Surveillance Self-Defense Playlist: Getting to Know Your Phone [EFF]
Various U.S. Cities - The Harms of Police Surveillance Technology Monopolies [Denver Law Review Forum, Forthcoming via JTDL]
Bonus Section…A Virtual Event to Watch, um Attend
Virtual Event: Portland's Techno-Activism Third Monday's will host Kate Kaye is the creator of the the City Surveillance Watch podcast, a three-part scripted series delving into the dichotomy of smart city tech and its surveillance implications. [RSVP on Meetup]
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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