Surveillance

Electrical engineer Gilbert Herrera was appointed research director of the US National Security Agency in late 2021, just as an AI revolution was brewing inside the US tech industry.The NSA, sometimes jokingly said to stand for No Such Agency, has long hired top math and computer science talent. Its technical leaders have been early and avid users of advanced computing and AI. And yet when Herrera spoke with me by phone about the implications of the latest AI boom from NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland, it seemed…

Law enforcement in Kansas recorded the front of a man’s home for 68 days straight, 15 hours a day, and obtained evidence to prove him guilty on 16 charges. The officers did not have a search warrant, using a camera on a pole positioned across the street to capture Bruce Hay’s home. A federal court ruled on Tuesday that it was fine for law enforcement to do so, in what’s potentially a major reduction in privacy law.Is USB-C Finally Coming To iPhone?“Mr. Hay had no reasonable expectation of privacy in a view of the front of…

We all know (and are largely complacent) about the limitless possibilities for digital surveillance and data collection by corporations intent on selling us things, or using our existence to sell advertising. Kate Stonehill’s film is about the more old-fashioned subject of state surveillance and specifically the existence of a disquieting new programme in the UK nicknamed “Phantom Parrot”: the practice of remote spying on mobile phone use.Stonehill’s film is also about schedule 7 of the 2000 Terrorism Act, which gives the…

Airbnb is banning all indoor security cameras at properties worldwide, according to an announcement published online Monday. The change comes after years of horror stories circulating online about secret hidden security cameras, which have long been banned on the platform, though still pop up frequently around the world.Should Facial Recognition Technology be Banned? | Future Tech“Historically, Airbnb allowed the use of indoor security cameras in common areas of listings, such as hallways and living rooms, as long as…

Airbnb will soon ban hosts from watching their guests with indoor security cameras, as the company is reversing course on its surveillance policies.As of April 30, hosts around the world must remove indoor cameras and disclose other outdoor monitoring tech to guests before they book. Airbnb previously allowed hosts to install security cameras in common areas of a home, like hallways and living rooms. But it also required hosts to disclose them, make them clearly visible, and keep the cameras out of places like sleeping…

San Francisco made history in 2019 when its Board of Supervisors voted to ban city agencies including the police department from using face recognition. About two dozen other US cities have since followed suit. But on Tuesday San Francisco voters appeared to turn against the idea of restricting police technology, backing a ballot proposition that will make it easier for city police to deploy drones and other surveillance tools.Proposition E passed with 60 percent of the vote and was backed by San Francisco Mayor London…

Researchers at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Mandi and Palakkad have developed a marine robot that can cater to real-time problems and reduce maintenance cost and death risk for underwater operation scenarios.The research which was partially funded by the Naval Research Board (NRB) of Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has been published in two journals-- Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, and Ocean Engineering. The state-of-the-art robot has been developed for meticulous underwater…

Researchers at the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Mandi and Palakkad have developed a marine robot that can cater to real-time problems and reduce maintenance cost and death risk for underwater operation scenarios. The research which was partially funded by the Naval Research Board (NRB) of Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) has been published in two journals-- Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, and Ocean Engineering. The state-of-the-art robot has been developed for meticulous underwater…

The government has amended the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Interception, Monitoring and Decryption of Information) Rules to give the Union and the state home secretary the power to order deletion of the order for interception, monitoring or decryption and the actual information of a person under surveillance after six months. Until now, the power to delete was with the security agency which had requested the surveillance either from the home ministry or a competent court.What do the amended rules…

A fight broke out between an Amazon worker and a wheelchair-bound building manager over the delivery man allegedly “leaving parcels where he wants.”The brawl, captured by video surveillance, took place in a tower block lobby in Notting Hill, West London, according to the DailyMail.The physical altercation began when the receiver of the parcel, Ramin Razzaghi, confronted the delivery worker after not being pleased with where he left a number of packages.Apparently, Ramin became angered after noting that the Amazon worker…