Top Stories surveillance
Regulars
Remember When Big Brother’s Only Weapon Was CCTV
When I was a kid, there was no image more closely associated with surveillance than the CCTV camera. Big Brother is watching, we were warned. The government is keeping tabs on you with video cameras on every street corner. Soon they may even install cameras in your home, they insisted. Honestly, that may have been preferable to what we ended up getting.
Confirmed: Court ‘Oversight’ Of NSA Surveillance Is A Joke
Although there’s been some debate on the legality of the mounds of data collected by NSA analysts during the PRISM program, House Intelligence Committee officials have confirmed that they’re totally free to rifle through your data without a court order. As long as they think they might have a reason to be suspicious — any reason will do! — they’re free to go nuts.
The US Facial Recognition Database Hiding In Plain Sight
It’s only natural to be a little skeeved out by the idea that the government is slurping up your private data behind the scenes, but there’s a very public piece of your data being collected as well: the look on your face. There’s already a national database of over 120 million faces in the US, and the Washington Post reports that it’s slowly turning into the ultimate police tool.
The Architecture Of Surveillance
This past week, major documents were leaked detailing PRISM, a top-secret government program that directed tech companies to spy on Americans by turning over their data to the National Security Agency, among other branches of the Department of Homeland Security. Despite obvious threats to the right to privacy, the Fourth Amendment (against illegal search and seizure), and the trust of the American people, the spy program has been going ahead with the full approval of two presidents as well as US Congress.
Gizmodo Is Hiring a PHP Developer!
Take pride in writing clean code? We’re looking for an autonomous PHP developer to join our rapidly-growing team at Allure Media. Apply within.
