civil liberties
NYPD Equips Officers With Biometric Smartphones
New York Police Department officers and vehicles are to be outfitted with new technology as part of a $160 million program that will lead to fewer arrests and more summonses after being fully implemented next year, Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters on Oct. 23. All 35,000 NYPD officers will be equipped with smartphones that allow officers to search databases, view wanted posters, and scan suspects’ fingerprints.
NYPD Urged To Step Up Body-Worn Camera Pilot After Chokehold Death
Amid accusations of excessive force and increasing civilian video of police activity, New York officers may wear cameras while on duty. Had the death of 43-year-old Eric Garner not been caught on film, calls to outfit New York Police Department officers with cameras might have quietly faded. Instead, a bystander captured Garner locked in a […]
Next Generation Of Public Surveillance Technology Already Here
CCTV is everywhere in Britain, but it isn’t as effective as we think. Smile, you’re on camera: the UK is one of the most closely-watched societies in the world. According to Cheshire police, last year there was one CCTV unit for every 11 people in the country and the average person was caught on CCTV […]
EFF And 31 Other Organizations Call For Privacy Assessment Of FBI’s Biometric Database
The FBI plans to roll out the face recognition component of its massive Next Generation Identification (NGI) biometrics database this summer – but the Bureau has six years of catching up to do in explaining to Americans exactly how it plans to collect, use, and protect this data. Today we called on Attorney General Eric […]
Civil Liberties Groups Reject IBIA Biometric “Best Practices” Recommendations
The International Biometrics and Identification Association (IBIA) recently issued a “best practices” document listing numerous recommendations on how to best deploy biometric technology for commercial situations. The IBIA is participating in the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) effort to develop a voluntary code of conduct that specifies how the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights […]
LPR Companies Going Too Far?
Editorial Opinion By John Chigos, Founder, Chairman & CEO at PlateSmart Technologies, Inc. Digital Recognition Network (DRN) of Texas and their partner company, Vigilant Solutions of California, have filed a new lawsuit in Arkansas District Court. The suit contends that Arkansas’s recently passed Anti-LPR law (Arkansas Automatic License Plate Reader System Act 1491) banning the […]
Fremont Police Hopes To Add Surveillance Cameras, License Plate Readers
Fremont, CA, police say a powerful new weapon to fight crime is working. With the help of private surveillance cameras, burglaries are down by 30 percent in Fremont. Now, city officials want to install high-def cameras and license plate readers to track criminals coming from out of town. These new cameras may have helped police […]
Chicago Security Camera Surge Sparks Concerns Of ‘Massive Surveillance System’
Between traffic-light cameras, blue-light cameras that scan neighborhoods for violent crime, cameras on board city trains and buses —not to mention private security cameras— there are few places you can go in Chicago without being monitored. In the metropolis known as the City of Big Shoulders, it seems Big Brother really is watching. At last […]
License Plate Scanners Raise Privacy, Civil Liberties Questions
[Editor’s Note: An article about privacy concerns of the use of LPR technology. The primary point being the universal standard of data retention.] When Washington, D.C., began expanding the use of these license-plate readers a few years ago, there were discussions about the privacy issues connected with the use of license-plate recognition surveillance technology to […]
No Security Cameras On Univ Of British Columbia Campus Until Report Completed
A University of British Columbia student studies under fall foliage on the campus in Vancouver, B.C., on Wednesday October 30, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck ORG XMIT: VCRD114 VANCOUVER — The University of B.C. is considering installing closed circuit cameras in public areas, but won’t do so until a report on campus security is completed next year. An interim report — which won’t be available until late January at the earliest — is part of an initiative to investigate the level of security at UBC after six women were attacked on the Vancouver campus. Lucie McNeill, UBC’s director of public affairs, said Friday that Barry Eccleton, director of campus security, is heading up the task force, which is examining the possibility of cameras along with several other safety measures. Eccleton will be making recommendations in a report to President Stephen Toope. McNeill said the president wouldn’t be making any move regarding security cameras without further consultation with the campus community because of concerns around privacy and civil liberties. "It’s not something he, by fiat, would impose," she said. "There would be some consultation." Since April, there have been six sexual assaults on women on campus. The six attacks occurred April 19, May 19, Sept. 28, Oct. 13, Oct. 19 and Oct. 27. According to a description released by the RCMP, the suspect is Caucasian with slightly dark, tanned or olive skin, in his mid to late 20s, between 1.73 m (5’8") and 1.87 m (6’2"), with a thin build […]
Source www.vancouversun.com
American Cities Installing Ominous Surveillance Tech Despite NSA Scandal
American cities installing ominous surveillance tech despite NSA scandal Never mind the negative press the NSA has received in recent weeks after Edward Snowden began leaking top-secret documents to the media pertaining to the United States’ spy group’s broadly scoped surveillance programs. Law enforcement agencies and local leaders in major American cities are nevertheless signing on to install new systems that are affording officials the power to snoop on just about anyone within range. Seattle, Washington and Las Vegas, Nevada are among the latest locales in the US to acquire surveillance tools, the likes of which were both discussed in regional media reports over the weekend that are making their rounds across the Web and causing privacy advocates around the world to raise their voice. Neither West Coast city has announced plans to acquire telephone metadata or eavesdrop on email traffic, and combined their operations likely pale in comparison to what the NSA has accomplished. Civil liberties activists are sounding the alarm regardless, however, after new reports revealed what kind of information city officials could collect using newly installed equipment. In Seattle, a city of around 635,000, the police department recently used a Department of Homeland Security grant for $2.6 million to purchase and put up a number of wireless access devices that together create “mesh networks” which law enforcement officials can connect to and in turn more quickly share large chunks of data, such as surveillance camera recordings and other high-res information. Those access points, or APs, do […]
Source www.scenereleases.eu
Cambridge MA Blocks Surveillance Cameras
How one Mass city watches the watchers, and how others should follow suit On February 2, 2009, the Cambridge City Council voted in unanimous opposition to the installation of eight Department of Homeland Security cameras at major intersections on the basis that “the potential threats to invasion of privacy and individual civil liberties outweigh the current benefits” of accepting the DHS funds. While six such cameras were installed all the same, the council and a vocal citizenry has since successfully opposed their activation. At a follow-up meeting earlier this month, all nine Cambridge councilors reaffirmed their position: the cameras must remain off until police prove beyond doubt that their department has the capacity to balance investigative methods with civil liberties. Such aggressive civilian oversight of law enforcement should serve as a model not only for the Boston region, but for the whole country. Since 9-11, police chiefs, sheriffs, and commissioners have had an open invitation to request any range of surveillance and tactical gear from federal coffers, often without accountability checks to ensure that deployment squares with the Bill of Rights. Between DHS, the Department of Justice, and the Department of Defense, local overseers can secure every conceivable toy that they could ever covet without spending a dime of their own. From drones, to armored vehicles, to Long Range Acoustic Devices, which are essentially giant human dog whistles, it’s a veritable buffet via federal grants. Since these checks are written by the feds, such arrangements are often executed without […]
Source digboston.com
Politicians Weigh In On Boston Surveillance Cameras
Search quickly: You could use mouse crossed, get unlimited reading. Pols weigh in on Boston surveillance cameras bostonherald.com 2013-09-11 08:15:38 Boston needs more public surveillance cameras to help law enforcement respond to terrorist threats and even thwart potential attacks, several mayoral candidates reached by the Herald agreed yesterday. “Those cameras, they’re out there and they’ve been helpful; that’s really how the Boston Marathon case was solved,” said Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F Follow-up report to me Any reported complete Just news photo Just video . Conley, who said a closed-circuit television system monitored by officers with cameras at key locations throughout the city would allow quicker police response. “If I’m mayor of Boston, I’m going to make sure that we have a publicly deployed system down on Boylston Street for sure, and we’re going to harden that target.” Federal funding for surveillance skyrocketed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in New York City, and Bay State authorities have been more strident in their support for them since the April 15 marathon bombings. This summer, state police installed an unspecified number of new cameras on the Esplanade ahead of the Fourth of July. The growth of video surveillance in cities such as New York and London has sparked civil liberties concerns. State Rep. Martin J. Walsh said if elected mayor, he will “certainly take a look” at adding more cameras, but he added, “There are already a lot of security cameras in Boston, including private security cameras that have been […]
Source www.freenewspos.com