Unmanned military aircraft are being used by a very select group of local law enforcement agencies to conduct surveillance from overhead without being detected. Civil liberties groups are concerned about what this may mean for privacy, while police are enthusiastic about having an additional cost-effective, high-tech tool in their arsenal. [Read more…]
Can You Videotape the Police?
Every month there seem to be more and more cases of people being arrested for doing nothing more than videotaping the police. This is due, at least in part, to more people having video capable phones. But it also signals a growing frustration among the police, where they would affect an arrest in many cases where there is simply no justification. [Read more…]
Massachusetts Town Rejects State Funding for License Plate Scanners
In a first for the state, and possibly the first nationwide, a town has rejected state funding for police to purchase automatic license plate scanners (ALPR) due to privacy concerns. [Read more…]
Federal Appeals Court Rules Recording Police Is Constitutionally Protected
In a ruling that may have long reaching effects, the Federal Court of Appeals in Boston ruled this week that a citizen’s right to record the police in the commission of their duties is protected by the First Amendment. The case involved Simon Glik, a spectator who recorded three police officers who he believed were using excessive force against another. And while the ruling was actually in a civil case, the remarks by the court will no doubt be cited in criminal cases to come. [Read more…]
Use of Wiretaps By Law Enforcement Up 82%
The United States Courts released their 2010 Wiretap Report this week, showing the use of wiretaps on phones by law enforcement is at an all-time high. When compared with 2009, law enforcement made use of 82% more wiretaps this past year. Of 3,194 wiretap applications, only one was denied in 2010. [Read more…]
The FBI and the Importance of Recorded Interrogations
You would think the FBI, the agency known for their high tech tactics and their reputation for no nonsense interrogation tactics would be interested in ensuring an exact account of those interrogations and interviews was available at trial. But, you would be wrong. Instead the federal law enforcement agency relies on pen and paper and the integrity of their agents. It’s this that has many people, including defense lawyers, urging the agency to adopt a policy on recording interviews. [Read more…]
Could the Feds Force ISPs to Store Your Data For Law Enforcement?
Do you think you can enjoy some anonymity as you surf the web? Do you believe you should be afforded privacy in the context of your emails or chats? Well it seems that if some on Capitol Hill get their way, all Internet traffic and content could be tracked under a federal law, all in the name of law enforcement. [Read more…]
Future of Policing: Unmanned Drones?
Typically only used in military operations, unmanned drones are seen as the high-tech eye in the sky, a way to wage war without the potential human cost. But now, USA Today reports police agencies across the country are considering the UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) for their own domestic uses, estimating they will be employed by various police departments within five to ten years. [Read more…]
Privacy Rights Under Assault and Undefended
American students and citizens as a whole are being trained to not expect any privacy, and that the government has near complete authority to know where you are at what you are doing at all times. That’s the opinion of many privacy and civil liberties experts, and it is a chilling view. Our countries founding fathers would be shocked to see how much freedom we have willingly or unknowingly ceded to the government.
This post at pogowasright outlines the many ways that students across the US are being monitored and surveilled constantly, and learning to accept it as the norm.
After last week’s ruling that police can track your car without a warrant broke, maybe the public’s awareness of these issues will increase, but right now it is a battle we are losing inch by inch, every day.
Worth the read.
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(Via balloon juice)
More on the surveillance state from Glenn Greenwald, and an article on ever present police cameras and scanners.
Cops Can Secretly Track You With GPS
A U.S. Court of Appeals decision this week in the 9th District affirmed a previous ruling and stated that the police can track your vehicle with a GPS device and without a warrant. Yes, that’s right—they can come into your driveway at night, attach a GPS and track you–every day, wherever you go. [Read more…]
