May 27, 2022
Washington Post reports on “light-sensing” technology to identify weapons
A company called Evolv uses “active sensing” — a light emission technique also used in radar and lidar—to create images and identify weapons in public and private venues, according to the company. Despite “fundamental limitations in differentiating benign objects from actual weapons,” existing clients include the New York Mets, Lincoln Center in New York City, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, and Six Flags amusement parks across the U.S.
Washington Post questions legitimacy of claims that social media plays outsize role in gun violence
Writing for the Washington Post’s Technology 202 newsletter, Cristiano Lima analyzed the legitimacy of arguments being made by government officials like Republican Texas governor Greg Abbott, that place undue focus on social media when it comes to gun violence, detracting from the real issue which is lax gun control laws.
Activist’s protest Amazon’s work with police and immigration agencies
Black and Muslim activists led a protest during Amazon Web Services’ summit on Tuesday. The protesters opposed Amazon’s work to facilitate the surveillance and deportation of immigrants and people of color. Amazon removed three Black or Latino activists who had registered for the summit.
Digital surveillance affects 227,000 immigrants
A critical new report by NoTechforICE details how digital surveillance systems impact immigrants' lives. Constant surveillance, which is touted as an “alternative” to traditional detention, has placed more than 227,000 immigrants under some form of surveillance. These anxiety-inducing technologies interfere with employment and further stigmatize immigrants.
The National Academy of Sciences will examine how facial recognition and predictive algorithms are being used in the criminal justice system, in order to surface civil rights issues and make recommendations to correct them. The order also requires the Attorney General to perform a disparate impact analysis of PATTERN, the Bureau of Prisons' risk assessment program , to see how it affects inmates' chances of early release.
New report details how law enforcement can use technology to enforce abortion laws [Wired]
Wired reports on a new study from the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project that details how law enforcement can utilise existing data access technologies and tracking tools to enforce abortion bans. The report cites keyword search warrants and geofence warrants as examples of these these types of surveillance technologies, which the report states can harm those looking for abortion providers or obtaining abortions.
Separately, Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter urging Google to stop its practice of retaining what the representatives believe is too much location data, which they argue law enforcement could use against those seeking abortions at abortion clinics.
New CDT report looks at surveillance of disabled people
According to a new report by the Center for Democracy & Technology, algorithms and surveillance technologies are being used to surveil, control, discipline, and punish people, with particularly harmful effects on disabled people in education, the criminal legal system, healthcare, and the workplace.