Emerging Tech
NIST Is Staging An Armed Robbery To Improve Video Surveillance
Before researchers can test the latest video analytics, they need a variety of footage from different angles, conditions and recording quality.
Artificial Intelligence
IARPA Needs More Training Data for Video Surveillance Algorithms
The data would improve the tech’s ability to link together footage shot across a broad geographic space, allowing it to better track and identify potential targets.
Policy
Lawmakers Demand Details on NSA’s Sweeping Phone Surveillance Operations
The Call Detail Record program, which scoops up the phone records of millions of Americans, is set to expire at the end of 2019.
Artificial Intelligence
Here Come AI-Enabled Cameras Meant to Sense Crime Before It Occurs
The future of video surveillance is about detecting not just faces, but behaviors.
Digital Government
DEA Never Checked If Its Massive Surveillance Operations Are Legal, Watchdog Says
The administration “failed to conduct a comprehensive legal analysis” of three NSA-style bulk data collection programs, according to the Justice Department Inspector General.
Policy
Contractors and Advocacy Groups Push Back on State Efforts to Mandate Surveillance Software
State legislation pushed by one company to require contractors to install the software would compromise data privacy and carry steep costs for companies and governments, the groups argue.
Digital Government
Senators Question DOJ’s Surveillance of Americans’ Cell Phone Location Records
Lawmakers want the attorney general to explain how the collection of cellular location data has changed following a recent SCOTUS decision.
Emerging Tech
Las Vegas Gambles on a 'Smart City' Technology Makeover
The casino mecca is piloting countless new technologies in public spaces in a bid to boost its smart-city brand. Worrying about the risks will come later.
Emerging Tech
The Microphones That May Be Hidden in Your Home
The controversy around Google’s Nest home-security devices shows that consumers never really know what their personal technology is capable of.
Digital Government
Why the Amazon Pushback Is Also About Immigrants
After the HQ2 cancellation in Queens, Amazon’s connections to federal immigration enforcement are drawing scrutiny and criticism in other cities, too.
Ideas
The Dangers of a Mandatory DNA Database
A controversy in Arizona is a portent of future public-policy fights.
Ideas
The Problem With a ‘Smart’ Border Wall
To resolve Trump’s impasse, many lawmakers have proposed boosting surveillance technology to create a virtual border wall. Is that more humane and effective?
Emerging Tech
Amazon Proposes Facial Recognition Guidelines to Policymakers
The company called for “open, honest and earnest dialogue” instead of a ban.
Emerging Tech
27 Groups Call on Congress to Deny ‘Smart Wall’ Funding
Groups are speaking out against a congressional proposal to up spending on surveillance tech on the border.
Emerging Tech
Amazon Shareholders Move to Stop Selling Facial Recognition Tech to Government Agencies
A group of shareholders filed a resolution to halt sales until they can consider the tech’s societal impact.
Emerging Tech
Survey: Americans Warming to Use of Facial Recognition Tech
Americans do not favor strict limits on facial recognition technology, according to a new national survey.
Emerging Tech
The FBI is Trying Amazon’s Facial-Recognition Software
The software allows the FBI to go through video surveillance footage much faster than agents can.
Emerging Tech
The Fears Behind Amazon’s ‘Eyes on the Street’
The tech company’s proposed facial-recognition doorbell could be a civil libertarian’s nightmare.
Artificial Intelligence
This Year the World Woke Up to the Problems with AI Everywhere
Bias is just one of the problems.
Emerging Tech