California’s statewide privacy coalition weighed in on the regulatory plans for the California Attorney General to administer and enforce the California Consumer Privacy Act. The verdict? Pretty good job by Becerra’s office, but a few things can always be better.…
Author: Tracy Rosenberg
Anti-Muslim Hate Group Uses Same Name As State-Funded PVE Program
California’s new counter-terrorism via social services program, Preventing Violent Extremism (PVE), which is a state version of the federal Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program, has run into a big problem. A hate speech problem. A group called the Clarion Project,…
Does It Matter If Your Doorbell Is A Spybot? Mike Katz-Lacabe with KGO’s Michael Finney
On October 12th, KGO-FM consumer affairs reporter Michael Finney sat down with Oakland Privacy’s Mike Katz-Lacabe to answer the question of whether it matters if your doorbell is a spybot. Here is their conversation.
El Cerrito’s New Drone
A surveillance watchdog’s job is never done. As we try to convince cities, counties, transit districts and whoever else is watching us, to implement comprehensive oversight, the one-on-one method prevails El Cerrito may be considering a full transparency ordinance, but…
The Day The 1st Amendment Died in Berkeley
Update: On October 15th, the Berkeley City Council approved an amendment to their surveillance transparency ordinance banning the use of facial recognition technology, except when from an outside source, unsolicited and tied to a specific individual crime. The Council also…
Close The Camps at Palantir 9/13
Bay Area activists continue to picket and protest at the headquarters of Palantir Technologies, the Palo Alto software company powering the Trump Administration’s deportation regime. On one of the hottest days of the year, protestors rallied at the company’s Palo…
Associated Students at UC Berkeley Demand Termination of Shotspotter Contract
The Associated Students at UC Berkeley have passed a resolution demanding that UC Berkeley terminate their contract with SSTI, Inc, the Newark-based manufacturer of Shotspotter gunshot detection microphones.
Cracking I-Phones in Alameda
Logs received from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department show that a Cellebrite tool was used 30 times between October of 2018 and July of 2019 to access the contents of encrypted Apple devices.
Oakland Privacy – 2019 Pioneer Award
On September 12, 2019, Oakland Privacy will be honored at the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s Pioneer Awards Ceremony for our surveillance activism. Press Release – EFF Press Release – Oakland Privacy
Mission Creep – Berkeley’s License Plate Readers
Update: November 12th is the day Berkeley’s automated license plate reader policy hits the council. Berkeleyside: Berkeley Is Being Bamboozled Update: On September 4, 2019, Berkeley’s Police Review Commission, which is empowered by the surveillance ordinance to provide recommendations regarding…