by J.P. Massar Well, now you may be, like it or not. Algorithms and processing have advanced to the point where your face may be substituted, digitally, seamlessly, and essentially undetectably (aka “deepfakes”), for that of a porn star, keeping…
A coalition of privacy, civil rights and public interest groups sent a letter of concern about Facebook’s plan to introduce a digital currency. The groups say Facebook’s new cryptocurrency raises “profound questions about national sovereignty, corporate power, consumer protection, competition…
Update: On June 25, the Richmond City Council voted 5-2 not to renew their contract with Vigilant Solutions. Richmond Standard The decision by the Council represents the first Bay Area municipal contract cancelled as a result of the passage of…
In March of 2018, the small East Bay city of San Pablo delayed a $2.4 million dollar expansion of their Vigilant Solutions license plate reader surveillance system after community distress about Vigilant’s contract with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE). A…
Mike Katz-Lacabe reports that Homeland Security fusion center NCRIC, the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center, collected 79.2 million license plates from a variety of Northern California cities from June of 2018 to May of 2019. The City of Piedmont sent…
More than 100 civil and human rights organizations, including Oakland Privacy, wrote to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to demand a vote on the Save The Internet Act, a bill which would restore Open Internet protections and passed the House…
You never know what you’re going to find at a convention. At the 2019 IACP technology convention (International Association of Chiefs of Police), Electronic Frontier Foundation researcher Dave Maass found a facial recognition brochure from San Jose-based Vintra.io, which tagged…
Update: Privacy Law Scholars Conference drops Palantir as a sponsor. Update: A week after Oakland Privacy sent our letter, Mijente started a petition to Berkeley Law School. The petition is here. Update: The Privacy Law Scholars Conference and Berkeley Law…
A 70-strong coalition of social justice and civil rights groups led by M-Power Change, Asian-Americans Advancing Justice and CAIR California (including Oakland Privacy). sent a letter to CA Governor Gavin Newson asking him to end the reinstatement of a washed-over…
At the May 14 meeting of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the City of SF became the 10th jurisdiction in the country to adopt a comprehensive oversight protocol for the acquisition and use of surveillance tech. The 8-1 vote…