If you've been concerning yourself with the Heartbleed bug and the National Security Agency, add these seven items to your list, says the Center for Investigative reporting: Military-inspired technologies are coming home for use by local law enforcement. Since 2001, U.S. Department of Homeland Security grants have been trickling to local authorities for counterterrorism efforts. Many years after 9/11, these agencies are shopping around for military-inspired surveillance tools that can keep watch on average citizens.
The rise of a surveillance state has raised questions about the legality of how law enforcement agencies acquire new technologies and inform the public of their use. Individual searches and seizures are protected under the Fourth Amendment, but laws addressing mass surveillance of the public are few and limited. The center summarizes what is known about these techniques and technologies: Wide-area surveillance, facial recognition technology, license plate scanners, streetlights with recording capabilities, behavioral recognition software, stingray technology, and intelligence analysis software.