The Crime Report (https://thecrimereport.org/category/science-technology/)
Countries like China and Russia have been quick to apply facial recognition technology and other forms of high-tech surveillance to monitor the spread of infections, but little is known so far about how these tools are being used in the U.S.
Examining the potential for responding to such attacks in the United Kingdom, two researchers concluded that domestic law is an “imperfect instrument” for deterrence or prevention. But civil law and regulations could offer some guidance, they suggested.
GPS ankle monitors have been touted as a solution to mass incarceration. But a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh argues that the spreading use of electronic surveillance by justice authorities is an insidious form of “punitive control” that reduces the chances of reintegration for the formerly incarcerated—and disproportionately impacts people of color.
911 systems are getting old, and the public can be in danger when they fail. Landline numbers are much easier for these systems to pinpoint. More than 80 percent of the calls to the nation’s 911 centers are from cellphones.
A pilot project in facial recognition used by the South Wales police has raised doubts about whether scientific coding is sufficient for making a case against criminal suspects without the assistance of human judgment, say two UK researchers.
The growing deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) tools by police forces requires new vigilance about balancing civil liberties and public safety, warns a professor at the University of California-Davis School of Law.
The police department said it did not get a satisfactory answer from the start-up company about how its system had been used in the past. Critics have charged that the the firm’s app invades privacy.
Amazon’s Ring Neighborhood Android app has been sharing users’ personal data and information to third-party companies like Google and Facebook, even if users don’t have a Facebook account, according to an investigative report by The Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Charles M. Lieber, the chair of Harvard’s chemistry department, was arrested for allegedly lying about his financial links to the Chinese government, receiving millions of dollars.
The government’s plan to collect DNA from persons detained as they try to cross the U.S. border—and store it in an expanded FBI genetic database—could pose serious threats to privacy. Genetics and forensics experts also warn it will lead to the further criminalization of immigrants.