Privacy
Coverage of the way technology is changing the kinds of data state and local government collects about citizens, how it uses that data and the ethical and security implications of that. Includes stories about police body cameras, facial recognition, artificial intelligence, medical data, surveillance, etc., as well as privacy policy nationwide.
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Information collected by wearable technology, from smartwatches to fitness trackers and smart rings, is safeguarded by laws in some states. But much of it falls outside the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, and can be sold or provided to third parties. -
A Northern District judge threw out a lawsuit Nov. 13 alleging a trucking company violated the state Biometric Information Privacy Act. She ruled a clarification to Illinois' biometric data privacy law from state lawmakers earlier this year limits the size of damages that can be claimed.
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Earlier this year, a software engineer based in Huntsville, Ala., launched DeFlock, an online map where users can plot automated license plate readers in their cities as part of an effort related to privacy awareness.
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Mailers in the Golden State reading “Who you vote for is private, but whether you vote is public record” are intended to get out the vote but could intimidate, an expert said. Maryland and Virginia residents have reportedly received similar fliers.
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Experts say school districts are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on contracts with computer monitoring vendors like GoGuardian and Gaggle without fully assessing their privacy and civil rights implications.
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The nonprofit EdTech Leaders Alliance started a list of Scary Apps last year to raise awareness of ed-tech tools with “privacy policies that should give K-12 educators a fright.” A new one is posted each day of October.
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Three Boulder, Colo., residents share their thoughts on the prospect of putting artificial intelligence-powered cameras in K-12 schools, weighing the pros of security and the cons of surveillance differently.
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School districts nationwide have widely adopted platforms to track what students search online; roughly half of U.S. K-12 public schools use a system from GoGuardian. Critics, however, raise concerns about privacy, free speech, lack of transparency, and what happens to student data.
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The San Francisco Police Department's high-tech means of catching criminals is facing a challenge in a federal court after a nonprofit filed suit against the maker of Flock Safety license plate reading cameras.
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A handful of Colorado school districts and higher education institutions have implemented AI surveillance technologies, though a statewide moratorium has prevented the majority from doing so.
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With this new legislation, California becomes the second U.S. state to officially recognize the importance of mental privacy in state law, doing so by amending the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018.
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A law passed this year requires the state police to create a model policy for other Maryland departments, a guideline that some advocates hope will further limit facial recognition’s use as a policing tool.
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North and South Carolina are the first states to join the Consortium for School Networking’s Trusted Learning Environment State Partnership Program, which will provide guidance to all districts in each state.
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There have been some new updates around airport security and identification. Here’s what you need to know.
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An unsecured platform made roughly 4.6 million records across a dozen Illinois counties temporarily available on the Internet. Information exposed included voting registrations. The vulnerability was identified in July.
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The civil rights advocacy organization sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom urging his signature on a bill that would ban law enforcement from deploying killer drones against the public.
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The city has deployed 15 Flock Safety cameras to photograph vehicle license plates and alert on those being sought. The system, officials have said, is not used for immigration enforcement, and use is closely scrutinized.
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Sheriff’s deputies’ vehicles will soon be able to scan license plates and check drivers’ criminal records, in an expansion of the technology. Funding is coming via a grant from the federal Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs.
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The city apologized and, on Tuesday, removed documents from its website with unredacted personal information on residents, including Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers. An investigation is underway.
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The Consortium for School Networking launched a program this year allowing districts to earn its Trusted Learning Environment Seal one step at a time. Using this method, the Georgia district recently received the full seal.
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A recent incident at Tampa International Airport showed what can happen when facial recognition technology is in use. Transportation Security Administration officers used it to identify and arrest a person with an active arrest warrant.
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