Decades ago, China began a system of online surveillance and censorship that was nicknamed “the Great Firewall of China.” Now, that firewall is getting stronger, and there is also an increase in broader surveillance of the public, and the surveillance is becoming more focused, so a particular individual could be targeted.

China has long had a vast camera surveillance, or CCTV, system throughout the country and it includes face-recognition technology. In June, the Wall Street Journal reported that Industry researcher IHS Markit estimated “China has 176 million surveillance cameras in public and private hands, and it forecasts the nation will install about 450 million new ones by 2020. The U.S., by comparison, has about 50 million.” And the Chinese government is using pairing the CCTV surveillance systems with biometric technology “on streets, in subway stations, at airports and at border crossings in a vast experiment in social engineering. Their goal: to influence behavior and identify lawbreakers.”

The system is powerful. BBC News recently reported that, in a test, it took China’s surveillance system seven minutes to locate and apprehend one of its reporters. Notably, China’s CCTV system isn’t the only one to integrate face-recognition technology in order to better target individuals.  Read more »

Today is Giving Tuesday, and here are a few consumer, privacy, and civil liberty groups that could use donations to continue to fight for your rights: ACLU national (or give to your local chapter), Center for Digital Democracy, Consumers Union, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Electronic Privacy Information Center, Privacy International, and the World Privacy Forum.

We’ve discussed before the many ways that companies have been monitoring their employees. They’re using key-logging technology to monitor workers’ keystrokes and Internet-tracking software to log the sites that employees visit. Or tracking workers using GPS technology. More workplaces are using employee badges that have microphones and sensors for tracking individuals’ movements. Now, there’s a move toward a more invasive way to track employees: By implanting microchips in workers.

Wisconsin technology company Three Square Market announced that it is “offering implanted chip technology to all of their employees. … Employees will be implanted with a RFID chip allowing them to make purchases in their break room micro market, open doors, login to computers, use the copy machine, etc.” The company continued: “The chip implant uses near-field communications (NFC); the same technology used in contactless credit cards and mobile payments. A chip is implanted between the thumb and forefinger underneath the skin within seconds.” Read more »

A couple of years ago, we discussed the increasing use license-plate-recognition camera technology and the possible privacy, civil liberty and security implications about the surveillance tech used to gather and record information on drivers’ movements. At the time, we noted that license-plate-reader technology (also called automated license plate readers, ALPRs), like other surveillance systems, has the ability to create a profile of an individual using personal, possibly sensitive data. Now, the technology is in even more jurisdictions nationwide, and the privacy questions remain.

Two examples of the proliferation of the license-plate-reader technology are in Rhode Island and Tennessee. In Rhode Island, state legislators are considering HB 5531, “An Act Relating to Motor and Other Vehicles — Electronic Confirmation and Compliance System,” which would create a state-wide license-plate-reader network to identify and fine uninsured drivers. The chief sponsor is Rep. Robert Jacquard (D), who “said he has made a number of changes to address fears of growing state surveillance and concerns the cameras could be used to expand highway tolling,” reports the Providence Journal.

The ACLU of Rhode Island testified (pdf) against the bill, noting “this legislation would nevertheless facilitate the capture and storage of real time location information on every Rhode Islander on the road, with no guidance as to how this information is to be used, at the benefit of a third-party corporation.” ACLU-RI wants the state to “implement clear and specific restrictions on the use of this technology, particularly by law enforcement” and notes such restrictions are included in HB 5989, whose chief sponsor is Rep. John G. Edwards (D). Read more »

People use a lot of services and devices to transmit and retain sensitive personal information. A person could use daily: a work computer, a personal computer, multiple email addresses, a work cellphone, a personal cellphone, an e-reader or tablet, a fitness tracker or smart watch, and an Artificial Intelligence assistant (Amazon’s Echo, Apple’s Siri, Google’s Assistant, or Microsoft’s Cortana). The data retained or transmitted on these services and devices could include sensitive medical or other information, personal photos, financial data, and more.

There’s also the issue of the collection of information that could lead to other data being learned. For example, I wrote recently about health-app data and the surprising results of scrutinizing it. A man was alarmed by his wife’s heart rate data, as collected by her Fitbit, and asked others for assistance analyzing it. One theory: She could be pregnant. Did you know that heart-rate changes could signal a pregnancy?

Currently, there’s ongoing controversy concerning the data possibly collected by an Amazon Echo. The Washington Post explains, “The Echo is equipped with seven microphones and responds to a ‘wake word,’ most commonly ‘Alexa.’ When it detects the wake word, it begins streaming audio to the cloud, including a fraction of a second of audio before the wake word, according to the Amazon website. A recording and transcription of the audio is logged and stored in the Amazon Alexa app and must be manually deleted later.” Arkansas police have served a warrant to Amazon, as they seek information recorded by a suspect’s Echo. Amazon has refused to comply with the warrant.  Read more »

The idea of secret surveillance from a distance isn’t new. For centuries, there have been undercover agents. Subsequently, there came hidden cameras and microphones. But there were limitations to this secret surveillance — such as the physical constraints of a human or camera located far from the person being watched. As surveillance technology has become more sophisticated, however, it is becoming easier to identify, watch, listen to, and judge people from a distance.

The judgment portion is, in part, based on biometric facial-recognition technology that incorporates expression recognition. For the unseen eyes, it’s no longer just about identifying a person, but also about watching their emotional responses. This type of facial-recognition tech gained attention a few years ago when Microsoft filed a patent for technology that would track individuals’ emotions and target advertising and marketing as based upon a person’s mood.

“Degrees of emotion can vary — a user can be ‘very angry’ or ‘slightly angry’ — as well as the duration of the mood. Advertisers can target people ‘happy for one hour’ or ‘happy for 24 hours,’” the Toronto Star reported in 2012. Four years later, the mood-identification technology can be bought off the shelf, as NBC News explains in a story about “a new immersive experience for moviegoers.” Read more »