Fantastic photo from UT Austin. I was not able to find the original photographer to give credit, despite them deserving it.
Pretty crazy time to be on a college campus right now, Umich's "liberation zone" on the diag has grown in size, as has the police presence. The movement will not be stopped.
Did someone say #encryption? Encryption helps protect the privacy of people you communicate with, and makes life difficult for bulk #surveillance systems. Learn more with our Email Self Defense guide: https://u.fsf.org/1df
Alors que la préfecture de police de Paris teste ce dimanche, pour la première fois, la vidéosurveillance algorithmique lors de la rencontre Paris Saint-Germain - Olympique lyonnais, certains fans de football s’inquiètent de l’impact potentiel de cette technologie sur leurs libertés.
#Surveillance#PoliticalEconomy#AI#SyntheticData: "Surveillance of human subjects is how data-intensive companies obtain much of their data, yet surveillance increasingly meets with social and regulatory resistance. Data-intensive companies are thus seeking other ways to meet their data needs. This article explores one of these: the creation of synthetic data, or data produced artificially as an alternative to real-world data. I show that capital is already heavily invested in synthetic data. I argue that its appeal goes beyond circumventing surveillance to accord with a structural tendency within capitalism toward the autonomization of the circuit of capital. By severing data from human subjectivity, synthetic data contributes to the automation of the production of automation technologies like machine learning. A shift from surveillance to synthesis, I argue, has epistemological, ontological, and political economic consequences for a society increasingly structured around data-intensive capital." https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14614448221099217
Until abortion access is fully legal, digital surveillance poses a significant threat. We’ve gotten better at answering questions about how to keep each other safe. Here’s what we’ve learned.
The United States National Security Agency (NSA) is only days away from “taking over the internet” with a massive expansion of its surveillance powers, according to NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.
The FISA 702 bill has been described by critics as a “dramatic and terrifying” expansion of the United States government’s surveillance powers.
The messaging app you choose impacts others as well, not just yourself, and while you personally may not require complete privacy, others in your network might have their lives depend on it.
#EU#Neoliberalism#Neoiliberalism#Censorship#Surveillance#DSA: "Despite the significance of digitalisation in mediating these political-economic shifts, mainstream platform regulation scholarship remains largely disconnected from these wider trends. EU laws are predominantly analysed using normative framings aligned with ‘progressive neoliberalism’, as efforts to balance growth and innovation against fundamental rights and ‘public values’. Schematically, EU regulation is distinguished on this basis from a free-market US approach and authoritarian, state-capitalist Chinese approach.
Against this, the paper makes two key claims. First, EU platform regulation can more helpfully be framed as manifesting an ongoing shift away from progressive neoliberalism and towards neo-illiberalism. Fundamental rights and liberal-democratic norms which previously legitimised EU policy are increasingly sacrificed in favour of unrestrained state surveillance and private-sector-led innovation. Second, methodologically, researchers should not only consider how these laws are being implemented currently, but also look ahead to an increasingly-plausible ‘far-right Europe’.
To demonstrate this framework’s analytical value, the paper examines the 2022 Digital Services Act, arguing that its overall regulatory approach is characteristically neo-illiberal: economically, it embraces marketised media governance and corporate power, while politically, it creates extensive possibilities for state censorship. Broadly, it seeks to strengthen platforms’ accountability in three main ways: individual consumer rights; empowering civil society via transparency and consultation; and technocratic risk management procedures."
Sascha van Schendel - Regulating risk profiling by law enforcement. a task for data protection law, non-discrimination law and criminal procedural law - 2024 PhD
#Europe#EasternEurope#DigitalRights#Privacy#Surveillance: "The civil society organisation (CSO) Meter project assesses the civil society environment in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The 2023 Regional Report focuses on digital rights.
Digital rights have continued to evolve in the region but political developments, in particular the Russian aggression in Ukraine and the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, put protections under constant pressure. In 2023, several EaP countries saw the expansion of surveillance powers of the state and the restriction of freedom of expression online, including attempts to silence activists and government critics. Disinformation remains a significant challenge in the region: CSOs in Georgia and Armenia noted disinformation attacks against civil society and at times, government responses to disinformation unduly restrict freedom of expression. There is significant progress in terms of developing comprehensive data protection legislation, notably in Moldova and Georgia, but countries are struggling with the implementation and enforcement of new rules. Digitalisation efforts continue in the region with several best practices emerging in terms of civil society participation in these processes." https://edri.org/our-work/2023-digital-rights-update-eastern-partnership-cso-meter/
#Israel#Palestine#Gaza#Surveillance#HumanRights#Privacy: "Highlighting, exposing, and actively working against the proliferation and normalization of surveillance technology is crucial in protecting human rights worldwide. At the Tor Project, we know that it is through collective awareness and action that we can all build and contribute to privacy-preserving technologies that aim to protect people everywhere from the prevalence of surveillance and oppression. It is equally important to hold companies accountable and recognize the source and enablers of surveillance tech, especially now as we see these technologies being aggressively utilized in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.
This post delves into the impact of Israeli surveillance technologies in Palestine, illustrating how localized instances of its use can have extensive repercussions that pave the way for the widespread acceptance and global adoption of such oppressive practices.
There is a growing need for a global stance against the use of technology for oppression. Tech workers and the broader international community are urged to prioritize integrity over profit to protect privacy and prevent the deleterious impacts of pervasive surveillance on our lives. There is even more urgency to address these issues in the face of growing demand for surveillance solutions enhanced and exacerbated by AI."