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Surveillance

Documentary – Automated Apartheid: Walking Through Hebron Smart City

May 12, 2024 Mnar Adley, MintPress News. , , , , , ,
A silent sentinel watches over every corner in the bustling streets of Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank, where the ancient echoes of history collide with the modern hum of daily life. This sentinel is not a person but a network of surveillance technology known ominously as the “Hebron Smart City.” Designed by Israeli authorities, this system blankets the city in a web of cameras, sensors and even automated weapons, tracking every movement of its Palestinian residents. “Palestinians in Hebron are the most surveilled people on the planet,” explains journalist and activist Mnar Adley, highlighting the omnipresence of cameras and face-scanning technology.

Biden Terrifyingly Grows Ranks Of Government Spies

April 23, 2024 Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter. , , , ,
On April 20, Edward Snowden declared, “America lost something important today, and hardly anyone heard. The headlines of state-aligned media screech and crow about the nefarious designs of your fellow citizens and the necessity of foreign wars without end, but find few words for a crime against the Constitution.” The NSA whistleblower was referring to the United States Senate reauthorizing and expanding surveillance under Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. President Joe Biden circulated a memo that cast the Fourth Amendment right to privacy as a "threat to national security."

CIA Director Claims Lawsuit Over Spying On Assange Visitors Could Damage Security

April 19, 2024 Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter. , , ,
CIA Director William Burns claimed that a lawsuit involving alleged spying on Americans, who visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, must be dismissed or there could be “serious” and “exceptionally grave” damage to the “national security of the United States.” In a declaration [PDF] that invokes the “state secrets privilege,” Burns also maintained that the CIA could not provide any explanation in open court for why the agency believes damage could occur if the lawsuit proceeds. “[T]he complete factual bases for my privilege assertions cannot be set forth on the public record without confirming or denying whether CIA has information related to this matter and therefore risking the very harm to the U.S. national security that I seek to protect,” Burns added.

How The CIA Destroys Its Own

March 30, 2024 Robert Scheer, Scheer Post. , , , ,
In light of recent developments in the Julian Assange extradition case, former CIA officer John Kiriakou joins host Robert Scheer on this episode of the Scheer Intelligence podcast, to delve deeper into the contradictions within the United States government and intelligence agencies regarding the disclosure of classified information and the veil of secrecy they maintain. As highlighted in earlier episodes, John Kiriakou’s role as the whistleblower who exposed the U.S. torture program vividly illustrates the consequences of airing the government’s dirty laundry—it unleashes its full might upon you.

DC’s 2024 Crime Bill Is More War On The Black Working Class

February 15, 2024 Pan-African Community Action, Black Agenda Report. , , , , ,
The "Secure DC” Omnibus bill  is the latest attempt by DC’s local government to impose law and order, while ignoring the root issues that lead to street-level crime and advancing the war against the Black working class. After passing unanimously by the DC Council's Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, the new crime bill was voted on and unanimously passed on February 6, 2024, by the full council. Pan-African Community Action (PACA) contends that Black people in the U.S are a domestic colony, an internal colony that is enforced by a massive police presence meant to control and keep us exploited for our labor and other human resources.

Another Hollywood Strike?

January 26, 2024 Elizabeth Wagmeister, CTVNews. , , , , ,
Los Angeles, CA - After a year in which both actors and writers hit the picket lines, another Hollywood strike may be on the horizon. The American Federation of Musicians (AFM), a union representing musicians across the entertainment industry, will begin negotiations Monday on a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The union said it is seeking a deal to better reflects the current state of streaming media. The AFM is also seeking AI protection, increased wages, health care improvements, improved working conditions and residual payments for streaming content.

CIA Loses Motion To Dismiss Lawsuit Against It

December 22, 2023 Consortium News. , , , ,
Lead attorney Richard Roth of The Roth Law Firm, along with plaintiffs Margaret Ratner Kunstler, a civil rights lawyer, and media lawyer Deborah Hrbek, held a ZOOM press conference Friday, Dec. 22 at 1:00 pm EST to answer journalists’ questions regarding their lawsuit against the C.I.A. for allegedly violating their Fourth Amendment rights. Judge John G. Koeltl of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan rejected a C.I.A. motion to dismiss the lawsuit brought by four American citizens alleging they were wrongfully spied on while visiting Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London in an illicit scheme to seize the plaintiff’s electronic devices.

Weapons Israel Tests On Palestinians Will Be Used Against All Of Us

December 10, 2023 Chris Hedges, The Real News Network. , , , ,
The Palestinians are human laboratory rats to the Israeli military intelligence services and arms and technology industries. Israel’s drones, surveillance technology including spyware, facial recognition software, and biometric gathering infrastructure, along with smart fences, experimental bombs, and AI-controlled machine guns are all tried out on the captive population in Gaza, often with lethal results. These weapons and technologies are then certified as “battle-tested” and sold around the world. Israel is the tenth largest arms dealer on the planet and sells its technology and weapons to an estimated 130 nations, including military dictatorships in Asia and Latin America. Israeli weapons sales totaled $12.5 billion last year.

FBI Labels Anti-Fascists And Anti-Racists As Violent Extremists

November 24, 2023 Arturo Dominguez, Unicorn Riot. , , ,
A recently released Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) document titled “Domestic Terrorism Symbols Guide” links common protest symbols to “terrorism” — another marker in a common theme of conflating militant protest for social justice with deadly terrorist violence within the United States. Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Brennan Center have raised warnings about such documents, citing inadequate protections for people’s constitutional rights. In a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on July 27 (PDF), the ACLU voiced deep concern about the DHS’s “domestic violent extremism” label, standards for collecting and disseminating information to state and local law enforcement agencies, and the impacts these labels can have on disparately surveilled and policed communities.

Update On Lawsuit Against Alleged CIA Spying On Assange Visitors

November 20, 2023 Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter. , , , , ,
A United States court held an extraordinary hearing on November 16, where a judge carefully considered a lawsuit against the CIA and former CIA director Mike Pompeo for their alleged role in spying on American attorneys and journalists who visited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Judge John Koeltl of the Southern District of New York pushed back when Assistant U.S. Attorney Jean-David Barnea refused to confirm or deny that the CIA had targeted Americans without obtaining a warrant. He also invited attorneys for the Americans to update the lawsuit so that claims of privacy violations explicitly dealt with the government’s lack of a warrant.

Injured, Burned Out And Under Surveillance At Amazon

October 27, 2023 Katrina Pham, In These Times. , , ,
More than four in 10 Amazon workers report being injured on the job, and the number increases to more than half for those who have been working for the company for more than five years, according to a report released Wednesday.  Despite Amazon touting the grit of its ​“industrial athletes,” these widespread and pervasive injuries have, according to the survey, resulted in almost seven in 10 workers having to take unpaid time off from their jobs in the last month because of their pain or exhaustion from working at the company.  The report offers stark data of how Amazon, as a mammoth presence in the warehousing industry and customer service, can effectively set an unhealthy bar for the pace of production for its workers

How San Diego Built A Surveillance Apparatus

October 11, 2023 Jesse Marx, In These Times. , , , , ,
San Diego. California - It sounded smart on paper. In 2016, the San Diego City Council created a new infrastructure project related to its environmental initiatives: Thousands of streetlights would be retrofitted with energy-efficient LEDs. Plus, remote-controlled sensors would produce publicly accessible data on weather, traffic and parking. Considering the energy savings, the $30 million partnership with General Electric would pay for itself. Win-win. But today, the project is an example of how not to create ​“smart” city utilities. Those sensors included integrated cameras, and no councilmember formally opposed the potential surveillance issues. Most San Diego residents only learned they were filmed indiscriminately thanks to media reports — in 2019.

What We Must Ask About Surveillance State Failures

September 25, 2023 Chip Gibbons, The Dissenter. , , , ,
Americans have repeatedly been told to keep the United States safe they must surrender their core civil liberties to a vast national security apparatus. Yet when this apparatus fails at this supposed objective, the response is to further expand its surveillance powers. Rarely is the exercise of these powers seriously explored. Instead, the national discussion centers on a baseless notion that a shortage of surveillance powers is the root cause of intelligence failures. Last week, in a post for The Dissenter’s paid subscribers, I discussed FBI counterterrorism files I obtained from a still ongoing lawsuit against the FBI.

NYC Police Plan To Use Drones To Surveil Labor Day Parties

September 2, 2023 Zane McNeill, Truthout. , , , ,
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is planning to use surveillance drones to patrol large gatherings, including private parties and barbecues, this Labor Day weekend. “If a caller states there’s a large crowd, a large party in a backyard, we’re going to be utilizing our assets to go up and go check on the party,” Kaz Daughtry, the assistant NYPD Commissioner, said at a press conference. Civil liberties groups and privacy advocates have said that such drone use may violate existing laws that regulate police surveillance in the city. One such law is the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act, which requires that the NYPD disclose its surveillance tactics at least 90 days prior to implementation.

Helicopter Footage From Mass Arrest Reveals State Trooper Surveillance

August 17, 2023 Niko Georgiades, Unicorn Riot. , , , , ,
Minneapolis, MN – High-tech surveillance video and audio communication from a Minnesota State Patrol helicopter, obtained and first published by Unicorn Riot, reveals some of the planning and tactics behind the largest mass arrest in recent Minnesota history. On Nov. 4, 2020, a multi-agency law enforcement operation kettled and arrested at least 646 people during a post-election-day protest calling for then-President Donald Trump to not ‘steal the vote.’ In an exclusive release, viewers are taken inside Minnesota State Patrol’s Bell 407 helicopter, N119SP, to see and hear the operations of authorities as around 700 peaceful protesters marched onto Interstate 94 in Minneapolis.
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