US Government Demands Millions of Google, Apple and Meta User Accounts
The number of user accounts handed over to the U.S. government by Google, Apple and Meta has increased in the last 10 years by more than six times.
An analysis by Proton has revealed that the companies have handed over data on 3.1 million accounts to the U.S. authorities over the last decade, providing data including emails, files, messages and other highly personal information. Between late 2014 and early 2024, the number of accounts shared by Google jumped 530% and by 675% at Meta.
Apple shared an additional 632% during that time, though this last was partly due to an atypical second half of 2022, when the company shared over 300,000 accounts. The number of U.S. data requests, said Proton, has gone up rapidly and consistently over the last 10 years, regardless of which political party has been in the White House.
Your Face Could Be in This Database. How Will It Be Used?
Imagine strolling down a crowded sidewalk when police officers stop a man. In seconds, their body cameras, connected to facial recognition software, scan his face. A match appears: He’s wanted for robbery, and officers promptly arrest him. For understaffed police departments, this scenario showcases the promise of facial recognition technology (FRT).
But critics worry it could turn cities into surveillance zones, invading privacy and unfairly targeting communities of color. The real problem, though, isn’t the technology, but how it’s used. Our research shows that when applied responsibly, facial recognition saves lives. Facing staff shortages and low clearance rates, many law enforcement agencies are turning to FRT to help solve crimes faster.
Cities such as New York and Los Angeles pair it with street cameras and license plate readers. In Chicago, police use smart-video analytics to link body cameras with the technology for real-time monitoring. Police credit this high-tech system with helping to catch dangerous criminals, including violent gang members in Maryland and rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Woman Says Detroit Police Wrongly Arrested Her Based on Facial Recognition, Files Lawsuit
A Detroit woman says she was wrongfully arrested a year ago because of faulty facial recognition and has filed a lawsuit for her detainment. However, Detroit said facial recognition is unrelated to her arrest. LaDonna Crutchfeld, 37, was at home in Jan. 2024 when half a dozen Detroit cops showed up at her front door to take her into custody. They wanted to question her about an assault with attempted murder. “What am I going to jail?” she asked the officers.
The officers told her they had a warrant for her arrest and took her to the station.
According to Crutchfield, the officers told her she looked like a woman wanted in a Project Greenlight video.
“They told her to get in the vehicle. Handcuffed her, walked down the street in front of her neighbors to see. It was just a false arrest,” her attorney, Ivan Land, said. “She asked him why do you think it’s me, because I’m fat and black like her? And he kinda laughed and said you gotta admit it does look like you.” Once at the station, she was forced to give a DNA sample and fingerprints before being released after eight hours.
California Considers Bill to Expand Online Child Protection Rules to AI
Add AI to the long and growing list of potentially harmful things legislators want to protect children from, along with online gaming, gambling, pornography, social media and age-restricted goods like alcohol, vapes and knives. And the stakes may be rising in age assurance, with California introducing legislation to protect children from AI that would bring in a right of private action. It would also ban some facial recognition systems.
The Leading Ethical AI Development for Kids Act, AB 1064, does not explicitly require age assurance, but would create a board to oversee and regulate AI systems used by children, require developers to carry out risk assessments to classify the potential of their systems to harm children, and establish a registry and incident reporting requirements with mandatory periodic independent audits.
Children’s personal information could not be used to train an AI model without written parental consent. Emotionally manipulative AI chatbots would be banned, along with emotion detection and social scoring systems, and AI “used to develop facial recognition databases through untargeted scraping of children’s facial images from the internet or surveillance footage.”
FBI Seeks Advanced Biometric Software for Mobile Identification
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a Request for Information seeking software solutions that are capable of performing biometric collections for operational use. The aim of the software solutions being sought is to enhance mobile biometric identification by leveraging technology that’s compatible with both Android-based smartphones and Windows-based laptops.
The two solutions need to look similar to the user even though they are developed for different operating systems. The software must facilitate data collection, processing, and submission to an automated biometric identification system while ensuring compliance with the FBI’s Electronic Biometric Transmission Specification.
The primary focus of this software solution is to collect multiple biometric data types, including fingerprints, facial photographs, iris scans, latent fingerprint images, scars, marks, tattoo images, and palm prints. Given the FBI’s expansive operational reach, these applications must function effectively in both domestic and international locations to ensure seamless integration across platforms.
Real ID Deadline: Everything You Need to Know
The Real ID Act is set to take effect on May 7, marking a major change for domestic air travelers across the U.S. Travelers without a Real ID-compliant driver’s license will need to present another TSA-approved form of identification, such as a passport, military ID or DHS-trusted traveler card, to board a domestic flight.
Additionally, Real ID will be required for entry into federal buildings and some military bases. Under the new regulations, standard driver’s licenses will no longer be sufficient for boarding domestic flights or accessing federal facilities.
Instead, travelers aged 18 and older will need a Real ID-compliant license or another form of federally approved identification, such as a passport.
The Surveillance Tech Waiting for Workers as They Return to the Office
Scan the online brochures of companies who sell workplace monitoring tech and you’d think the average American worker was a renegade poised to take their employer down at the next opportunity. “Nearly half of US employees admit to time theft!” “Biometric readers for enhanced accuracy!” “Offer staff benefits in a controlled way with Vending Machine Access!”
Take any consumer tech buzzword of the 21st century and chances are it’s already being widely used across the U.S. to monitor time, attendance, and, in some cases, the productivity of workers, in sectors such as manufacturing, retail, and fast food chains: RFID badges, GPS time clock apps, NFC apps, QR code clocking-in, Apple Watch badges, and palm, face, eye, voice, and finger scanners.
Biometric scanners have long been sold to companies as a way to avoid hourly workers “buddy punching” for each other at the start and end of shifts — so-called “time theft.” A return-to-office mandate and its enforcement opens the door for similar scenarios for salaried staff.
