Google Giving Far-Right Users’ Data to Law Enforcement, Documents Reveal
By: The Guardian August 17, 2020 A little-known investigative unit inside search giant Google regularly forwarded detailed personal information on the company’s users to members of a counter-terrorist fusion center in California’s Bay Area, according to leaked documents reviewed by the Guardian. Read More
Secret Service Bought Phone Location Data from Apps, Contract Confirms
By: Vice August 17, 2020 The Secret Service paid for a product that gives the agency access to location data generated by ordinary apps installed on peoples’ smartphones, an internal Secret Service document confirms. The sale highlights the issue of law enforcement agencies buying information, and in particular location data, that they would […]
U.S. Watched George Floyd Protests in 15 Cities Using Aerial Surveillance
By: NY Times June 19, 2020 GRAND FORKS, N.D. — The Department of Homeland Security deployed helicopters, airplanes and drones over 15 cities where demonstrators gathered to protest the death of George Floyd, logging at least 270 hours of surveillance, far more than previously revealed, according to Customs and Border Protection data. Read More
Virus Projects Renew Questions About UAE’s Mass Surveillance
By: AP News July 9, 2020 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Efforts by the United Arab Emirates to fight the coronavirus have renewed questions about mass surveillance in this U.S.-allied federation of seven sheikhdoms. Experts believe the UAE has one of the highest per capita concentrations of surveillance cameras in the world. From […]
ESG Investors Get Their Heads Around Social Risks
By: Economist June 4, 2020 Covid-19 has brought out the best and the worst of the corporate world. Carmakers are producing ventilators, and consumer firms are making hand-cleaning gels. Some others, though, have drawn complaints for their treatment of their employees during the pandemic. Read More
No Return of Workers to Offices ‘Could Cost UK Economy £480bn’
By: The Guardian August 30, 2020 Ex-CBI adviser says economy will not return to pre-pandemic size until 2025 if home working continues The UK economy could lose almost half a trillion pounds of output if workers fail to return to their offices, a study estimates. Read More
Will TikTok Survive?
By: Economist September 19, 2020 On august 6th, when the White House told TikTok that it had 45 days to shut down or find an American buyer, there was a risk that the Chinese-owned video app would disappear from America, infuriating its 100m users there and destroying billions of dollars of investors’ wealth. Now […]
US Justice Department’s Google lawsuit expected in weeks ahead
By: Fox Business September 3, 2020 The Justice Department, which has been conducting an antitrust investigation of Alphabet Inc’s Google, plans to bring a lawsuit against Google as soon as this month, according to two sources familiar with the probe, who said the focus remains on search and advertising. Deputy Attorney General Jeff Rosen told […]
What $2tn in Possible Corrupt Activity Reveals About Kleptopia
By: The Guardian September 24, 2020 The FinCEN files include more than 2,000 leaked suspicious activity reports that banks had filed to the US Treasury. They show how kleptocrats hoard secrecy. Five years ago, in the bar of a war correspondents’ club in London, I met a man who had stolen the secrets of […]