Previously, we reported on the existence of stingrays, also known as `IMSI catchers’, which are used by law enforcement as mobile cellphone towers. Stingrays intercept location and other data from all cellphones in the area, redirecting the traffic from regular cellphone towers. They can be used to get cellphone data without having even to go [...]
Time to Gut CFAA Like The Rotten Fish It Is: Protests and Reform Proposals for Computer Crime, with Added Matthew Broderick
by Alex Marthews on April 4, 2013
It’s not usually our dealio here at CDFAR to weigh in on federal digital rights, because terrific organizations like EFF, Fight for the Future, Demand Progress and the ACLU generally do that heavy lifting for us. But so much has happened regarding prosecutions under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act that it’s worth focusing on [...]
Microscope Monday: Analysis of Massachusetts’ proposed Free Speech Act, S. 642 / H. 1357
by Alex Marthews on April 1, 2013
Have you ever wondered why your Mondays have become an unending bliss of delight, falling upon you like Zeus visiting Danae in a shower of gold? It must surely be because of Microscope Monday, your weekly look at notable surveillance-related bills on Beacon Hill. This week’s bill, tying in with our new Campaign to Close [...]
Microscope Monday: Massachusetts’ proposed Electronic Privacy Act (S. 796 / HD 1014)
by Alex Marthews on March 25, 2013
Howdy and good morning, lovers of the Internet freedoms! It’s time for another in our “Microscope Mondays” series, where we take a good hard look at pending legislation here in Massachusetts relevant to surveillance. Previously, we’ve covered a praiseworthy effort to restrict the use of drones for law enforcement purposes and Martha Coakley’s should-be-better-known “Let’s [...]
Yay of the Day: In Ninth Circuit, Fusion Center Employee Not Completely Unaccountable for Infiltrating Peaceful Anti-War Group
by Alex Marthews on December 21, 2012
The long-running case Panagacos v. Towery deals with the two-year-long infiltration by fusion center employee John Towery of peace groups including Students for a Democratic Society, the Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace, the Industrial Workers of the World, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and an anarchist bookstore in Tacoma (probably this one). Towery is [...]
Worldwide Anti-Surveillance Protests Tomorrow
by Alex Marthews on October 19, 2012
Protests worldwide tomorrow against the surveillance state. As Joseph Heller once put it, “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not after you.”