Judge Shuts Down Vallejo PD's Illegally-Obtained Stingray
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For the moment, police officers in Vallejo, California aren't allowed to use their cell site simulator. A tentative ruling [PDF] issued by a judge says the city violated the law by approving the purchase of a Stingray device without instituting a privacy policy governing its use -- a policy explicitly approved by the city council and subjected to public scrutiny prior to adoption.The case challenging the new device's purchase and use was brought by Oakland Privacy. Matthew Gauriglia of the EFF breaks down the multiple ways the city and its PD skirted their obligations to Vallejo residents.The City Council assembled via teleconference in spring 2020, amidst a state-wide pandemic related shelter-in-place order, to vote for the purchase of this controversial piece of surveillance equipment. It did so without adequately obtaining input from the public.What’s worse, the city council approved the purchase in violation of state law (S.B. 741) regulating the acquisition of such technology. [...] The law prohibits local government agencies from acquiring cell-site simulators without the local governing body approving a specific privacy and usage policy that “is consistent with respect for an individual’s privacy and civil liberties.” This policy needs to be available to the public, published online, and voted on during an open hearing. The Vallejo city council dodged its state law obligations to expedite the acquisition of the device, seemingly taking advantage of restrictions on gatherings to minimize objections from the public. That decision has led to this (tentative) decision: no tech toy for city cops until it follows the steps above.This sort of deception is far too commonplace when it comes to law enforcement agencies and the acquisition of controversial tech. Assertions that law enforcement needs this secrecy to stay a step ahead of criminals often go unchallenged. This continues to happen even though Stingrays and other tech (like phone-cracking tools) have been in the public eye for years and their capabilities discussed openly -- not just by civilians, but by government agencies and officials.It seems pretty short-sighted to take steps like these to dodge controversy. Bypassing obligations to the public tends to result in greater public scrutiny once these actions are exposed or, as in this case, directly challenged as violations of the law. This (tentative) victory for Vallejo-area transparency activists shows the city would have been better off doing it all by the book in the first place. Now it's going to have to retrace its steps and no longer has a COVID lockdown to abuse to minimize complaints from the pesky peasants.
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posted at: 12:00am on 20-Oct-2020
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COVID-19 Is Driving The Uptake Of Chess -- And Of Surveillance Tools To Stop Online Players Cheating
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Techdirt has been noting some interesting tech trends arising out of the increasing number of people who work and study from home because of COVID-19. One that few of us saw coming is a greatly increased enthusiasm for playing chess. That would be a good thing, except that life is never simple, as the Guardian reports:Chess has enjoyed a huge boom in internet play this year as in-person events have moved online and people stuck at home have sought new hobbies. But with that has come a significant new problem: a rise in the use of powerful chess calculators to cheat on a scale reminiscent of the scandals that have dogged cycling and athletics. One leading 'chess detective' said that the pandemic was "without doubt creating a crisis". When life moves from in-person to online, there is a loss of many subtle aspects that arise from being in the presence of other people. Back in May we wrote about a problem in the field of education, where some have concerns that students might be cheating when taking exams online, since there is no invigilator around to check on them. This has led to the rise of remote proctoring services that aim to cast a beady virtual eye over students who are sitting exams. According to the Guardian, similar ideas are starting to enter the world of chess:At the heart of the problem are programmes or apps that can rapidly calculate near-perfect moves in any situation. To counter these engines, players in more and more top matches must agree to be recorded by multiple cameras, be available on Zoom or WhatsApp at any time, and grant remote access to their computers. They may not be allowed to leave their screens, even for toilet breaks. Other approaches include tracking the movements of players' eyes, to see if they are looking away with suspicious frequency, and algorithms that are claiming to be able to spot "deviation from the proclivities of an honest human player". The fact that the once-staid world of chess is resorting to these kinds of advanced surveillance techniques is a further indication of the extent to which COVID-19 is changing the world, and deepening digital technology's impact on our lives.Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter, Diaspora, or Mastodon.
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posted at: 12:00am on 20-Oct-2020
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