OK I know it is a belated start; already Day 2 in the current week 'to keep in the moment's. Space is limited so here are only the openings of what's up early today - you can always click the EXPAND buttons for every single report:
New Jersey Cops Are Using DNA Drawn From Newborns In Criminal Investigations
from the new-New-Jersians-are-material-witnesses dept
To be in law enforcement is to be almost criminally obtuse. (We haven’t criminalized that. YET! But when we do…)
They can’t stay out of their own way. The public may be willing to cut them some slack but they constantly make moves that dis-endear them to the people they’re supposed to be serving.
DNA evidence is considered the gold standard. It isn’t. But it’s considered to be. And now cops are using all the DNA they can to move investigations forward. Cops running DNA samples from crime scenes against samples taken from suspects who have been detained and informed of their rights? Fine.
Running samples against private DNA databases with sock puppet accounts in order to avoid scrutiny of their actions? Not cool. Running rape victims’ DNA through criminal databases? Definitely not cool
Enjoy This Fan Made Take On ‘Mario 64’ While You Can
from the hold-your-breath dept
This post will serve as the start of what will be a familiar cycle for fans of Nintendo. I’m going to show you something cool that Nintendo fans did, you’re going to get moderately excited, and then you’ll immediately become depressed when you realize that Nintendo will absolutely shut this cool project down in the name of copyright. This happens all the time, with Nintendo shutting down remakes of games that are decades old, a fan-made modded up version of Super Mario Bros. that allowed up to 75 players to play a level at the same time, and getting a video of a fan project for a first-person Pokemon game taken down. It’s due to these actions and many, many more that I have taken to referring to Nintendo as the Disney of the video game industry.
And so here we are
Project Veritas Not Only Loses Its Vexatious SLAPP Suit Against Stanford, It Has To Pay The University’s Legal Fees
from the thank-you-anti-slapp-laws dept
Project Veritas, the faux conservative group of pranksters pretending to be journalists likes to pretend that they’re “free speech” supporters. But they’re not. They appear to really only support their own free speech, and have a much more flexible view of free speech when it includes speech critical of themselves. Over the past few years, Project Veritas (PV) has gotten fairly aggressive in suing organizations that are critical of PV. That’s… not very free speechy. PV has tried to silence the NY Times, has sued CNN, and last year it sued Stanford and the University of Washington over a blog post debunking some of the usual nonsense from PV.
A few months back, we reported that CNN won its case against PV. But, also, back in May we missed that a judge also dismissed PV’s case against Stanford. Basically, saying mean things about PV is not defamation, because opinions aren’t defamation tough guys
UK Gov’t Turning To Facial Recognition Smartwatches To Monitor Convicted Foreigners
from the setting-itself-up-for-failure dept
To keep an eye on what the UK government considers to be dangerous migrants, it’s turning to some questionable tech provided by a company that’s long been in the business of tracking people for more altruistic reasons.
Migrants who have been convicted of a criminal offence will be required to scan their faces up to five times a day using smartwatches installed with facial recognition technology under plans from the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice.
In May, the government awarded a contract to the British technology company Buddi Limited to deliver “non-fitted devices” to monitor “specific cohorts” as part of the Home Office Satellite Tracking Service. The scheme is due to be introduced from the autumn across the UK, at an initial cost of £6m.
This represents a bit of pivot for Buddi Limited, which has previously limited itself to marketing “Buddi Clips,” a GPS tracking system with built-in fall detection that allows at-risk individuals (like the elderly) to move around freely without worrying they’ll go undiscovered if they happen to suffer a debilitating injury
Daily Deal: The 2022 Fully Accredited TESOL Bundle
from the good-deals-on-cool-stuff dept
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Filed Under: daily deal
Elon Musk Still Wants Everyone (Including The Judge) To Believe His Fight With Twitter Is About Spam. It’s Not
from the that's-not-how-any-of-this-works dept
As I type this, I’m sitting in a (fairly uncomfortable) chair in the lobby of a Holiday Inn, having read through nearly 300 pages of legal filings of sniping between Elon Musk (165 pages) and Twitter (127 pages) trying to figure out how to best explain what’s in the filings in a meaningful and accurate way. Because the media coverage of this case continues to suck. For example, you may have heard that Elon Musk “countersued” Twitter. Headlines blasted that left and right and Musk’s fans lapped it up. I saw multiple tweets claiming that Musk was going to cost Twitter “so much” money by suing them back.
The reality is… less interesting than that. Musk filed his required answer and defenses to Twitter’s complaint, and, with it, included a bunch of counterclaims
Cops Complain After San Diego Residents Are Finally Allowed To Oversee City Surveillance Programs
from the public-service-entity-enraged-to-discover-it-needs-to-serve-the-public dept
There’s very little that seems to anger public servants more than mandates requiring them to serve the public. For years, the San Diego police department has expanded its surveillance programs. And for years, these expansions have gone unchallenged.
But now that the city has passed an ordinance requiring more direct oversight of police activity, cops are singing the thin blue line blues and claiming the public has no business overseeing the business of public agencies. The cop pushback against slightly increased accountability has begun, as David Hernandez reports for the San Diego Union-Tribune. (h/t Michael Vario)
After years of work to create oversight of surveillance technologies in San Diego, an ordinance that will govern how the city uses the technology received final approval from the City Council this week.
The work began after residents learned in 2019 that the city had installed a network of about 3,000 cameras on streetlights three years earlier, and police used the technology to investigate certain types of crimes. Some residents expressed concerns over potential civil liberty violations and over-policing, particularly in communities of color.
Under the ordinance, the City Council must approve the use of technology that can monitor and identify individuals. City staff members will need to issue reports that outline the intended use of such technology, and the public and a newly created privacy advisory board will be asked to weigh in.
This seems like the least the local government could do, especially when residents have made it clear they’re concerned about always-on surveillance and potential police abuse of the expanded surveillance network.
And this should be the bare minimum asked of police departments. These public agencies are supposed to weigh public safety efforts against the impact on constitutional rights and the public’s expectations that its movements won’t be constantly surveilled by their government.
But this minimal push towards accountability has been greeted by the San Diego Police Department (SDPD) as a declaration of war on the department. Cops may have guns, badges, and a shitload of power, but any time someone demands a little more accountability, police officials make it clear cops have the thinnest skin and the most extreme sense of entitlement.
San Diego police Capt. Jeffrey Jordon said the department uses a host of technological devices that will require approval, including body-worn cameras, polygraphs and forensic lab equipment.
“I’m not aware of any other cities in America that have to report out this many pieces of technology,” he said.
Hilarious. Cops like being ahead of the tech curve, but they truly hate being on the leading edge of accountability and transparency. Jeffrey Jordon should consider himself lucky to be an accountability pioneer. Instead, he acts like the city he serves should be part of the accountability long tail — so far removed from those acting boldly that no one will even notice the SDPD grabbing mandated coattails as its dragged into complying with expectations held by hundreds of law enforcement agencies around the country.
This SDPD official would rather be named “Least Likely to Win the Public’s Trust” than submit to cursory examinations of surveillance tech used by the department. And he makes this assertion despite being given access to a sizable loophole. The ordinance exempts officers participating in federal task forces, which means all the SDPD has to do to avoid this minor increase in public scrutiny is ask federal officers for assistance.
The SDPD’s opposition doesn’t just deserve criticism. It deserves ridicule. Officers sporting blue line flags and misappropriated Punisher gear, who engage in routine rights violations and intimidation are now crying about being asked to answer to the public. Rather than realize they have plenty of power that could be deployed for the public good, SDPD officials are complaining the new mandate will be, at best, slightly inconvenient. The blue in the “thing blue line” stands for bitchassness. When police leaders are asked to step up, they choose to complain about being expected to hold themselves and their officers to a higher standard.
Cry harder. Wipe your tears on your qualified immunity, multiple constitutional exemptions, and generous pension programs. An opportunity was presented that gave the SDPD a chance to repair its damaged relationship with residents. But rather than seize the opportunity, cop officials have chosen to pretend increased accountability is an insult to the business of law enforcement — something so far out of the norm it should be considered an aberration not worth of public support.
Filed Under: oversight, san diego, san diego police department, sdpd, surveillance, transparency
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