Here Are the Secret Locations of ShotSpotter Gunfire Sensors

Finding shell casings can be extremely difficult. A Los Angeles Police Department officer not authorized to speak to the media tells WIRED they’ve spent “hours” searching for bullet casings. Just because officers don’t find evidence of gunfire, they say, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. While SoundThinking says its alerts are reviewed by its Incident Review … Read more

Leak of Russian ‘Threat’ Part of a Bid to Kill US Surveillance Reform, Sources Say

While redirecting blame away from Turner and his cohorts, the claim is both false and deceptive, relying on assertions that, while farcical perhaps to legal experts, would be impossible for the public at large (and most of the press) to parse alone. The text that Fox News’ intelligence sources are referring to—which can be read … Read more

Section 702 Surveillance Fight Pits the White House Opposite Reproductive Rights

As a result, most House members remain confused as to when 702 surveillance would actually end if Congress fails to take action. Reformers say fomenting a sense of urgency to salvage the spy program—ultimately deemed vital even by many of its loudest critics—mostly plays into the administration’s hand, as it serves up “what-if” scenarios concerning … Read more

A Backroom Deal Looms Over Section 702 Surveillance Fight

Johnson, notably, previously voted in favor of legislation that would have drastically reformed the 702 program with a slew of privacy protections. Despite the uncommon bipartisan support for reforming Section 702, sources familiar with the negotiations say pro-privacy amendments have a history of dying in backroom deals. An amendment proposed last summer to ban the … Read more

London Underground Is Testing Real-Time AI Surveillance Tools to Spot Crime

In response to WIRED’s Freedom of Information request, the TfL says it used existing CCTV images, AI algorithms, and “numerous detection models” to detect patterns of behavior. “By providing station staff with insights and notifications on customer movement and behaviour they will hopefully be able to respond to any situations more quickly,” the response says. … Read more

NSA Is Buying Your Browser History, Says U.S. Senator

The National Security Agency (NSA) is purchasing Americans’ internet records, according to government documents made public on Friday. U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, wrote a letter claiming the NSA goes through backchannel avenues to purchase your browsing records and location data, which government agencies typically require a search warrant to obtain. Alex … Read more

The Pentagon Tried to Hide That It Bought Americans’ Data Without a Warrant

United States officials fought to conceal details of arrangements between US spy agencies and private companies tracking the whereabouts of Americans via their cell phones. Obtaining location data from US phones normally requires a warrant, but police and intelligence agencies routinely pay companies instead for the data, effectively circumventing the courts. Ron Wyden, the US … Read more

Ring Will Stop Giving Cops a Free Pass on Warrantless Video Requests

Reached for comment, Markey’s office directed WIRED to the senator’s statement posted to X, in which he called the shuttering of the RFA tool “good.” “I’ve been sounding the alarm for years on Amazon Ring’s privacy and security failures,” Markey added. “We cannot allow Americans’ home security systems to become surveillance tools for law enforcement. … Read more

Amazon’s Ring App Will No Longer Make It Easy for Cops to Get Video Footage

Ring, Amazon’s home surveillance company, will stop letting police departments request video footage directly from users in its app, the company said in a blog post on Wednesday. However, that doesn’t change the massive amount of footage the company, itself, shares with law enforcement. Ring has historically shared tons of footage with cops, and Amazon … Read more

The Sad Truth of the FTC’s Location Data Privacy Settlement

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached a settlement last week with an American data broker known to sell location data gathered from hundreds of phone apps to the US government, among others. According to the agency, the company ignored in some cases the requests of consumers not to do so, and more broadly failed … Read more