US Congress Lets ‘Warrantless Wiretap’ Law FISA Lapse
It’s the U.S. law that allows wiretaps without a warrant for surveilling foreign targets. And the U.S. Congress just let it lapse. Sort of. NPR reports:

Each year, the provision is used by American intelligence agencies to collect the electronic communications of hundreds of thousands of foreigners located outside of the United States. The government says that more than … ⌘ Read more

Trois surveillants de prison et un infirmier condamnés après la mort d’un détenu en grève de la faim
En août 2023, Yacine T. est mort à la prison de Béziers (Hérault). La dégradation brutale de son état de santé n’avait pas été comprise. Le tribunal a prononcé des condamnations pour homicide involontaire et non-assistance à personne en danger. La médecin qui avait examiné le détenu a été relaxée. ⌘ Read more

Why You Might Already Own SpaceX Shares, Siri’s AI Makeover, and Knicks Owner’s Surveillance Machine
Today on Uncanny Valley, we take an early look at the SpaceX IPO and why you might find yourself among the investors without even realizing it. ⌘ Read more

Apple, get the hell out of my uterus
Please, we don’t need the tech bros’ surveillance of our most intimate bodily functions. ⌘ Read more

Signal Alums Reveal ‘Encrypted Spaces,’ a System for Making Private Collaboration Apps
The new open-source project could serve as the basis for a future of apps with features as complex as Slack, Discord, or Google Docs—but with added protection against surveillance. ⌘ Read more

Trump Risks Key Surveillance Authority Over ‘Unqualified’ Spy-Chief Pick
US lawmakers are alarmed that Bill Pulte, a housing official with no intelligence experience, is poised to take charge of one of the government’s most powerful surveillance tools. ⌘ Read more

Soccer Fans, You’re Being Watched
From anti-drone tech to face recognition, 2026 World Cup stadiums in the US, Canada, and Mexico are subjecting fans to an array of surveillance tech. Here’s what you need to know. ⌘ Read more

Mapping Every Flock License Plate Reader Near US World Cup Stadiums
Most US World Cup stadiums are surrounded by surveillance cameras. Want to know if you’re being watched on your way to a match? These maps will help you. ⌘ Read more

Catastrophe and drama collide in this lavish production
John Cranko’s 1962 Romeo and Juliet is most admired – among those who do admire it – for the ensemble grandeur of its large set-piece scenes. ⌘ Read more

Surveillance Is Not Safety: A statement on the UK’s latest threat to privacy [pdf]
Article URL: https://signal.org/blog/pdfs/2026-06-08-uk-surveillance-is-not-safety.pdf

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48450646

Points: 4

# Comments: 0 ⌘ Read more

En Chine, comment vit-on dans un monde épié à chaque instant
Comment vit-on avec la surveillance numérique, quand celle-ci est (presque) totale? La chercheuse Ariane Ollier-Malaterre déplace la focale du contrôle mis en place par le gouvernement chinois aux raisons hétérogènes qui facilitent son acceptation. Entretien. ⌘ Read more

Vertiges de l’identification biométrique: le cas de l’Inde à la loupe
Un livre sidérant et inquiétant du sociologue Nicolas Belorgey montre comment l’identification biométrique de la population indienne, censée initialement pallier les lacunes de l’administration, est devenue un outil de surveillance, voire de répression. Entretien. ⌘ Read more

Russian Spy Agency Says Foreign Spies Turned Officials’ Smartphones Into Surveillance Devices
Russia’s FSB claims foreign intelligence services compromised smartphones belonging to senior Russian officials, allegedly turning them into surveillance devices capable of stealing data, recording conversations, and activating microphones or cameras. “This software is used to steal existing … ⌘ Read more

**Présidentielle en Colombie: un premier tour sous haute surveillance **
Quelque 41 millions de Colombiens doivent désigner le successeur de Gustavo Petro, le premier président de gauche du pays. Dans un contexte de recrudescence des violences, l’armée a été déployée pour permettre au scrutin de se dérouler dans le calme. ⌘ Read more

Pentagon Says US Military Personnel Targeted Using Commercial Location Data
U.S. forces deployed to war zones “have been targeted using commercially available location data,” reports Reuters, citing “reports fielded by military officials.”

Reuters calls it “an illustration of how the global surveillance economy is shaping the battlefield.”

In a letter shared with Reuters by U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, … ⌘ Read more

Cybercrime Crew Claims It Hacked Mike Lindell’s MyPillow
Plus: A ransomware group is now stealing data in person, BusPatrol wants to hand its license plate surveillance data to the cops, and more. ⌘ Read more

Amazon, Facebook, FBI have access to a private intelligence-sharing network
Article URL: https://prismreports.org/2026/05/20/seattle-shield-private-companies-surveillance/

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48226588

Points: 41

# Comments: 4 ⌘ Read more

The US Is Betting On AI To Catch Insider Trading In Prediction Markets
The CFTC says it is ramping up efforts to catch insider trading and market manipulation in prediction markets, using AI tools, blockchain tracing, and other surveillance systems to flag suspicious bets. It’s also monitoring activity by U.S. traders accessing offshore platforms like Polymarket through VPNs. Wired reports: [T]he Commod … ⌘ Read more

Chez Orange, le déploiement massif de l’IA fait resurgir le spectre de la souffrance au travail
L’entreprise déploie massivement des outils d’intelligence artificielle. Traumatisés par la vague de suicides des années 2000, salariés et syndicats dénoncent la surveillance croissante, l’accélération des cadences et les risques pour la santé des professionnels de l’entreprise. ⌘ Read more

An Engineer’s Post Protesting Laptop Surveillance Is Going Viral Inside Meta
Meta employees in the US and UK are organizing against corporate software that tracks workers’ keystrokes and mouse activity. ⌘ Read more

Hantavirus: les croisiéristes rapatriés sous étroite surveillance, les autorités restent confiantes
Les passagers du bateau où s’est déclaré le virus sont en cours de rapatriement vers leurs différents pays d’origine en suivant des procédures d’isolement. Si les personnes contaminées peuvent présenter de graves symptômes, les scientifiques s’accordent pour dire que le virus est peu transmissible. ⌘ Read more

Master Poulet: «Arrêtons de surveiller l’assiette des pauvres, réfléchissons à nos pratiques alimentaires»
L’affaire du poulet rôti de Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, conflit local devenu affaire nationale, a pris une ampleur démesurée. Mais elle soulève des questions majeures sur la gentrification urbaine et l’accès à une nourriture saine pour touts et toutes. ⌘ Read more

Google and Pentagon Reportedly Agree On Deal For ‘Any Lawful’ Use of AI
Google has reportedly signed a classified agreement allowing the Pentagon to use its AI models for “any lawful government purpose.” While the deal is said to discourage domestic mass surveillance and autonomous weapons without human oversight, it apparently does not give Google the power to block how the government actually uses its m … ⌘ Read more

Privacy Advocate Accuses US Government of Investing in AI-Powered Mass Surveillance
The Conversation published this warning from privacy/tech law/electronic surveillance attorney Anne Toomey McKenna (also an affiliated faculty member at Penn State’s Institute for Computational and Data Sciences). The U.S. government “is able to purchase Americans’ sensitive data because the information it buy … ⌘ Read more

The Latest Push to Extend Key US Spy Powers Is Still a Mess
A US surveillance program that lets the FBI view Americans’ communications without a warrant is up for renewal. A new bill aims to address mounting lawmaker concerns—with smoke and mirrors. ⌘ Read more

Maryland Becomes First State To Pass Bill Banning ‘Surveillance Pricing’
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Denver7: Maryland is poised to become the first state in the country to ban “surveillance pricing.” The practice refers to companies using a shopper’s personal data, such as browsing history, location, or purchasing behavior, to tailor prices to individual customers. The Protection From Predat … ⌘ Read more

Palantir Posts Bond Villain Manifesto On X
DeanonymizedCoward writes: Engadget reports that Palantir has posted to X a summary of CEO Alex Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska’s 2025 book, The Technological Republic, which reads like a utopian idealist doodled on a Bond villain’s whiteboard. While the post makes some decent points, it also highlights the Big-AI attitude that the AI surveillance state is in fact a good thing, and strongly i … ⌘ Read more

US Congress Fails to Pass Long-Term FISA Extension, Authorizes It Through April 30
Yesterday the U.S. Congress approved “a short-term extension” of a FISA law that allows wiretaps without a warrant for surveilling foreign targets, reports CNN — but only until April 30. Republican congressional leaders had sought an 18-month extension, but “failed to secure” the votes after “clamoring from some … ⌘ Read more

California Ghost-Gun Bill Wants 3D Printers To Play Cop, EFF Says
A proposed California bill would require 3D printer makers to use state-certified software to detect and block files for gun parts, but advocates at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) say it would be easy to evade and could lead to widespread surveillance of users’ printing activity. The Register reports: The bill in question is AB 2047 … ⌘ Read more

Are Employers Using Your Data To Figure Out the Lowest Salary You’ll Accept?
MarketWatch looks at “surveillance wages,” pay rates “based not on an employee’s performance or seniority, but on formulas that use their personal data, often collected without employees’ knowledge.”

According to Nina DiSalvo, policy director at labor advocacy group Towards Justice, some systems use signals associated with fi … ⌘ Read more

FBI Investigates Breach That May Have Hit Its Wiretapping Tools
The FBI is investigating a breach affecting systems tied to wiretapping and surveillance warrant data, after abnormal logs revealed possible unauthorized access to law-enforcement-sensitive information. “The FBI identified and addressed suspicious activities on FBI networks, and we have leveraged all technical capabilities to respond,” a spokesperson … ⌘ Read more

Anthropic Sues the Pentagon After Being Labeled a Threat To National Security
Anthropic is suing the Department of Defense after the Trump administration labeled the company a “supply chain risk” and canceled its government contracts when Anthropic refused to allow its AI model Claude to be used for domestic surveillance or autonomous weapons. Fortune reports: The lawsuit, filed Monday in the U.S. … ⌘ Read more

OpenAI Amends Pentagon Deal As Sam Altman Admits It Looks ‘Sloppy’
OpenAI is amending its Pentagon contract after CEO Sam Altman acknowledged it appeared “opportunistic and sloppy.” On Monday night, Altman said the company would explicitly restrict its technology from being used by intelligence agencies and for mass domestic surveillance. The Guardian reports: OpenAI, which has more than 900 million users of Ch … ⌘ Read more

Anthropic’s Claude Leaps to #2 on Apple’s ‘Top Apps’ Chart After Pentagon Controversy
Anthropic’s Claude AI assistant “jumped to the No. 2 slot on Apple’s chart of top U.S. free apps late on Friday,” reports CNBC:

The rise in popularity suggests that Anthropic is benefiting from its presence in news headlines, stemming from its refusal to have its models used for mass domestic surveillance or for f … ⌘ Read more

US Threatens Anthropic with ‘Supply-Chain Risk’ Designation. OpenAI Signs New War Department Deal
It started Friday when all U.S. federal agencies were ordered to “immediately cease” using Anthropic’s AI technology after contract negotiations stalled when Anthropic requested prohibitions against mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons. But later Friday there were ev … ⌘ Read more

Sam Altman Says OpenAI Shares Anthropic’s Red Lines in Pentagon Fight
An anonymous reader shares a report: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman wrote in a memo to staff that he will draw the same red lines that sparked a high-stakes fight between rival Anthropic and the Pentagon: no AI for mass surveillance or autonomous lethal weapons. If other leading firms like Google follow suit, this could massively complicate the Pentag … ⌘ Read more

Four Convicted Over Spyware Affair That Shook Greece
A Greek court has convicted four individuals linked to the marketing of Predator spyware in the wiretapping scandal that shook the country in 2022. The BBC reports: In what became known as “Greece’s Watergate,” surveillance software called Predator was used to target 87 people – among them government ministers, senior military officials and journalists. The four who had … ⌘ Read more

Americans Are Destroying Flock Surveillance Cameras
An anonymous reader shares a report: Brian Merchant, writing for Blood in the Machine, reports that people across the United States are dismantling and destroying Flock surveillance cameras, amid rising public anger that the license plate readers aid U.S. immigration authorities and deportations.

Flock is the Atlanta-based surveillance startup valued at $7.5 billion a yea … ⌘ Read more

Leaked Email Suggests Ring Plans To Expand ‘Search Party’ Surveillance Beyond Dogs
Ring’s AI-powered “Search Party” feature, which links neighborhood cameras into a networked surveillance system to find lost dogs, was never intended to stop at pets, according to an internal email from founder Jamie Siminoff obtained by 404 Media.

Siminoff told employees in early October, shortly after the featu … ⌘ Read more

Ring Cancels Its Partnership With Flock Safety After Surveillance Backlash
Following intense backlash to its partnership with Flock Safety, a surveillance technology company that works with law enforcement agencies, Ring has announced it is canceling the integration. From a report: In a statement published on Ring’s blog and provided to The Verge ahead of publication, the company said: “Following a co … ⌘ Read more

With Ring, American Consumers Built a Surveillance Dragnet
Ring’s Super Bowl ad on Sunday promoted “Search Party,” a feature that lets a user post a photo of a missing dog in the Ring app and triggers outdoor Ring cameras across the neighborhood to use AI to scan for a match. 404 Media argues the cheerful premise obscures what the Amazon-owned company has become: a massive, consumer-deployed surveillance network.

Rin … ⌘ Read more

Anthropic’s $200M Pentagon Contract at Risk Over Objections to Domestic Surveillance, Autonomous Deployments
Talks “are at a standstill” for Anthropic’s potential $200 million contract with America’s Defense Department, reports Reuters (citing several people familiar with the discussions.“) The two issues?

- Using AI to surveil Americans
- Safeguards against deployin … ⌘ Read more

Samsung Hit with Restraining Order Over Smart TV Surveillance Tech in Texas
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a temporary restraining order against Samsung, blocking the company from continuing to collect data through its smart TVs’ Automated Content Recognition technology.

The ACR system captured screenshots of what users were watching every 500 milliseconds, according to the state’s la … ⌘ Read more

Founder of Spyware Maker PcTattletale Pleads Guilty To Hacking, Advertising Surveillance Software
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: The founder of a U.S.-based spyware company, whose surveillance products allowed customers to spy on the phones and computers of unsuspecting victims, pleaded guilty to federal charges linked to his long-running operation. pcTattle … ⌘ Read more

Inside Uzbekistan’s Nationwide License Plate Surveillance System
An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: Across Uzbekistan, a network of about a hundred banks of high-resolution roadside cameras continuously scan vehicles’ license plates and their occupants, sometimes thousands a day, looking for potential traffic violations. Cars running red lights, drivers not wearing their seatbelts, and unlicens … ⌘ Read more

Welcome To America’s New Surveillance High Schools
Beverly Hills High School has deployed an AI-powered surveillance apparatus that includes facial recognition cameras, behavioral analysis software, smoke detector-shaped bathroom listening devices from Motorola, drones, and license plate readers from Flock Safety – a setup the district spent $4.8 million on in the 2024-2025 fiscal year and considers necessary given the scho … ⌘ Read more

Chinese Whistleblower Living In US Is Being Hunted By Beijing With US Tech
A former Chinese official who fled to the U.S. says Beijing has used advanced surveillance technology from U.S. companies to track, intimidate, and punish him and his family across borders. ABC News reports: Retired Chinese official Li Chuanliang was recuperating from cancer on a Korean resort island when he got an urgent call: … ⌘ Read more

Berlin Approves New Expansion of Police Surveillance Powers
Berlin’s regional parliament has passed a far-reaching overhaul of its “security” law, giving police new authority to conduct both digital and physical surveillance. From a report: The CDU-SPD coalition, supported by AfD votes, approved the reform of the General Security and Public Order Act (ASOG), changing the limits that once protected Berliners from int … ⌘ Read more

India Reviews Telecom Industry Proposal For Always-On Satellite Location Tracking
India is weighing a proposal to mandate always-on satellite tracking in smartphones for precise government surveillance – an idea strongly opposed by Apple, Google, Samsung, and industry groups. Reuters reports: For years, the [Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s] administration has been concerned its agencies do no … ⌘ Read more

Still the #DigitalOmnibus :

Tech Policy says “What all of these changes point to is a shift away from empowering people and towards granting discretion to business. What makes the GDPR truly disruptive is that its rights-based approach puts power into the hands of data subjects, of people, and gives them tools to fight back against tech giants, powerful government agencies, and anyone else who uses their data to surveil, track or control them. In a broad sense, shifting towards a risk-based approach to digital regulation tends to allow discretion to powerful actors and creates a maze of loopholes, exemptions, and exceptions that all, ultimately, function as ways for powerful actors to avoid accountability.”

@accessnow.social@accessnow.social says “The new Commission’s decision to prioritize deregulation and securitization above all else is taking the EU in a dangerous direction; one where human rights, once seen as fundamental for the European project, are being sidelined. This will not make people’s lives easier, nor keep them safer. Rather it will transform the EU into a digital dystopia, and ultimately undermine the foundations of European democracy.”