Tag: mass surveillance

WHO and European Commission Launch AI System to Monitor Social Media and Online “Misinformation” in Real Time

The World Health Organization has introduced a major overhaul of its global monitoring network, unveiling an AI-powered platform that tracks online conversations and media activity in real time.

Known as Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources 2.0 (EIOS), the system is being presented as a new step in “pandemic preparedness,” but its reach extends well beyond disease surveillance.

The upgrade is part of a growing merger between health monitoring, digital tracking, and centralized information control.

Developed with the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), the new version of EIOS is designed to scan the internet for signals of emerging health threats.

According to the WHO, it now automatically analyzes social media posts, websites, and other public sources to detect possible outbreaks.

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Dover, NJ Implements AI Surveillance, Expanding Facial Recognition and Public Monitoring Systems

Dover, New Jersey, has joined a growing wave of municipalities embedding artificial intelligence into public spaces, advancing a surveillance system that includes facial recognition and automated video analysis across its government buildings.

The town partnered with technology firm Claro to retrofit its existing camera infrastructure with AI tools, avoiding the need for costly new hardware while expanding its monitoring capabilities.

The system brings a range of features into play, including facial recognition, visible weapons detection, and real-time behavioral analytics.

These tools are now active in locations such as the town hall, police department, fire station, and public library.

Town officials say the technology is being used for incident detection, crime prevention, crowd control, traffic monitoring, and illegal dumping enforcement.

“As a small municipality, we don’t have the budget for constant law enforcement presence,” said Mayor James Dodd. “Claro gave us the ability to enhance safety with cutting-edge technology that works with what we already have.”

The rollout reflects a broader trend where small towns turn to algorithmic systems to fill gaps traditionally addressed by human staff.

AI tools, particularly facial recognition, are increasingly being deployed in public settings, sparking ongoing concern about surveillance practices and the erosion of privacy rights.

Councilman Sergio Rodriguez, who helped lead the initiative, emphasized that the project came together through collaboration rather than off-the-shelf sales.

“Claro wasn’t just selling a product,” he said. “They listened to our needs and delivered solutions that worked for the Town of Dover.” He pointed to the technology’s role in optimizing public safety while helping stretch municipal budgets.

“With AI supporting day-to-day operations,” he said, “we can better protect residents and allocate our budget more effectively.”

Claro markets its AI platform as adaptable to existing surveillance systems and suitable for both real-time alerts and forensic investigations.

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Congress collected 30 million lines of phone data in Trump J6 probe, raising civil liberty concerns

Congressional investigators collected a stunning 30 million lines of phone data mapping contacts between conservatives and the Trump White House in the name of investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol breach, a massive dragnet that raises civil liberty concerns about the lack of limits on the ability of lawmakers to snoop on Americans’ private phone calls.   

The mountainous collection of phone records were revealed to the FBI led by Chris Wray in late 2023 by former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a GOP member on the Democrat-run House Jan. 6 select committee. The cache was offered to the bureau on the eve of the 2024 presidential election as evidence without requiring a warrant, according to an FBI document memorializing the offer that was reviewed by Just the News.

The memo says Kinzinger told the FBI that the phone data had been collected by then-former Rep. Denver Riggleman, an ex-Republican who was a staffer on the Capitol riot committee and who later helped Hunter Biden’s legal team in its efforts to cast doubt on the laptop belonging to Joe Biden’s son.

Congressional powers used to conduct lawfare against Trump

The FBI memo does not reveal whether the bureau ever took Kinzinger up on his offer, but it does reveal the sheer magnitude of a phone surveillance project the Democrats ran by using congressional subpoenas to gather phone records about Americans’ contacts with the Trump White House.

Kinzinger told the FBI that the J6 committee “collected and linked a substantial amount of telephone data, and noted the FBI may already possess such data. While former congressman Denver Riggleman worked with the Select Committee he (Riggleman) had a contact and was able to obtain toll information including for White House root or switchboard numbers via congressional subpoena,” the FBI agents wrote in their memo summarizing the offer.

“Kinzinger noted that he (Kinzinger) did not conduct the analysis himself but that Riggleman had identified certain telephone connections between numbers identified as being associated with the White House and certain individuals,” the memo continued.

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Bessent Taps New “CEO of IRS” Amid Rising Fears of Data-Surveillance State

The Treasury Department startled observers this week by creating a new executive position inside the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Frank Bisignano, the current Commissioner of the Social Security Administration (SSA), will now also serve as the IRS’s first Chief Executive Officer.

Treasury Secretary and Acting IRS Commissioner Scott Bessent announced the appointment Monday, describing Bisignano as “a businessman with an exceptional track record of driving growth and efficiency in the private and now public sector.” Bessent added that at the SSA, Bisignano “has already made important and substantial progress.” His expertise, Bessent said, would help sharpen the IRS’s “focus on collections, privacy, and customer service.”

The announcement also sought to justify the unusual dual appointment, claiming,

The IRS and SSA — two of the most public-facing and broadly impactful federal agencies — also share many of the same technological and customer service goals. This makes Mr. Bisignano a natural choice for this role.

Bisignano’s résumé is extensive. As chairman and CEO of Fiserv and First Data, he oversaw massive financial networks handling trillions in daily transactions and led one of the largest technology mergers in corporate history. Earlier, he held top executive roles at J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup, where he managed global transaction systems and large-scale digital integrations. The official record portrays a career defined by efficiency and digital optimization — principles now being imported into government.

But the consolidation of authority across Treasury, the IRS, and the SSA signals more than a bureaucratic reshuffle. It represents a structural shift that quietly places vast amounts of taxpayerdata under a single executive hierarchy. In the name of efficiency, the administration has effectively merged two of the nation’s most data-heavy agencies — one inside Treasury (IRS) and one historically independent (SSA) — under Treasury’s command, giving one unelected appointee extraordinary reach over both.

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Indonesian Government Restores TikTok’s License After Platform Shares User Data

TikTok has handed over a broad collection of user data to Indonesian authorities, a move that cleared the way for the platform’s operations to resume in the country after a brief suspension.

The company acted under pressure from regulators following its failure to cooperate during a volatile stretch of anti-government demonstrations in late August.

According to government officials, the data shared included analytics on traffic behavior and signs of potential online gambling.

The request was triggered by a surge in livestream activity tied to the protests, which erupted after public anger over political perks collided with the fatal police killing of a motorcycle delivery driver.

Currently owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, TikTok is deeply embedded in Indonesia’s digital life, with over 100 million users and a rapidly growing e-commerce arm.

Authorities revoked its license last week after the platform did not supply information about user activity during the period from August 25 to 30. Police reported that some TikTok users live-streamed protest scenes and used the broadcasts to solicit digital gifts or payments from viewers.

On Monday, officials confirmed that TikTok submitted data showing the number of such livestreams and how much money they generated.

Alexander Sabar, a director general at the Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs, said in a written message, and as reported by Bloomberg: “The summary data provided is aggregate data, not specific to a particular user, and therefore cannot be used to track or monitor individuals — including accounts broadcasting demonstrations.”

He said the ministry’s primary interest was in activity tied to online gambling and other prohibited uses of the platform.

Technology companies around the world are often cautious when responding to government data requests.

Firms such as Meta and Google typically weigh these demands against potential backlash from users and the risk of exposing proprietary systems.

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Apple’s Siri accused of eavesdropping on users – Politico

French prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Apple over allegations that its voice assistant Siri collected and analyzed user recordings without proper consent. The probe has been entrusted to France’s cybercrime agency, the Paris prosecutor’s office has told Politico and Reuters.

The investigation follows a complaint filed in February by a French NGO, based on testimony from whistleblower Thomas Le Bonniec, a former employee of an Apple subcontractor, who says he listened to thousands of Siri recordings as part of quality-control work in 2019.

Le Bonniec reportedly worked for Globe Technical Services in Ireland, where he reviewed and annotated audio clips to help improve Siri’s accuracy. He told Politico that the material sometimes revealed “intimate moments and confidential information,” which could be used to identify users.

The whistleblower has welcomed the probe, saying it should allow “urgent questions to be answered,” including how many recordings were made since Siri’s launch and where the data is stored.

An Apple representative in France told Politico that the company “has never used Siri data to create marketing profiles, has never made it available for advertising and has never sold it to anyone for any reason whatsoever.” 

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Tech Firms Unite in Open Letter Against EU Chat Scanning Law

With the vote approaching, the European Commission’s plan to scan private digital messages is moving toward final approval.

The regulation, called Chat Control 2.0, has gone through a year of resistance, warnings from experts, and objections from technology companies.

It is presented as a child safety measure, designed to inspect messages, photos, and videos across the EU before they are sent.

The privacy implications are immense.

Alice Weidel, co-leader of Germany’s AfD party, described the proposal as “an absolutely totalitarian project” and “a comprehensive general attack on central citizens and freedoms.”

She said the measure would install scanning software on personal devices, intercepting content before it reaches its recipient. The system would remove the protection offered by end-to-end encryption and treat every user as a potential suspect.

Weidel said the use of child safety language was “a cheap pretext” for real-time surveillance.

“Even the Stasi could only dream of such a full force,” she said, comparing the plan to intercepting and photographing every private letter for review by a government authority.

She warned that once the system exists, its function can expand to include other categories such as “politically offensive content” and “so-called hate speech.” The structure of the law allows the criteria to be adjusted through political decisions.

Technology companies have joined in opposition. Hundreds of privacy-oriented firms, including encrypted messengers, cloud storage services, and VPN providers, signed a joint letter urging EU ministers to reject the regulation.

Their message called for the protection of encryption and for an end to mandatory message scanning.

Signal has announced that it will leave the EU if forced to comply. The platform has stated that it cannot operate under a framework requiring message inspection.

The regulation creates an obligation to weaken the systems that enable private communication and turns encryption into a technical formality rather than a guarantee of privacy.

Supporters of the proposal say it will catch child abusers. Critics point out that criminal networks conduct their operations in offline settings or hidden spaces beyond the reach of such scanning.

“Criminals are already using offline or so-called dark rooms for their illegal businesses,” Weidel said.

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As Mass Chat Surveillance Nears Approval, President von der Leyen is Accused of Transparency Violations Over Deleted Messages

As EU lawmakers push ahead with Chat Control 2.0, a proposal that would compel messaging platforms to scan private conversations, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is once again being called out for sidestepping the very transparency rules meant to keep officials accountable.

The contrast is hard to ignore: while European citizens face the prospect of mass surveillance, von der Leyen continues to ignore the laws and conduct her own communications away from public view.

The latest case involves a message sent by French President Emmanuel Macron in early 2024, during a politically sensitive phase of trade negotiations with Mercosur.

Macron’s message, sent via Signal, reportedly voiced serious reservations about the deal.

When a journalist requested access under EU transparency laws, the Commission first ignored the request for over a year. It then claimed the message could not be retrieved, citing Signal’s disappearing messages setting, which automatically deletes texts after a set time.

This justification has prompted the European Ombudswoman, Teresa Anjinho, to launch a formal inquiry. Her office has requested documentation outlining the Commission’s policies on mobile messaging and message retention, and plans to meet with officials to clarify how the request was handled.

This isn’t the first time von der Leyen’s messaging habits have raised concerns. In the case known as “Pfizergate,” she was criticized for failing to preserve texts exchanged with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during Covid vaccine negotiations.

The Commission refused to release the messages, and it later emerged they had been deleted. The New York Times took the matter to court and won, with the European General Court ruling that the Commission had wrongly withheld information of public interest.

Despite these past controversies, little appears to have changed. The Commission claims that messages like Macron’s had no administrative or legal impact and therefore didn’t need to be archived.

Officials have also pointed to concerns over phone storage and security as reasons for using auto-deleting features. These arguments seem increasingly weak in 2025, especially when applied to discussions between heads of state.

The journalist behind the Macron request argues that such deletion practices make it nearly impossible to monitor how decisions are made at the highest level.

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New CBS owner David Ellison met with top Israeli general in scheme to spy on Americans

Israel’s former top general sought donations from David Ellison and his father, Larry, as part of a billionaire coterie to fund digital paramilitaries aimed at sabotaging pro-Palestine activists. The leaked documents show one planner explaining, “In the jungle, we need more guerrillas and less IDF.”

With Paramount and CBS News now under his control, the younger Ellison has installed self-described “Zionist fanatic” Bari Weiss as editor-in-chief.

The new owner of Paramount, David Ellison, participated in an Israeli government-led plot to surveil and suppress pro-Palestine activists in the US, leaked emails show. Originally dubbed “12 Tribes,” a reference to the dozen Jewish billionaires solicited to underwrite the operation, the scheme sought out American faces to fund surveillance firms run by Israeli intelligence veterans on behalf of Tel Aviv, as it targeted American citizens participating in the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. 

The emails documenting the foreign influence campaign to counter BDS were first identified by journalist Jack Poulson, who discovered them in a trove leaked by the Handala hacking collective in 2024. The files show former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz was tasked with recruiting wealthy Westerners to fund surveillance firms operated by Israeli intelligence veterans as they stalked and harassed people whom the government of Israel suspected of harboring pro-Palestinian sympathies.

In the emails, Hollywood talent agency executive Adam Berkowitz identified Ellison as “very interested” in “helping out with [undermining] the BDS movement.” Berkowitz introduced Ellison to the Israeli general in a group email: “Benny meet david. David meet Benny,” Berkowitz wrote on December 23, 2015, explaining that he “told david briefly about your [Gantz’s] 12 tribe idea which you can expound on to him which he seemed very interested in.”

Two days later, Ellison replied, “Mr Gantz it is a pleasure to meet you over e-mail. I very much look forward to discussing everything you are working on, and in the mean time hope you are enjoying the holiday season.” He added, “I will be back in LA on January 3rd and look forward to connecting in the New Year.”

A planning spreadsheet names other Zionist billionaires sought for the Israeli effort. They included David’s father, Oracle founder and Friends of the IDF board member Larry Ellison; Israeli-American billionaire and top Democratic Party sugar daddy Haim Saban; and Google founder Sergey Brin, whose “Israel-support” was still “tbd.” One of those named, Canadian bookchain owner Heather Reissman, had “already agreed” to donate.

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X Urges EU to Reject “Chat Control 2.0” Surveillance Law Threatening End-to-End Encryption

X is urging European governments to reject a major surveillance proposal that the company warns would strip EU citizens of core privacy rights.

In a public statement ahead of a key Council vote scheduled for October 14, the platform called on member states to “vigorously oppose measures to normalize surveillance of its citizens,” condemning the proposed regulation as a direct threat to end-to-end encryption and private communication.

The draft legislation, widely referred to as “Chat Control 2.0,” would require providers of messaging and cloud services to scan users’ content, including messages, photos, and links, for signs of child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Central to the proposal is “client-side scanning” (CSS), a method that inspects content directly on a user’s device before it is encrypted.

X stated plainly that it cannot support any policy that would force the creation of “de facto backdoors for government snooping,” even as it reaffirmed its longstanding commitment to fighting child exploitation.

The company has invested heavily in detection and removal systems, but draws a clear line at measures that dismantle secure encryption for everyone.

Privacy experts, researchers, and technologists across Europe have echoed these warnings.

By mandating that scans occur before encryption is applied, the regulation would effectively neutralize end-to-end encryption, opening private conversations to potential access not only by providers but also by governments and malicious third parties.

The implications reach far beyond targeted investigations. Once CSS is implemented, any digital platform subject to the regulation would be forced to scrutinize every message and file sent by its users.

This approach could also override legal protections enshrined in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, specifically Articles 7 and 8, which safeguard privacy and the protection of personal data.

A coalition of scientists issued a public letter warning that detection tools of this kind are technically flawed and unreliable at scale.

High error rates could lead to false accusations against innocent users, while actual abuse material could evade detection.

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