Tag: surveillance

US Court Reimposes “Disinformation” Device Monitoring on January 6 Defendant

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has issued an order in the United States v. Daniel Goodwyn case reimposing the computer monitoring measure against Goodwyn, a January 6 defendant.

We obtained a copy of the order for you here.

Goodwyn was charged and convicted for briefly entering the US Capitol during the January 6 events, and although he stayed inside the building for just over half a minute, left when he was asked to, was not involved in violence nor did he cause any damage – it was his social media posts (among others, screenshot of public documents that show names of government employees) that were seen as a threat.

In initial proceedings in 2023, Goodwyn pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of trespassing. As legal experts noted, normally a first-time offender isn’t sent to jail for this, but the US District Court for the District of Columbia Judge Reggie Walton sentenced him to two months in prison.

This was accompanied by probation conditions that included unusually harsh and ongoing restrictions on Goodwyn’s online speech and access to information. Walton – a vocal critic of Donald Trump decided that Goodwyn’s computer must be “monitored and inspected” to make sure he was not “spreading disinformation.”

The appellate court then found that the district court “plainly erred” by imposing these surveillance measures. Judge Walton next decided that now, “on the heels of [sic] another election,” he was worried Goodwyn was spreading “false narratives” and therefore affirmed his original sentencing.

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Europol Seeks to Break Mobile Roaming Encryption

EU’s law enforcement agency Europol is another major entity that is setting its sights on breaking encryption.

This time, it’s about home routing and mobile encryption, and the justification is a well-known one: encryption supposedly stands in the way of the ability of law enforcement to investigate.

The overall rationale is that police and other agencies face serious challenges in doing their job (an argument repeatedly proven as false) and that destroying the internet’s currently best available security feature for all users – encryption – is the way to solve the problem.

Europol’s recent paper treats home routing not as a useful security feature, but, as “a serious challenge for lawful interception.” Home routing works by encrypting data from a phone through the home network while roaming.

We obtained a copy of the paper for you here.

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Suspected Chinese Spy Bases in Cuba Have Undergone Expansion: Report

Cuba has upgraded and expanded four electronic surveillance facilities, including one near the Guantanamo Bay naval base, amid growing concern about China’s spying efforts in the United States’ backyard, according to a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

“While China’s activities on the island remain shrouded in secrecy, satellite imagery analyzed by CSIS provides the latest and most comprehensive assessment of where China is most likely operating,” the report reads.

The report pointed to four active sites at Bejucal, El Salao, Wajay, and Calabazar. It added that the four locations are “strategically located” and are “among the most likely locations supporting China’s efforts to spy on the United States.”

In June 2023, the White House confirmed that China has been operating a spy base in Cuba since at least 2019. In the same month, the State Department warned that the Chinese regime will “keep trying to enhance its presence in Cuba,” and the United States “will keep working to disrupt it.”

China’s surveillance activities in Cuba are a grave national security concern for the United States, given that Florida is home to numerous U.S. military bases, including the headquarters of the U.S. Central Command and the U.S. Southern Command, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, and Eglin Air Force Base.

“Collecting data on activities like military exercises, missile tests, rocket launches, and submarine maneuvers would allow China to develop a more sophisticated picture of U.S. military practices,” the report reads.

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The Government Wants To Track Your Steak

The government has a long history of using tracking technology to ascertain our whereabouts, our habits, and even our preferences. From cellphones and cars to snow plows and garbage trucks, governments seemingly want to track anything that moves—or moos.

The USDA recently finalized a rule—set to go into effect in a few months—that will require all cattle and bison being moved across state lines to be tagged with radio-frequency identification (RFID) ear tags. RFID technology uses radio frequency waves to transmit and collect data by way of a system of electronic tags and scanners. The technology is best viewed as a type of electronic or remote barcode, in which scanners can read an RFID chip anywhere from a few meters away to around 100 meters away. In some ways analogous to a shorter-range GPS system, RFID can track geographic location and also operate as a system of data collection and storage.

In the context of livestock, a quick scan of an RFID tag can pull up information like a cow’s date of birth, weight, vaccine records, ownership history, what farms it has been to, and what movements it has made. The USDA is justifying its RFID mandate on public health grounds, claiming that it can help trace and eradicate potential disease outbreaks among livestock, such as mad cow disease or hoof-and-mouth disease. 

While plausible at first blush, it is far from clear that the mandate will accomplish its intended objective, and it is very clear that it will disproportionately hurt small and independent ranchers and cattle farmers.

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Shock as Vending Machines With Orwellian Name Supplied With Various Disturbing Products Aimed at Drug Users

A new device in Ontario, Canada offers people easy access to some disturbing supplies like HIV self-test kits, meth pipes, naloxone, crack kits, and condoms.

The real shocker is that all of the items are free; users just need to tap on the screen after creating an account, which is meant to better track supplies and limit abuse.

The bizarre vending machines have sparked backlash online, with some viewing it as a sign that “Canada is broken.”

CTV News reported that the jaw-dropping device is located at the office of SOAR Community Services.

It was dubbed “our Healthbox” by manager of healthy communities at the Brant County Health Unit (BCHU) DeAnna Renn.

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Police are Using Drones More and Spending More For Them

Police in Minnesota are buying and flying more drones than ever before, according to an annual report recently released by the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). Minnesotan law enforcement flew their drones without a warrant 4,326 times in 2023, racking up a state-wide expense of over $1 million. This marks a large, 41 percent increase from 2022, when departments across the state used drones 3,076 times and spent $646,531.24 on using them. The data show that more was spent on drones last year than in the previous two years combined. Minneapolis Police Department, the state’s largest police department, implemented a new drone program at the end of 2022 and reported that its 63 warrantless flights in 2023 cost nearly $100,000.

Since 2020, the state of Minnesota has been obligated to put out a yearly report documenting every time and reason law enforcement agencies in the state — local, county, or state-wide — used unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), more commonly known as drones, without a warrant. This is partly because Minnesota law requires a warrant for law enforcement to use drones except for specific situations listed in the statute. The State Court Administrator is also required to provide a public report of the number of warrants issued for the use of UAVs, and the data gathered by them. These regular reports give us a glimpse into how police are actually using these devices and how often. As more and more police departments around the country use drones or experiment with drones as first responders, it offers an example of how transparency around drone adoption can be done.

You can read our blog about the 2021 Minnesota report here.

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Virginia Officials Launch ‘Surveillance System’ To Track Cannabis-Related ‘Adverse Events’ Among Children

Virginia officials are instructing health care providers to start keeping track of “adverse events” involving children and teens being exposed to cannabis products.

In an April 24 letter to clinicians, State Health Commissioner Karen Shelton said her agency had received enough reports of minors getting sick from products containing CBD and THC, chemical compounds found in cannabis, that the state was establishing a “special surveillance system” to keep tabs on the issue.

“Reported symptoms for these adverse events have included vomiting, hallucinations, low blood pressure, low blood sugar, altered mental status and anxiety,” Shelton wrote, adding that “some hospitalizations have occurred” as a result of minors consuming cannabis products.

The letter specifically asks that local health departments be made aware of any cannabis-related hospitalizations in patients under 18 years old and any “clusters of adverse events” affecting multiple minors.

“After a hospitalization or cluster is reported, VDH staff will collect information about the illness(es), possible exposures, and laboratory results,” the letter says.

The Health Department provided data showing an increase in emergency room visits involving minors being exposed to cannabis, and said the new surveillance system will help bolster those tracking efforts. In 2019, there were 52 ER visits. By 2023, the number had grown to 377.

That data only covers emergency room visits and doesn’t reflect every incident reported to health officials.

“As a result of these data, the special surveillance system was established in order for VDH to receive these reports directly and better assess the impact of adverse events related to consumption of products containing THC or CBD among children in the Commonwealth,” said Health Department spokesperson Cheryle Rodriguez.

The letter also points to an online portal allowing anyone who had an adverse experience with cannabis products to submit a report to the Health Department with information about what happened, where the product was obtained and how it was labeled. The agency also noted that lab testing is available to “support patient and product testing.”

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Judge Challenges Appeals Court Over Computer Monitoring Ban in January 6 Parole

A US federal judge – who imposed draconian surveillance measures against a man charged and later convicted and paroled in connection with the January 6 events – is clearly unimpressed by the ruling of a US Court of Appeals, that recently overturned his decision.

Senior District Judge Reggie Walton now wants the controversy officially revisited, so he scheduled a new hearing date for June 4 in a bid to make his original order for Daniel Goodwyn’s computer to be surveilled for “mis/disinformation” stick.

Early in April, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia announced that the order to monitor and “inspect” Goodwyn’s computer for “mis/disinformation” was the result of the district court having “plainly erred.”

Goodwyn (described in reports as a citizen journalist) was convicted on a single trespassing misdemeanor count based on him spending 36 seconds inside the Capitol on the day.

Goodwyn was subsequently arrested and sentenced by Judge Walton to two months in prison, but that was not all – his computer was to be “monitored and inspected” during his parole.

This last bit of the ruling was too much for the circuit court, which overturned it earlier in the month. The ruling said Walton “plainly erred in imposing the computer-monitoring condition without considering whether it was ‘reasonably related’ to the relevant sentencing factors and involved ‘no greater deprivation of liberty than is reasonably necessary’ to achieve the purposes behind sentencing.”

But now Walton is trying to once again impose surveillance of Goodwyn’s computer, ordering him to “show cause” as to why that should not be happening.

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Biden announces largest expansion of gun background checks in decades

The Biden administration has finalized the largest expansion of gun-sales background checks since the advent of the federal check system in the 1990s, moving to close the “gun show loophole” and online sales that have avoided checks in the past.

The new rule being announced Thursday expands the definition of who is considered a firearms dealer and says every dealer must conduct a background check regardless of the sale venue. That means sales at gun shows or conducted over the internet must now be included.

It is not a universal background check, meaning some transactions such as gifts or occasional sales are still exempt. But administration officials said they expect the rule will cover tens of thousands of sales each year that currently escape background checks.

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Surveillance Footage Exposes Polling Place Manager Bringing Blank Ballots into Lorain County Bar on Eve of Election, Investigation Underway

The integrity of the election process in Lorain County, Ohio has come into question after a polling place manager was captured on surveillance footage transporting blank provisional ballots into a local bar.

The Lorain County Board of Elections, the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), and the Ohio Secretary of State have launched a full investigation into the incident, Cleveland19 reported.

The video from the MAHD House Bar & Grille, which has since gone viral, clearly shows the poll manager entering with bags and placing them inside a booth, only to leave them unattended while he enjoyed a meal.

The owner of MAHD House, James Tucker, expressed his concern upon realizing what the bags contained.

“After he ordered his dinner, he went over and started stuffing these bags which we could see in them they said ballot on it and I’m like that don’t look right,” Tucker told 19 News.

“I’m telling you, when I seen it, I went, ‘this does not look right,’” Tucker said.

“I mean, we’re right across the street from the Lorain County Board of Elections. I’ve been here seven years, ain’t never seen nobody bring no ballot bags in. I don’t know what just happened, but I’m a little nervous,” he added.

Paul Adams, the Board of Elections director, assured the public that the matter is being taken seriously.

“That was a great concern for us and one of the reasons why that person is no longer in that role and has been replaced and been removed from his position,” Adams said.

“We generally direct our poll workers to take those home, keep those safe,” he added.

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