Latest news with #masssurveillance
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Met urged to scrap Carnival facial recognition plan
Civil liberty and anti-racism groups have called on the Metropolitan Police to drop plans to use live facial recognition (LFR) technology at this year's Notting Hill Carnival. In a letter to Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, 11 organisations described LFR as "a mass surveillance tool that treats all Carnival-goers as potential suspects and has no place at one of London's biggest cultural celebrations". They said the decision to reintroduce the technology at Carnival was "deeply disappointing" and argued it could be "less accurate for women and people of colour". The Met Police says LFR is accurate and balanced across ethnicity and gender, and insists it will help keep people safe. The groups - which include Liberty, Big Brother Watch and the Runnymede Trust - highlighted an ongoing judicial review brought by Shaun Thompson, a black Londoner who says he was wrongly identified by the system and detained. The letter states: "There is no clear legal basis for your force's use of LFR. No law mentions facial recognition technology and Parliament has never considered or scrutinised its use. "Notting Hill Carnival is an event that specifically celebrates the British African Caribbean community, yet the [Metropolitan Police] is choosing to use a technology with a well-documented history of inaccurate outcomes and racial bias." The letter also raised concerns over a 2023 National Physical Laboratory study, which found the NeoFace system used by the Met was less accurate for women and people of colour depending on the algorithm that has been set. The study's authors found the system could show bias at lower thresholds, though at the higher settings the Met says it uses, performance was found to be equitable across ethnicity and gender. These thresholds are confidence levels the system uses to decide a match - lower ones flag more people but risk more mistakes and bias, while higher ones are stricter and more balanced. Campaigners said there was no legal obligation for the force to avoid the lower thresholds, and argued policing resources would be better spent on safety measures at the carnival. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward, who is leading this year's policing operation at the carnival, said LFR had led to more than 1,000 arrests since the start of 2024 and that independent testing showed the system was "accurate and balanced with regard to ethnicity and gender" at the thresholds used by the Met. Notting Hill Carnival takes place next weekend and has previously attracted up to two million people. It has come under increased scrutiny after two people were murdered at last year's event. Facial recognition tech for Notting Hill Carnival 'Cancelling Carnival won't stop knife crime' 'City Hall should run Notting Hill Carnival' Mr Ward said the force had received the letter and would respond in due course. "Carnival's growing popularity and size creates unique challenges. Around 7,000 officers and staff will be deployed each day," he said. "Their priority is to keep people safe, including preventing serious violence, such as knife crime and violence against women and girls. "It is right that we make the best use of available technology to support officers to do their job more effectively." Mr Ward said the LFR cameras will be used on the approach to and from Carnival and not within the event boundaries. He said they will "help officers identify and intercept those who pose a public safety risk before they get to the crowded streets". BBC News has contacted the carnival's organisers for comment. Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to Related internet links Liberty Human Rights Metropolitan Police
Geek Wire
4 days ago
- Business
- Geek Wire
Microsoft launches formal review into alleged use of its Azure cloud in Palestinian surveillance
A crowd outside Microsoft's 50th anniversary event in Redmond protests the company supplying cloud and AI technology to the Israeli military. (GeekWire File Photo / Todd Bishop) Microsoft, under continued pressure over the use of its technology by the Israeli military, said Friday that it's launching a formal review into allegations that its cloud services were used as part of the mass surveillance of Palestinians. The move follows the Aug. 6 reports in The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call, citing sources who said the Israeli Defense Forces stored data from widespread phone monitoring of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank on Microsoft Azure servers. The company said its terms of service would prohibit this type of usage. When the story was initially published, the company said its work with an Israeli intelligence unit was for cybersecurity purposes, and that it was not aware of any civilian surveillance. 'Microsoft appreciates that The Guardian's recent report raises additional and precise allegations that merit a full and urgent review,' the company said in a new update to a post from May about an earlier review about the use of its technology by the Israeli military. For the new review, Microsoft said it has engaged the law firm Covington & Burling LLP, with technical assistance from an unnamed independent consulting firm. The company promised to publicly release the findings once the process is complete. The company said the effort will expand on the earlier review, which found no violations of its terms of service by the Israeli military. In that review, Microsoft acknowledged it had limited visibility into how its software is used on private or on-premises systems. The announcement comes amid ongoing protests from a group called No Azure for Apartheid, consisting of current and former Microsoft employees and others who are calling for the company to end its AI and cloud contracts with the Israeli military. Members of the group have staged repeated demonstrations at Microsoft events, arguing that the company's technology is enabling human rights abuses against Palestinians. RELATED: Inside the Microsoft protests: Fired engineer speaks out on Palestine, Israel, AI, and big tech
The Verge
07-08-2025
- The Verge
Microsoft employees respond to reports of IDF using Azure to store 11,500TB of mass surveillance data.
No Azure for Apartheid: ...Microsoft and Unit 8200 worked closely to build a Microsoft-powered mass surveillance weapon that 'collects and stores recordings of millions of mobile phone calls made each day by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.'
Gizmodo
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Gizmodo
FBI Director Kash Patel Abruptly Closes Internal Watchdog Office Overseeing Surveillance Compliance
If there's one thing the Federal Bureau of Investigation does well, it's mass surveillance. Several years ago, then attorney general William Barr established an internal office to curb the FBI's abuse of one controversial surveillance law. But recently, the FBI's long-time hater (and, ironically, current director) Kash Patel shut down the watchdog group with no explanation. On Tuesday, the New York Times reported that Patel suddenly closed the Office of Internal Auditing that Barr created in 2020. The office's leader, Cindy Hall, abruptly retired. People familiar with the matter told the outlet that the closure of the aforementioned watchdog group alongside the Office of Integrity and Compliance are part of internal reorganization. Sources also reportedly said that Hall was trying to expand the office's work, but her attempts to onboard new employees were stopped by the Trump administration's hiring freezes. The Office of Internal Auditing was a response to controversy surrounding the FBI's use of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The 2008 law primarily addresses surveillance of non-Americans abroad. However, Jeramie Scott, senior counselor at the Electronic Privacy Information Center, told Gizmodo via email that the FBI 'has repeatedly abused its ability to search Americans' communications 'incidentally' collected under Section 702' to conduct warrantless spying. Patel has not released any official comment regarding his decision to close the office. But Elizabeth Goitein, senior director at the Brennan Center for Justice, told Gizmodo via email, 'It is hard to square this move with Mr. Patel's own stated concerns about the FBI's use of Section 702.' Last year, Congress reauthorized Section 702 despite mounting concerns over its misuses. Although Congress introduced some reforms, the updated legislation actually expanded the government's surveillance capabilities. At the time, Patel slammed the law's passage, stating that former FBI director Christopher Wray, who Patel once tried to sue, 'was caught last year illegally using 702 collection methods against Americans 274,000 times.' (Per the New York Times, Patel is likely referencing a declassified 2023 opinion by the FISA court that used the Office of Internal Auditing's findings to determine the FBI made 278,000 bad queries over several years.) According to Goitein, the office has 'played a key role in exposing FBI abuses of Section 702, including warrantless searches for the communication of members of Congress, judges, and protesters.' And ironically, Patel inadvertently drove its creation after attacking the FBI's FISA applications to wiretap a former Trump campaign advisor in 2018 while investigating potential Russian election interference. Trump and his supporters used Patel's attacks to push their own narrative dismissing any concerns. Last year, former representative Devin Nunes, who is now CEO of Truth Social, said Patel was 'instrumental' to uncovering the 'hoax and finding evidence of government malfeasance.' Although Patel mostly peddled conspiracies, the Justice Department conducted a probe into the FBI's investigation that raised concerns over 'basic and fundamental errors' it committed. In response, Barr created the Office of Internal Auditing, stating, 'What happened to the Trump presidential campaign and his subsequent Administration after the President was duly elected by the American people must never happen again.' But since taking office, Patel has changed his tune about FISA. During his confirmation hearing, Patel referred to Section 702 as a 'critical tool' and said, 'I'm proud of the reforms that have been implemented and I'm proud to work with Congress moving forward to implement more.' However, reforms don't mean much by themselves. As Goitein noted, 'Without a separate office dedicated to surveillance compliance, [the FBI's] abuses could go unreported and unchecked.' An annual transparency report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence shows that the FBI's searches for Americans' information has fallen. Last year, the FBI only used 5,518 query terms about Americans, compared to 57,094 in 2023 and 119,383 in 2022. While this looks like progress, it doesn't mean that the Office of Internal Auditing's work is done. 'The FBI should maintain its audits,' Scott said, 'and if they do, the FBI must make very clear who is responsible for continuing the internal audits and ensure the oversight gets done.'
