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ICE Collected Nearly 1M People's DNA Last Year–Including Young Children
2 months ago
- ICE has rapidly expanded DNA collection from immigration detainees, with an estimated 920,000 profiles added to CODIS in 2025 alone.
- Most detainees have no criminal conviction, yet their DNA enters a criminal database used for solving unsolved crimes.
- Refusal to provide DNA can lead to federal prosecution, as seen in the cases of Hugo Moreno-Mendez and Ronald Genao-Diaz.
- DNA collection has been applied to children as young as 4, leading to lawsuits and congressional scrutiny.
- The program's primary purpose, per an ICE attorney, is building a national DNA database for crime-solving, not just identification.
- Lawsuits allege Fourth Amendment violations, including DNA taken from protesters and a U.S. Army veteran without explanation.
FBI Seeks AI for Political Watch List
2 months ago
- The FBI is seeking AI tools for predictive policing to identify potential threats before they act.
- The Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) is expanding its focus from Islamist terrorism to domestic dissent.
- The procurement document requests AI capabilities for predictive modeling using enhanced data with traceable lineage.
- The Trump administration reoriented the TSC toward broadly defined threats, including anti-Americanism and anti-capitalism.
- Civil liberties groups criticize the watch list for ease of adding names and difficulty of removal.
- Supreme Court cases have challenged the constitutionality of the watch list.
- Audits have found errors in the TSC database, and the list has missed actual terrorists like the Boston Marathon bombers.
- The State Department has designated political groups as terrorists, potentially linking U.S. citizens to foreign terrorism.
- The FBI aims to use AI from major tech companies to sift through large data volumes for counterterrorism.
Preventief politie in je chat? - Bert Hubert's writings
2 months ago
- The Dutch Minister of Justice proposes granting police preventive powers to monitor private chat groups, bypassing the need for concrete suspicions of crimes.
- Historically, police investigate after crimes, while intelligence services (AIVD) act on suspicions with strict secrecy and data protection safeguards.
- Previous police attempts to operate like intelligence services (e.g., TOOI, NCTV, CTER lists, IRT affair) have led to abuses and legal violations.
- The proposal lowers the threshold for police infiltration, which normally requires approval from multiple judicial authorities.
- The author argues that the AIVD, with its proper legal framework and safeguards, should handle such preventive monitoring instead.
- The minister's rejection of using AIVD is criticized, and the proposal is seen as part of a slippery slope toward pre-crime surveillance and merging police and intelligence roles.
Victory Flock Ends Rollout of Audio "Distress Detection" of Human Voices
3 months ago
- Flock Safety ends pilot of acoustic gunshot detection devices for 'human distress' monitoring.
- The feature, originally advertised to detect screaming, was criticized for civil liberties risks and potential illegal surveillance.
- Acoustic detection technology remains dangerous and inaccurate, with risks like police misresponse to non-gunfire sounds.
- Lessons include companies possibly ignoring privacy laws, mission creep in surveillance, and oversimplifying complex issues like gun violence.
- Public pressure can lead to discontinuation of harmful surveillance products, marking a win for community advocacy.

civil liberties

ICE Collected Nearly 1M People's DNA Last Year–Including Young Children

FBI Seeks AI for Political Watch List

Preventief politie in je chat? - Bert Hubert's writings

Victory Flock Ends Rollout of Audio "Distress Detection" of Human Voices