Free Talk Live

Public Buses That Listen To Passengers' Conversations

The Daily had an interesting report this week — picked up by Wired — about “government officials quietly installing sophisticated audio surveillance systems on public buses across the country to eavesdrop on passengers.” I know what you’re thinking: “Woo! More epic bus fight scenes that come with audio.”

Is it ok for government to monitor social media conversations and then wade in with rebuttals to those conversations? Is this whole thing getting out of line? Governments are realizing billboards will not reach people in their bedrooms while social media can.

The 10 Weirdest Laws Still Practiced In Europe

Zurich's recent decision to build "Sex Boxes" as a way to accommodate prostitutes got us thinking about what other strange tactics European countries still employ.

Turns out there's a bunch. And while most may be inane and archaic, there's no doubt that we've never been more interested in moving to Europe.

"Oh, did you say 'sex boxes'?"

Washington, D.C. - Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Staff Attorney Jennifer Lynch will testify this week at a Senate hearing on facial recognition technology and the privacy and civil liberties risks associated with rapidly growing biometric databases. The hearing is set for Wednesday, July 18, at 2:30 p.m. Facial recognition technology is becoming increasingly sensitive and sophisticated, creating new ways for government and private entities to identify and track people throughout the United States.

he Federal Reserve wants to know what you are saying about it. In fact, the Federal Reserve has announced plans to identify "key bloggers" and to monitor "billions of conversations" about the Fed on Facebook, Twitter, forums and blogs.

In Syria, Bashar Assad’s regime has mounted a sophisticated surveillance program that monitors the Internet for dissidents using an arm of the military known as The Syrian Electronic Army (SEA). But wherever there’s tyranny there is rebellion.

A cyber-rebel group called the Pirates of Aleppo has mounted an online resistance and one such rebel is developing some exciting rebel tech. Ahmad Heidar is best known by his online name, “Harvester” and he’s been hacking the SEA directly from his hideout right over the border in southern Turkey.

In its 2004 report, the 9/11 Commission called for "a board within the executive branch to oversee adherence to the privacy guidelines we recommend and the commitment the government makes to defend our civil liberties." President Obama waited until last December, halfway through his term, to nominate anyone for the board.

Chicago’s network of more than 10,000 public and private surveillance cameras has solved crimes, prevented police misconduct and made residents feel safe, Mayor Daley said Tuesday, rejecting the American Civil Liberties Union’s call for a moratorium on new cameras and strict controls on existing ones.

How? “The computer system detects resentment in conversations through measurements in decibels and other voice biometrics,” he said. “It detects obsessiveness with the individual going back to the same topic over and over, measuring crescendos.”