FBI Wants 52 Million Photos in its Face Recognition Database by 2015
New documents released by the FBI show that the Bureau is well on its way toward its goal of a fully operational face recognition database by this summer. EFF received these records in response to our Freedom of Information Act lawsuitfor information on Next Generation Identification (NGI)—the FBI’s massive biometric database that may hold records…
The Simple Secruity Measure That Could’ve Stopped Heartbleed Dead
We learned yesterday of a catastrophic bug, nicknamed “Heartbleed,” that has critically threatened the security of some HTTPS sites since 2011. By some estimates, Heartbleed affects 2 out of 3 web servers on the Internet. Heartbleed isn’t a bug in the design of HTTPS itself but rather the result of a simple programming error in…
Fusion Centers: The 78 Local Intelligence Hubs Spying on Us All
While NSA surveillance has been front and center in the news recently, fusion centers are a part of the surveillance state that deserve close scrutiny. Fusion centers are a local arm of the so-called “intelligence community,” the 17 intelligence agencies coordinated by the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). The government documentation around fusion centers is entirely…
HSTS: The Security That All Websites Should Be Using
You would think that by now the Internet would have grown up enough that things like online banking, email, or government websites would rely on thoroughly engineered security to make sure your data isn’t intercepted by attackers. Unfortunately when it comes to the vast majority of websites on the Internet, that assumption would be dead…
Los Angeles Cops Argue All Cars in L.A. Are Under Investigation
Do you drive a car in the greater Los Angeles Metropolitan area? According to the L.A. Police Department and L.A. Sheriff’s Department, your car is part of a vast criminal investigation. The agencies took a novel approach in the briefs they filed in EFF and the ACLU of Southern California’s California Public Records Act lawsuit…