Data, privacy and safety
📡 Surveillance Technology and Privacy
Learn how plate readers, face recognition, drones, phone tools and data brokers work, what the Fourth Amendment and state laws say about them, and how to judge a local surveillance program fairly using contracts, policies and audit logs.
- 1The Fourth Amendment in Eight CasesLearn the tests courts use to decide when watching, tracking or collecting data counts as a search, from Katz in 1967 to the 2026 geofence decision.16 min
- 2How License Plate Readers WorkFollow a single plate read from the camera to the hotlist check, the database, and the sharing network, and learn the numbers that matter.15 min
- 3Plate Readers: Results, Misuse, Courts and PushbackWeigh the evidence on what plate readers do, the growing record of misuse including an Idaho sheriff's case, the court rulings turning against mass collection, and the cities and citizens pushing back.24 min
- 4Facial Recognition: Accuracy, Arrests and RulesLearn how face recognition matches work, what NIST testing found about accuracy and demographic gaps, what went wrong in wrongful arrests, and how states regulate police use.16 min
- 5Drones, Camera Networks and Real-Time Crime CentersSee how police drones, public and private camera networks, and real-time crime centers fit together, and what federal and Idaho law says about drones.15 min
- 6Phones: Cell-Site Simulators, Location Requests and Extraction ToolsLearn how police locate phones, request location records from companies, and copy data off seized phones, and what legal process each step needs.16 min
- 7Data Brokers and Police PurchasesLearn how app location data reaches data brokers, why buying it can sidestep warrant rules, where federal legislation stands, and what the FTC has done.15 min
- 8Private Surveillance: Doorbells, Partnerships and the WorkplaceLearn how doorbell camera companies route footage to police, what the FTC found about Ring, and what rules cover employers who monitor workers.14 min
- 9Records to Request and How to Judge a Surveillance Program FairlyKnow the records that exist for any surveillance program, read contracts and audit logs for the facts that matter, and hold police and privacy advocates to the same standard of proof.18 min