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surveillance

7 Projects

Police departments are increasingly tracking your face, your fingerprints, your tattoos — and even your DNA. Help the Electronic Frontier Foundation and MuckRock uncover how local agencies are tracking you and bring some much-needed transparency to the murky world of biometric surveillance.

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Cell phone surveillance technology has outpaced policy and public awareness. MuckRock is investigating precisely how law enforcement across the country use cell phones to locate and track individuals.

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The programs being designed and implemented across the country under the auspices of Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) have drawn fire from Muslim community members and civil rights activists. They are criticized for unfairly targeting Muslims, being used for surveillance under the pretext of community outreach, and being based on an unfounded theory of radicalization. Despite the heavy criticism CVE has been subjected to, there remain lingering questions about precisely which communities are targeted, what research (and which experts) agencies are relying on for their approaches, how (or if) government agencies are planning to safeguard civil liberties, which community leaders are being supported and for what reasons, etc. By making the relevant government documents public, we hope to help answer some of these questions.

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A nationwide census of cellphone surveillance equipment use and policy.

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84 requests

The two major goals of the project are (1) to make publicly available the different LEA policies governing the use of surveillance technology so that concerned Mississippians can identify deficiencies in oversight and civil liberties protections and advocate for policy reform; and (2) to make publicly available documents evidencing the acquisition of surveillance tech by local and state LEAs of which the public is generally unaware.

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114 Articles

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Whistleblower complaint leads to plans for widespread DNA surveillance of immigrants

by Sarah Alvarez

January 22, 2020

Last spring, the Department of Homeland Security started collecting DNA at United States borders for the first time. Since then, DHS has quietly begun to implement the largest expansion of government DNA collection and storing of biometric information in more than a decade.

Controversial Obama-era counterrorism program continues uninterrupted in Colorado

by Ava Sasani

August 21, 2019

New documents raise questions about Denver Police Department continued participation in a controversial Obama-era counterrorism program.

What’s the smart city future like in Wisconsin?

by Beryl Lipton

August 20, 2019

Sitting on the shores of Lake Michigan, Racine, Wisconsin lays claim to inventing the hairdryer and garbage disposal. With Milwaukee to its north and Chicago to its south, the town is tapping into that legacy as the first municipality with fewer than 100,000 residents to be chosen for the Smart Cities Readiness Challenge.

MuckRock readers want to know: What drone use is going on in your area?

by Beryl Lipton

July 26, 2019

MuckRock announced that it would be looking at the extent of drone use by municipalities, counties, and states throughout the country. Since then, individuals from Connecticut to California have responded to the call.

Does your local government use drones? Help us find out

by Beryl Lipton

July 19, 2019

Five years ago, MuckRock teamed up with Motherboard to conduct a massive survey of drone use by local police departments. We want to update that effort, and we need your help to do it.