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January 9, 2023: Surveillance roundup

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Today: Surveillance roundup

Welcome to (binary) episode number 100000000.

• Madison Square Garden Uses Facial Recognition to Ban Its Owner’s Enemies (by Kashmir Hill and Corey Kilgannon, NYT, Dec 22, 2022): Kelly Conlon accompanied her “daughter’s Girl Scout troop on a trip into Manhattan to see the ‘Christmas Spectacular’ at Radio City Music Hall. . . Before she could even glimpse the Rockettes, however, security guards pulled Ms. Conlon aside and her New York jaunt took an Orwellian turn.”

But one town said no...

• This N.J. town just said ‘no’ to facial recognition cameras on its streets (NJ.com, Jan 3, 2023): “South Orange will not install facial recognition software when it upgrades its street security cameras after questions were raised about whether the technology is unreliable and prone toward misidentifying people of color, local officials said.”

Meantime, Amazon's home surveillance grows...

• A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook? (by Eileen Guo, Technology Review, Dec 19, 2022): “From the start, iRobot went all in on computer vision, and its first device with such capabilities, the Roomba 980, debuted in 2015. It was also the first of iRobot’s Wi-Fi-enabled devices, as well as its first that could map a home, adjust its cleaning strategy on the basis of room size, and identify basic obstacles to avoid.”

Amazon now owns Roomba’s maker, iRobot, which claims the images were only due to special “special development robots” sent to gig workers in Venezuela. “People using development devices agree to allow iRobot to collect data, including video streams, as the devices are running, often in exchange for ‘incentives for participation,’ according to a statement from iRobot.”

But it's not just gig workers. Amazon already is paying consumers for surveillance access...

• Amazon is offering customers $2 per month for letting the company monitor the traffic on their phones (Insider, Dec 5, 2022): “The deal is part of the Amazon Shopper Panel, an invite-only program where select Amazon customers can earn $10 per month if they upload 10 eligible receipts from purchases made outside of Amazon. Panelists can receive additional monthly rewards for completing short surveys.”

...and Ring surveillance devices are proliferating...

• You can finally buy the Ring Car Cam (The Verge, Jan 5, 2023): "The Ring Car Cam is the video doorbell company’s first foray into security away from the home. Featuring dual-facing cameras that can record inside and outside of the car, both when it’s in motion and parked, the Ring Car Cam also has a microphone and speaker as well as sensors to detect events and motion in and around the car. . . . The camera works with the Ring app for viewing live and recorded video from its two cameras. You can also use its built-in microphone and speaker for two-way talk from the car or to communicate with anyone who is in your car when you’re not there."

...and Ring is not just on your door, not just in your car:

• The N.Y.P.D. Is on Amazon’s Neighborhood Watch App (NYT, Dec 2, 2022): “The nation’s largest police force recently joined the Ring Neighbors app and can now enlist the help of the city’s residents in investigations. Critics say it could lead to racial profiling. . . . the vast growth of the initiative — over 2,000 of the nation’s public safety agencies have signed on, including in Los Angeles and Chicago — has alarmed digital rights and privacy activists who say that the platform could lead to over surveillance by the police, a burden historically borne by people of color. In New York, home to the nation’s largest and most digitally sophisticated police force, the venture represents a dramatic expansion of the police’s surveillance apparatus.”

It's not just Amazon. Much of the tech industry is dependent on surveillance, as shown at CES this month...

• It’s 2023, and tech is still pushing unsafe products (Washington Post, Jan 8, 2023): “CES brings a flood of new gadgets with dangerous technology and little vetting.” One of the conference’s “breakout favorites [was] the U-Scan urine sensor from connected health care company Withings, which analyzes hormone levels in urine and is gearing up for U.S. launch. After the Supreme Court overturned the right to an abortion in June and some states banned abortion, hormonal changes could potentially become evidence of a crime. Withings said it stores that data indefinitely and, if subpoenaed by law enforcement, would ‘comply with all legal requirements in the territories in which it operates.’ It said it doesn’t otherwise share data with third parties.”

• From VentureBeat: “U-Scan can distinguish between various users thanks to its Stream ID feature. Low-energy radar sensors embedded within the reader measure multiple variables to identify an individual’s urine stream signature, by detecting the movement and distance of the stream. Stream ID information can be affirmed in the app.”




• Also from that WaPo piece: “Companies could choose to make useful, private, repairable products, said iFixit’s Kyle Wiens during the Worst in Show announcement, but what is the real purpose of a $200 travel mug with location-sharing capabilities and an irreplaceable battery? ‘We already have thermoses,’ he said. ‘They’re phenomenally successful. They’ve been around for a very long time.’” (See also coverage in The Register.)

• Time available, let’s hear about a new Neutrogena product at CES from Nathan Proctor from US PIRG (Senior Director, Campaign for the Right to Repair. “PIRG is a federation of independent, state-based, citizen-funded Public Interest Research Groups.”)

• Students rebel against heat-sensing crotch monitor surveillance devices (Hackaday, Dec 12, 2022): “Northeastern University students pulled out all the desk sensors and arranged them to spell ‘NO.’”



...meantime, Facebook is still out there, looking for more ways to build its dossier on you...

• “Out Of Control”: Dozens of Telehealth Startups Sent Sensitive Health Information to Big Tech Companies (The Markup, Dec 13, 2022): "An investigation by The Markup and STAT found 49 out of 50 telehealth websites sharing health data via Big Tech’s tracking tools."

Open the website of WorkIt Health, and the path to treatment starts with a simple intake form: Are you in danger of harming yourself or others? If not, what’s your current opioid and alcohol use? How much methadone do you use?

. . . But what patients probably don’t know is that WorkIt was sending their delicate, even intimate, answers about drug use and self-harm to Facebook.

A joint investigation by STAT and The Markup of 50 direct-to-consumer telehealth companies like WorkIt found that quick, online access to medications often comes with a hidden cost for patients: Virtual care websites were leaking sensitive medical information they collect to the world’s largest advertising platforms.

. . . “I thought I was at this point hard to shock,” said Ari Friedman, an emergency medicine physician at the University of Pennsylvania who researches digital health privacy. “And I find this particularly shocking.”

Facebook’s response is reminiscent of Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri when asked about preteens using Instagram...

“Advertisers should not send sensitive information about people through our Business Tools,” Dale Hogan, a spokesperson for Meta, wrote in an email.

. . . if this is how the internet works, get off these services if you can:

. . . “It’s a pure monetization play,” said Eric Perakslis, chief science and digital officer at the Duke Clinical Research Institute. “And yes, everybody else is doing it, it’s the way the internet works. . . . But I think that it’s out of step with medical ethics, clearly.” Eexperts worry that health data could be used to target patients in need with ads for services and therapies that are unnecessary or even harmful.

If you use “smart” (surveillance) devices, be prepared to be surveilled by more than Big Tech and the government. . .

• Researchers Could Track the GPS Location of All of California’s New Digital License Plates (Vice, Jan 9, 2023): “After gaining access to a powerful administrative account, the researchers could perform all sorts of tasks inside Reviver, the sole company that sells the digital plates in California. . . . ‘An actual attacker could remotely update, track, or delete anyone’s REVIVER plate,’ Sam Curry, a bug bounty hunter, wrote.”

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