Digital Government

TSA Agents Say They’re Not Discriminating Against Black Women, But Their Body Scanners Might Be

The full-body scanners at airports across the country frequently give false alarms for Afros, braids, twists and other hairstyles popular among black women.

Digital Government

When Transgender Travelers Walk Into Scanners, Invasive Searches Sometimes Wait on the Other Side

Transgender and gender nonconforming people say they have been pressured to expose their genitals during TSA searches at airports. The encounters stem from shortcomings in the agency’s technology and insufficient training of its staff.

Digital Government

ICE extends Palantir's case management contract

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is sticking with Palantir's Gotham as its case management tool, and granted Palantir a three-year sole source extension to operate and service the system.

Emerging Tech

DHS is Collecting Biometrics on Thousands of Refugees Who Will Never Enter the U.S.

Most refugees who apply for asylum in the U.S. never set foot in the country, but under an agreement with the United Nations, DHS and its partners can still build biometric profiles on them.

Artificial Intelligence

People Are Starting to Realize How Voice Assistants Actually Work

The secrecy surrounding AI products makes even basic information about them a scandal.

Ideas

Regulating Facebook, Google and Amazon Is Hard Given Their Bewildering Complexity

Whether you’re an individual, business, or government, if you need the internet, you need their services.

Emerging Tech

Facial Recognition Software Prompts Privacy, Racism Concerns in Cities and States

Some lawmakers are proposing to limit its use even as law enforcement officials and landlords are embracing it.

Emerging Tech

CBP Plans to Use Facial Recognition For ‘All Passenger Applications’

The agency is ramping up its use of biometric identification technology as part of a broader effort to overhaul its traveler processing systems.

Artificial Intelligence

This Dashcam App Can Map Traffic in Near-Real-Time

The traffic safety app Nexar’s new “Live Map” feature lets anyone peek in on near-real-time video footage of city streets.

Emerging Tech

CISA Is Using Drones to Help Secure Critical Infrastructure

The aircraft will be used to both shoot footage of security exercises and simulate real-world drone attacks, officials said. 

Emerging Tech

Senators Urge Homeland Security to Release Mandated Report on its Use of Biometrics

Lawmakers say its delay raises concerns about the Homeland Security Department's continued collection of facial recognition data.

Ideas

FaceApp Is Everyone’s Problem

It feels good to call out people for being duped by the Russian app, but the individualist framing of privacy is the bigger culprit.

Cybersecurity

Equifax Will Fork Up to $700 Million to Compensate for 2017 Data Breach

Those impacted by the breach may be eligible to receive up to $20,000 in cash payments.

Digital Government

Experts Tell Congress Facial Recognition’s Bias Problem May Be Here to Stay

Despite significant improvements in the tech’s overall performance, he said, “it’s unlikely” researchers will ever make systems equally accurate across racial and other demographic lines.

Emerging Tech

ICE and the Ever-Widening Surveillance Dragnet

ICE agents have used facial-recognition technology on state driver’s-license photos, turning a public database into a de facto criminal database.

Ideas

What Connected Patients Risk

Internet-enabled medical devices are designed to improve patient safety but pose a significant risk if left unsecured.

Emerging Tech

You No Longer Own Your Face

Students were recorded for research—and then became part of a data set that lives forever online, potentially accessible to anyone.

Ideas

Mass Surveillance Is Coming to a City Near You

A tech entrepreneur wants to track the residents of a high-crime American community.