Privacy, encryption vs. Surveillance state

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ICE windfall from Trump megabill fuels surveillance juggernaut​

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is on a surveillance spending spree:

  • The agency is using much of its windfall from this summer's "big beautiful bill" to fund a major expansion of biometric identification, cellphone tracking and other electronic capabilities.
Why it matters: The megabill's $75 billion cash infusion for ICE was sold by Congress as a way to speed up hiring new agents and adding detention space. But ICE is also going big on surveillance.

Read it all:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/othe...lance-juggernaut/ar-AA1OS9zM?ocid=socialshare
 

How Police Around the Country Are Conducting Mass Surveillance​

Oct 31, 2025
When you get in your car, you might be tracked by a network of AI-powered surveillance cameras. These cameras upload their information to a central database, where government officials around the country can see a detailed record of your movements.
But we're fighting back against mass surveillance. Today we’re joined by IJ attorney Michael Soyfer and Communications Project Manager Dan King to discuss IJ’s new Plate Privacy Project and how everyday people are opposing this new threat to our constitutional rights.


32:29

- Plate Privacy Project: https://plateprivacy.com/
- Norfolk Cameras: https://ij.org/case/norfolk-virginia-...
 
One woman's experience with a Flock camera.

Cop tells her, "We have cameras. You can't get a breath of fresh air without us knowing", after falsely accusing her of a theft he is 100% certain she committed.

Flock should have to pay a million $ to anyone falsely ID'd as a criminal by their system.
....and the cops who blindly accept that ID, fired.




It's a darn good thing that lady had her own dash cam and records to prove she couldn't have taken the pkg.
Had she not been able to prove her innocence, she would have likely been falsely convicted.
 

ICE’s biometric dragnet is a 21st century general warrant for your body​

This summer, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested George Retes, a U.S. citizen and an Army veteran, during an immigration sweep as he was driving to work. Although Retes repeatedly told the officers he was an American and showed them proof, ICE detained him for days, strip-searched him and forced him to provide a DNA sample — all without charges. (Weeks after Retes’ story became public, the Department of Homeland Security said that he “became violent and refused to comply with law enforcement,” challenging agents and blocking their route “by refusing to move his vehicle out of the road.”) Retes has teamed up with our organization, the Institute for Justice, and brought claims for damages alleging violations of his constitutional rights. But that is not the end of the story.

Now, as ICE ramps up this type of data collection, Retes and countless other Americans are at risk.

In addition to our DNA, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has recently and quietly authorized ICE officers to forcibly collect and retain intimate identifiers: our fingerprints and digital images of our faces. Combined with other technologies, the department is creating a general warrant for our persons, the kind of abuse that ignited the American Revolution.

More:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/i...nt-for-your-body/ar-AA1Qx9wM?ocid=socialshare
 


🚨 EDWARD SNOWDEN’S CHILLING WARNING IS NOW UNFOLDING IN REAL TIME

What China built… is exactly what Western governments are quietly preparing for.

Snowden is crystal clear:

Every photo, every purchase, every message, every movement — all of it is being fed into algorithms that decide your future.

In China, AI “city brains” now track:

Where you live
Who you visit
How you dispose of your rubbish
Every step you take in public
Whether you “follow rules” or not

Break a rule?

A camera catches you from three angles.

Your score drops.

Your life collapses.

Snowden’s warning:

“If any of your activities differ from what the government wants, you won’t get on a train.

You won’t board a plane.
You won’t get a job.

An algorithm will decide your fate.
And what they are selling… is us.”

This is not a future threat.

It is happening now — in Shanghai, in Beijing… and creeping into the West through digital ID, AI policing, and “misinformation scoring.”

China built the prototype.

Our governments are importing the blueprint.

Stay informed.
Stay alert.
Do not let this system take root.🚨 EDWARD SNOWDEN’S CHILLING WARNING IS NOW UNFOLDING IN REAL TIME

What China built… is exactly what Western governments are quietly preparing for.

Snowden is crystal clear:

Every photo, every purchase, every message, every movement — all of it is being fed into algorithms that decide your future.

In China, AI “city brains” now track:

Where you live
Who you visit
How you dispose of your rubbish
Every step you take in public
Whether you “follow rules” or not

Break a rule?

A camera catches you from three angles.

Your score drops.

Your life collapses.

Snowden’s warning:

“If any of your activities differ from what the government wants, you won’t get on a train.

You won’t board a plane.
You won’t get a job.

An algorithm will decide your fate.
And what they are selling… is us.”

This is not a future threat.

It is happening now — in Shanghai, in Beijing… and creeping into the West through digital ID, AI policing, and “misinformation scoring.”

China built the prototype.

Our governments are importing the blueprint.

Stay informed.
Stay alert.
Do not let this system take root.
 
This one is a 3 way discussion, there's nothing to see so your best bet is to listen in one tab, play around the forum in a different tab.

Has The U.S. Become A Surveillance State? | Incognito Mode | WIRED​

Nov 17, 2025 Incognito Mode
Since the start of the second Trump administration, there's been open debate about whether the United States is descending into a modern high-tech surveillance state. But is there any truth to that? And what can existing surveillance states tell us about where the U.S. might be along the path? Today WIRED takes a deep dive to determine just that.


16:50
 
^

Secretive Border Patrol program is detaining US citizens for ‘suspicious’ travel​

Nov 20, 2025 #usa #surveillance #news
The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious. (AP video: Marshall Ritzel)


7:23
 

Feds and Local Cops Team Up To Surveil EVERYONE​

Nov 23, 2025


9:08
 
Europe

www.eff.org

EU's New Digital Package Proposal Promises Red Tape Cuts but Guts GDPR Privacy Rights

The European Commission (EC) is considering a “Digital Omnibus” package that would substantially rewrite EU privacy law, particularly the landmark General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It’s not a done deal, and it shouldn’t be.The GDPR is the most comprehensive model for privacy legislation...
www.eff.org www.eff.org

www.eff.org

After Years of Controversy, the EU’s Chat Control Nears Its Final Hurdle: What to Know

After a years-long battle, the European Commission’s “Chat Control” plan, which would mandate mass scanning and other encryption-breaking measures, at last codifies agreement on a position within the Council of the EU, representing EU States. The good news is that the most controversial part...
www.eff.org www.eff.org
 
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