Gaby Del Valle

Policy Reporter

Gaby Del ValleApr 30, 2024

Two Texas counties are rolling out mass surveillance programs.

Webb and Val Verde counties, both of which are located near the Texas-Mexico border, recently started using TraffiCatch to surveil their communities, NOTUS reports.

TraffiCatch lets police “detect in-vehicle wireless signals,” which it connects to cars’ license plate numbers. Webb County bought the tech with a grant from DHS, while Val Verde got the funds through Operation Lone Star, a controversial state-level immigration enforcement program.

War Zone Surveillance Technology Is Hitting American Streets

[NOTUS]

Columbia University has a doxxing problem

Protestors wanted to expose Columbia, Columbia exposed its students.

Gaby Del ValleApr 26, 2024

CISA ransomware warning program will launch this year

Gaby Del ValleApr 25, 2024

Spyware dealers could face visa restrictions

Gaby Del ValleApr 25, 2024

Cities are ending their ShotSpotter contracts, but the sensors themselves are staying

Gaby Del ValleApr 25, 2024

Controversial US surveillance program (briefly?) lapses amid congressional dysfunction

Gaby Del ValleApr 20, 2024

Gaby Del ValleApr 19, 2024

FISA’s Section 702 is probably going to expire.

Kind of! The Senate can’t agree on amendments to the bill that reauthorizes the warrantless surveillance program, so it’s looking like we’re about to hit the midnight expiration deadline without a bill for Biden to sign.

But technically speaking, the FISA court recently granted a government request to allow the program to continue until April 2025.

Gaby Del ValleApr 19, 2024

Sens. Wyden and Lummis introduce amendment limiting FISA’s warrantless wiretapping powers.

The amendment would reverse a provision included in the recent House bill reauthorizing Section 702 of FISA that expands the definition of “electronic communications service provider,” which critics say would force Americans to essentially spy for the government.

“Forcing ordinary Americans and small businesses to conduct secret, warrantless spying is what authoritarian countries do, not democracies,” Wyden said in a statement.