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Fabrizio Bensch / Reuters

You Can't Escape Data Surveillance In America

The Fair Credit Reporting Act was intended to protect privacy, but its provisions have not kept pace with the radical changes wrought by the information age.

  • Sarah Jeong
April 29, 2016
Jim Lo Scalzo / epa / Corbis

How License-Plate Readers Have Helped Police and Lenders Target the Poor

Law enforcement can access privately-collected location information about cars—and some low-income neighborhoods have faced extra scrutiny.

  • Kaveh Waddell
April 22, 2016
Mel Langsdon / Reuters

Credit Bureaus Were the NSA of the 19th Century

They were enormous, tech-savvy, and invasive in their methods—and they enlisted Abraham Lincoln into their ranks.

  • Sarah Jeong
April 21, 2016
Jim Vondruska / Demotix / Corbis

An App That Tracks the Police to Keep Them in Check

New software will help low-income people and communities of color to record their experiences with law enforcement—in order to create a crowdsourced map of their behavior.  

  • Kaveh Waddell
April 15, 2016
David Precious / Flickr

How Technology Helps Creditors Control Debtors

From software that records your every keystroke, to GPS tracking, to ignition kill switches—lenders have more power over their customers than ever.

  • Sarah Jeong
April 15, 2016
Mark Makela / Reuters

This Very Common Cellphone Surveillance Still Doesn't Require a Warrant

And a court just ruled in favor of the government, again.

  • Robinson Meyer
April 14, 2016
Johannes Schmitt-Tegge / dpa / Corbis

Will New York City’s Free Wi-Fi Help Police Watch You?

The city is building the biggest and fastest free network in the country—but it could put low-income users' privacy at risk.

  • Kaveh Waddell
April 11, 2016
Kara Gordon / The Atlantic

How a Cashless Society Could Embolden Big Brother

When money becomes information, it can inform on you.

  • Sarah Jeong
April 8, 2016
Reuters

How Big Data Harms Poor Communities

Surveillance and public-benefits programs gather large amounts of information on low-income people, feeding opaque algorithms that can trap them in poverty.

  • Kaveh Waddell
April 8, 2016
Dado Ruvic / Reuters

How Surveillance Stifles Dissent on the Internet

New research shows that social-media users who said they have “nothing to hide” from the government often avoid posting controversial opinions on Facebook.

  • Kaveh Waddell
April 5, 2016
Maurizio Pesce / Flickr

Would You Let Companies Monitor You For Money?

Getting cash or discounts for your personal data could give you more control over it—but may help turn privacy into a premium feature.

  • Kaveh Waddell
April 1, 2016
Library of Congress

Technology, the Faux Equalizer

Silicon Valley’s sunny outlook on technology and opportunity ignores systematic inequalities.

  • Adrienne LaFrance
March 31, 2016
Jonathan McIntosh / Flickr

Used Phones Are Full of Previous Owners’ Data

Researchers bought 20 used smartphones in four cities, and recovered thousands of photos, texts, and emails.

  • Kaveh Waddell
February 24, 2016
Ruaridh Stewart / ZUMA Press / Corbis

The Extortionist in the Fridge

Hackers are taking over devices and demanding ransoms to give them back. What happens when they get ahold of your house?

  • Kaveh Waddell
January 6, 2016
Rick Wilking / Reuters

Should Everyone Get to See Body-Camera Video?

In Washington, D.C., city officials are considering the nation’s most publicly accessible police-body-cam policy.

  • Robinson Meyer
August 17, 2015
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