Law Enforcement Content Acquisition Revealed
January 22, 2021
Everything you do with a computer, smartphone, wearable, smart speaker, or tablet is recorded. In order to catch bad actors, law enforcement issues warrants to technology companies often asking for users who searched for specific keywords or visited certain Web sites in a specific time frame. Wired explains how private user information is still collected despite big tech promising to protect their users in the article, “How Your Digital Trails Wind Up In The Police’s Hands.”
Big tech companies continue to host apps and sell technology that provides user data to law enforcement. Apple attempted to combat the unauthorized of user information by requiring all developers to have a “nutritional label” on its apps. The label will disclose privacy policies. It is not, however, a blanket solution.
Big tech companies pledge their dedication to ending law enforcement using unlawful surveillance, but their actions are hypocritical. Amazon is committed to racial equity, but they saw an uptick in police request for user information. Google promises the same equity commitment with Google Doodles and donations, but they provide police with geofence warrants.
Law makers and political activists cite that these actions violate people’s civil rights and the Fourth Amendment. While there are people who are rallying to protect the average user, the bigger problem rests with users’ lack of knowledge. How many users are aware about the breadcrumbs they are leaving around the Internet? How many users actually read privacy policies or terms of service agreements? Very few!
“The solution isn’t simply for people to stop buying IoT devices or for tech companies to stop sharing data with the government. But “equity” demands that users be aware of the digital bread crumbs they leave behind as they use electronic devices and how state agents capitalize on both obscure systems of data collection and our own ignorance.”
Perhaps organizations should concentrate on educating the public or require big tech companies to have more transparent privacy policies in shorter, readable English? With thumb typing and illiteracy prevalent in the US, ignorance pays data dividends.
Whitney Grace, January 22, 2020
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