Free Republic

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) on Wednesday proposed legislation to eliminate the intelligence community’s surveillance tools that “erode” Americans’ civil liberties.“For over two decades, rogue actors within our U.S. intelligence agencies have used the PATRIOT Act to create the most sophisticated, unaccountable surveillance apparatus in the Western world,” Luna said in a written statement to Breitbart News.Luna introduced the American Privacy Restoration Act, a bill that would repeal the USA PATRIOT Act, a sweeping September 11th, 2001 terrorist bill that drastically expanded government surveillance.

Two police officers walked into a doughnut shop. It’s not the opening line of a joke; it’s what I saw as I was working on an early draft of this story in March at the Staunton Dunkin’, about a quarter mile from where my vehicle was captured on a Flock camera in January and February coming back from my trips to Cardinal’s Roanoke office. Their eyes may have strayed to the racks of Boston creme, lemon-filled and coconut-covered doughnuts as they strode to the counter with purpose, but they were here for something else. Surveillance footage. The research for State...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — A new proposal in Springfield would change how Illinois funds its roads, by charging drivers by the mile instead of a gas tax. The proposal, filed by Sen. Ram Villivalam (D-Chicago) and Sen. Christopher Belt (D-East St. Louis), calls for starting a pilot program to study the effectiveness of charging drivers by the mile, something the state is considering due to the prevalence of more fuel-efficient and electric vehicles on Ilinois roadways. Since fuel-efficient cars use less gasoline, fewer tax dollars will be available for road infrastructure. Electric vehicle owners currently pay a $100 premium on...

Taliban's police force proudly shows off its newly-acquired network of 90,000 CCTV cameras - used to watch over the day-to-day lives of millions of people. "We monitor the entire city of Kabul from here," says Khalid Zadran, a spokesperson for the Taliban police chief, pointing to one of the screens. The authorities say such surveillance will help fight crime, but critics fear it will be used to clamp down on dissent and to monitor the strict morality code enforced by the Islamist Taliban government under their interpretation of Sharia law. The BBC are the first international journalists allowed to see...

Travellers from the United States, Canada and dozens of other countries who do not require visas to enter the United Kingdom will now need to apply for digital authorisation in order to visit or transit through the country. The electronic travel authorisation, called ETA and linked to a traveller’s passport, costs 10 pounds (S$17) and lasts two years. The requirement was introduced around 2024 for nationals of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and four other Gulf nations and will extend to more than 40 visa-exempt countries starting Jan 8. It will eventually apply to all visa-exempt travellers wishing to visit the United...

The current transition struggle exemplifies the danger of allowing the permanent bureaucratic state to accrue power unchecked. The PTA (Presidential Transition Act) was passed by Congress to assist the incoming president because it was deemed critical to national security that the new administration be as prepared as possible. Instead, it has become yet another instrument by which the unelected wield power over the elected. Trump’s strategy is to stand firm—to reject the idea that the GSA, FBI, or DOJ have any right to dictate the terms under which he assumes office. His limited MOU with the GSA is a testament...

Portions of the San Fernando Valley will get an extra set of eyes to help fight crime, as 100 automated license plate readers are going up in the northwest area. Earlier this year, L.A. Councilmember John Lee allocated $500,000 to purchase, install and maintain the cameras to help combat crime in the Valley. The ALPR cameras assist law enforcement in tracking and recording license plates as they pass through, to narrow the search for vehicles tied to crimes. The system then uses optical character recognition to compare the plates with hot vehicles of interest. Data stored can also help connect...

This year all 32 NFL teams will start using facial recognition to verify the identity of people entering the stadium. This is a clip that was posted recently on the Dallas Cowboys website. It shows how easy it is to identify someone in these large crowds. VIDEO AT LINK......................

The National Football League is the latest organization to turn to facial authentication to bolster event security, according to an announcement this week. All 32 NFL stadiums will start using the technology this season, after the league signed a contract with a company that uses facial scans to verify the identity of people entering event venues and other secure spaces. The facial authentication platform, which counts the Cleveland Browns’ owners as investors, will be used to “streamline and secure” entry for thousands of credentialed media, officials, staff and guests so they can easily access restricted areas such as press boxes...

President Biden signed a bill Saturday extending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act’s (FISA) warrantless surveillance program another two years. The Senate passed the reauthorization bill early Saturday, after hours of intense debate, narrowly avoiding a key national intelligence gathering capability going dark. Senators voted 60-34 to send the bill to Biden’s desk shortly after the midnight deadline. The program looked as if it was headed for a lapse until Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced a breakthrough on the Senate floor.

“We have two parties, and only two,” the legendary journalist and conservative political activist M. Stanton Evans liked to say: “One is the evil party, and the other is the stupid party. I’m very proud to be a member of the stupid party. Occasionally the two parties get together to do something that’s both evil and stupid. That’s called bipartisanship.” I couldn’t help but think of that line on Friday when the House passed the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) on Friday. 149 Republicans and 126 Democrats voted in favor of this act that...

Not even clear that reams of Jan. 6 bank customer information was useful to Treasury and FBI, hearing witnesses say. Jordan Peterson warns China model is coming. Congressional Democrats are so concerned about losing statutory workarounds for the Fourth Amendment that they appear willing to tolerate red states using financial transactions to track women who have abortions, a major concern after the Supreme Court struck down federal abortion rights. That's the impression from hearing Thursday of the House Judiciary Committee's Weaponization of the Federal Government Subcommittee on alleged collusion between the federal government and banks for politically motivated surveillance in...

Who watches the watchmen? All of us, if we're smart. In the age of surveillance, that means monitoring how and where the snoops put us under scrutiny. Among the people and organizations doing such important work is the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which recently updated one of its countersurveillance tools. "The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today unveiled its new Street Level Surveillance hub, a standalone website featuring expanded and updated content on various technologies that law enforcement agencies commonly use to invade Americans' privacy," the group announced January 10. Understanding How We're Being Watched The hub consolidates information about such evolving...

Browsing through social media but never liking or commenting on posts may be a sign of a mental health condition, a new study has revealed. Researchers at the Central China Normal University found that people who use platforms 'passively' are more likely suffer from social anxiety compared to people who use it actively - uploading posts and sharing life updates. The team surveyed more than 500 college students on their mental health and social media use, finding that 'voyeurs' were more afraid of unfamiliar situations in their physical lives. On the other hand, those who used social media actively found...

House and Senate conservatives on Wednesday sounded the alarm on a potential move by congressional leadership to extend a deep state surveillance law in a defense bill. “Reauthorization of FISA can’t be hooked to anything. The federal GOV has spied on Americans [who] decided to go to Church or you went to a school board meeting. This needs to end. Reauthorization needs to stand on its own, and have significant reform,” House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry (R-PA) said during a press conference with the House Freedom Caucus and Senate conservatives. The conservatives held their press conference as congressional leaders...

BISMARCK, N.D. -- Raymon Holmberg didn't know his new sedan came equipped with the long arm of the law. The dealer hadn't bothered to mention the "black box," a computer chip that stores information on speed and seat belt use. "When I bought my car," he said, "I didn't realize I was also buying a highway patrolman to sit in the back seat." Holmberg, a state senator, believes his privacy was violated and is taking aim at black boxes. Lawmakers in 10 other states are also hoping to regulate black boxes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

AUSTIN –– Transportation Security Administration chief David Pekoske said the agency wants to use technology to reduce the number of screening officers in checkpoints and speed up travel processes as passenger volumes increase. At Tuesday’s panel at South by Southwest, which focused on accelerating aviation security, he boasted about the agency’s computed tomography technology and biometrics. Despite struggling with staffing a year ago, Pekoske said that nearly 2.4 million people are screened on a given day by TSA. Pekoske said that TSA’s purpose is to make sure it maintains its security and transportation system at the same time, while staying...

On March 2, 2023, the people in control of the Joe Biden administration officially announced that government control of internet content was now an officially a part of the national security apparatus. [White House Link] If you have followed the history of how the Fourth Branch of Government has been created, you will immediately recognize the intent of this new framework. The “National Cybersecurity Strategy” aligns with, supports, and works in concert with a total U.S. surveillance system, where definitions of information are then applied to “cybersecurity” and communication vectors. This policy is both a surveillance system and an information...

...When you do talk to other families about your child going to their home or riding in their car, you want to make sure you find out if any guns they have are stored safely — meaning they are secured in a safe and unloaded, Crifasi said. ...When her daughter is going to meet with a new friend, Thomas said she likes to lay out all the safety information for that family. She mentions how many dogs they have, that there’s an alarm on the pool, that guns are stored unloaded in a safe separate from ammunition, and that alcohol...

Three journalists from Finland's largest daily went on trial on Thursday charged with publishing classified defence intelligence, with the prosecutor demanding at least 18-month suspended sentences if found guilty. The report, entitled "Finland's most secret place", revealed the rough location and tasks of an intelligence unit of the defence forces at a time when parliament was debating whether to expand its powers to monitor private data in digital networks.According to the prosecutor, the article contained harmful information the publication of which was against the law.