US Congress passes 10-day extension of surveillance law amid Republican infighting

“The shameful midnight smash-and-grab attempt to steal away Americans’ privacy rights failed,” said Jake Laperruque, deputy director of the security and surveillance project at the Center for Democracy and Technology. “Surveillance boosters tried to sneak a sham proposal through in the dead of night because they know they’ve lost the substance of this debate.” The only way forward, he said, was a warrant rule that will “close the backdoor search loophole and protect Americans from surveillance abuse”...

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/17/congress-fisa-extension-warrantless-surveillance-law

 

Why Congress is fighting over a central tool of American surveillance : NPR

But a number of lawmakers, both Republicans and Democrats, are concerned that FISA 702 allows for the federal government to spy on the communications of American citizens without a warrant, violating their constitutional right to privacy…

 https://www.npr.org/2026/04/14/nx-s1-5768270/what-to-know-about-section-702-surveillance

 

ICE is using mass surveillance on American citizens, activists : NPR

In a hearing in the farmworker case, an ICE agent identified by the initials J.B. testified about another app, called ELITE made by Palantir, that he described as being similar to "Google Maps" that shows locations of people who may be deportable and the likelihood they live there. 

J.B. described using the app as providing "leads" to choose where to do an operation...

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/04/nx-s1-5717031/ice-dhs-immigrants-surveillance-confrontation-deportation-mobile-fortify 

 

Anthropic says it ‘cannot in good conscience’ allow Pentagon to remove AI checks

"Our strong preference is to continue to serve the Department and our warfighters – with our two requested safeguards in place," he said. "We remain ready to continue our work to support the national security of the United States." 

At the core of the Department of Defense and Anthropic's standoff is a disagreement over how the AI company will permit its product, Claude, to be used. The Pentagon has demanded that Anthropic turn off safety guardrails and allow any lawful use of Claude, while Anthropic has pushed back against allowing Claude to be used for mass domestic surveillance or in autonomous weapons systems that can kill people without human input...

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/26/anthropic-pentagon-claude

 

Hegseth threatens to blacklist Anthropic over “woke AI” concerns : NPR

For months, Amodei has insisted that using AI for domestic mass surveillance and AI-controlled weapons are ethical lines the company will not cross, calling such use "illegitimate" and "prone to abuse." According to a source familiar with the Hegseth meeting, Amodeo stressed those positions again on Tuesday. 

Hegseth has said Anthropic needs to allow the U.S. to use its AI in all "lawful" purposes, which could include AI-directed warfare and surveillance…

https://www.npr.org/2026/02/24/nx-s1-5725327/pentagon-anthropic-hegseth-safety 

 

The problem with doorbell cams: Nancy Guthrie case and Ring Super Bowl ad reawaken surveillance fears

"There's a very distinct and marked difference between what you have access to – in terms of whether you're paying for it or not – and what the company has access to," said Chris Gilliard, a data privacy expert who has researched how wearables and smart doorbells are contributing to mass surveillance..

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/14/doorbell-cameras-ring-nancy-guthrie-super-bowl

ICE surveillance under review, inspector general says - POLITICO

Lawmakers have been raising concerns about ICE's use of facial recognition, license plate readers and databases on Americans...

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/02/06/dhs-inspector-general-investigates-ice-surveillance-00768778 

 

ICE has expanded its mass surveillance efforts. Online activists are fighting back. - POLITICO

Protesters are using social media and encrypted messaging apps to track ICE vehicles and agents, while hackers have targeted ICE's surveillance arsenal…

https://www.politico.com/news/2026/01/29/ice-tracking-tools-protesters-00755703 

 

Texas Democrats tear ‘permission slips’ imposed by Republican house speaker

Lawmakers refuse to vacate house chamber to protest surveillance after they left state over GOP attempt to redraw maps…

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/19/texas-democrats-permission-slip-protest

 

Tech Fascists vs Christian Nationalists? (Bradley Onishi and Daniel Miller; Straight White American Jesus podcast)

Brad discusses the potential breakup between Elon Musk-led tech fascists and the Christian nationalists who have been staunch supporters of Trump. Exploring the impact of JD Vance joining the Trump ticket and his traditionalist Catholic views, the episode delves into how this dynamic might play out.

Brad emphasizes JD Vance’s role as a bridge between Christian nationalist voters and Silicon Valley, suggesting the Trump-Musk feud may not significantly impact this coalition. The episode also highlights concerns about white ethno-nationalism and increased surveillance on immigrants, with detailed commentary on ICE’s current activities and their implications for the upcoming elections.
Interview: 

https://www.straightwhiteamericanjesus.com/episodes/tech-fascists-vs-christian-nationalists/

Trump’s new Palantir deal has MAGA in full meltdown

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q4_blHJmYY

 

Trump illegally fired surveillance watchdog agency's Democrats, judge rules - POLITICO

Washington-based U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton ruled that Trump's firings of Travis LeBlanc and Ed Felten, two Democratic members on the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board was unlawful, stating that the board's structure was intended to have a restriction on the president's removal power. As a result, Walton ordered that LeBlanc and Felten remain as board members. 

 "Such unfettered authority would make the Board and its members beholden to the very authority it is supposed to oversee on behalf of Congress and the American people," Walton, a George W. Bush appointee, said in his ruling. "To hold otherwise would be to bless the President's obvious attempt to exercise power beyond that granted to him by the Constitution and shield the Executive Branch's counterterrorism actions from independent oversight, public scrutiny, and bipartisan congressional insight regarding those actions."…

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/05/21/judge-rules-on-trump-firings-at-surveillance-watchdog-agency-00362379

Ice contractor plans for surveillance boom under Trump migrant crackdown

The Geo Group, a private prison corporation and parent company of BI Inc, has contracted with Ice for nearly 20 years to manage the agency's electronic monitoring program. It currently tracks approximately 186,000 immigrants using devices such as ankle monitors, smart watches and a facial recognition app, according to public Ice data. Due to increasing demand from Donald Trump's administration, which has promised mass deportations, company executives said that they expect that number to grow past its previous peak of 370,000 to 450,000 immigrants within the next year...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/feb/27/migrant-surveillance-trump 

 

Alabama is using the notion that embryos are people to surveil and harass women

Using this logic, police in Alabama, and particularly in rural Etowah county, north-east of Birmingham, have repeatedly jailed women for allegedly using drugs ranging from marijuana to meth while pregnant – including women who have claimed that they did not use drugs, and women who turned out not to be pregnant. In 2021, Kim Blalock, a mother of six, was arrested on felony charges after filling a doctor's prescription during a pregnancy; the state of Alabama decided that it knew better than her doctor, and they could criminalize her for following medical advice. 

This is not an extreme example: it is the logical conclusion of fetal personhood's legalization – the surveillance, jailing and draconian monitoring of pregnant women, an exercise in voyeuristic sadism justified by the flimsy pretext that it's all being done for the good of children. Except there are no children. Lest this seem like an idea that will necessarily be corrected by political response, or by the ultimate intervention of a federal court on the question, remember that Samuel Alito's majority opinion in Dobbs referred repeatedly to "unborn human beings"…

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/feb/26/alabama-ivf-frozen-embryos-surveillance

Chinese Balloon Had Tools to Collect Communications Signals, U.S. Says - The New York Times

China's surveillance balloons have flown over more than 40 countries and are directed by the Chinese military, the State Department said. The F.B.I. is studying recovered debris...

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/09/us/politics/china-spy-balloon-program.html

Chinese surveillance balloon spotted over U.S., Pentagon says - The Washington Post

A Chinese surveillance balloon has been spotted over the continental United States and scrutinized by the U.S. military for several days, prompting the Pentagon to consider shooting it down, senior U.S. officials said Thursday, a striking development in a time of rising tension between the two world powers...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/02/02/chinese-spy-balloon-pentagon/

TikTok Tracks You Across the Web, Even If You Don’t Use App - Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports found that the company uses some of the same techniques as Google, Meta, and other companies to collect personal data…

https://www.consumerreports.org/electronics-computers/privacy/tiktok-tracks-you-across-the-web-even-if-you-dont-use-app-a4383537813/

The Ungodly Surveillance of Anti-Porn ‘Shameware’ Apps | WIRED

What's common across Covenant Eyes, Accountable2You, and EverAccountable is their zero-tolerance approach to pornography. All three suggest in their marketing materials that not only is watching porn a moral failure, but any amount of porn consumption is bad for your health. Their solution: Promote purity through what they call "radical accountability," a concept wherein a community comes together to confront a person who is living in sin. At its most basic level, the idea is pretty straightforward: Why would anyone watch porn if they are going to have to talk to their parents or pastor about it?…

https://www.wired.com/story/covenant-eyes-anti-porn-accountability-monitoring-apps/

Facial Recognition And Beyond: Journalist Ventures Inside China's 'Surveillance State' (Fresh Air podcast)

Security cameras and facial recognition technology are on the rise in China. In 2018, People's Daily, the media mouthpiece of China's ruling Communist Party, claimed on English-language Twitter that the country's facial recognition system was capable of scanning the faces of China's 1.4 billion citizens in just one second.

German journalist Kai Strittmatter speaks fluent Mandarin and has studied China for more than 30 years. He says it's not clear whether or not the Chinese government is capable of using facial recognition software in the way it claims. But he adds, on a certain level, the veracity of the claim isn't important.

"It doesn't even matter whether it's true or not, as long as people believe it," he says. "What the Communist Party is doing with all this high-tech surveillance technology now is they're trying to internalize control. ... Once you believe it's true, it's like you don't even need the policemen at the corner anymore, because you're becoming your own policeman."

Strittmatter's new book, We Have Been Harmonized: Life in China's Surveillance State, examines the role of surveillance in China's authoritarian state. He warns that Chinese President Xi Jinping, who came to power in 2012, has embraced an ideological rigidity unknown since the days of Mao Zedong.
Interview: 

https://www.npr.org/2021/01/05/953515627/facial-recognition-and-beyond-journalist-ventures-inside-chinas-surveillance-sta

Surveillance And Local Police: How Technology Is Evolving Faster Than Regulation (Fresh Air podcast)

Your local police department may know more about you than you think. Journalist Jon Fasman says local police are frequently able to access very powerful surveillance tools — including publicly accessible CCTV cameras, automatic license plate readers and cell phone tracking devices — with little oversight.

Fasman embedded with a different police departments across the country to see how officers integrate technology into their day-to-day job. Newark, N.J., for instance, uses a program called Citizen Virtual Patrol, which allows at-home viewers to stream video from cameras placed around the city.

"It gives people an eye on the entire city," Fasman says. "I live about 50 miles north of Newark and I can log in at my desk and see the feed from any one of the 126 cameras that the new public safety department has placed around the city."

Police departments say such technologies help reduce crime. But in his new book, We See It All: Liberty and Justice in an Age of Perpetual Surveillance, Fasman explores the privacy issues related to these tactics — especially as regulation varies state-by-state.
Interview: 

https://www.npr.org/2021/01/27/961103187/surveillance-and-local-police-how-technology-is-evolving-faster-than-regulation