Secretive Internet ‘Kill Switch’ And Apple Patent Could Stop You From Filming Police & Protests

The Supreme Court refused to force the Department of Homeland Security to reveal further details of its program to shut off internet access during ‘emergencies’ despite the concerns this poses for freedom of speech.

Kit O'Connell
By Kit O'Connell
Apple patented a technology to prevent phones from filming at live music events, but privacy advocates say police could use it against activists.

AUSTIN, Texas --- As smartphones revolutionize how people interact with breaking news, internet freedom advocates are warning that “kill switch” technology could shut down this newfound form of expression during times of civil unrest. Viral video footage of the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, two black men recently fatally shot

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New Apple Tech Could Allow Cops To Remotely Stop You From Filming Them

In light of the most recent police murders caught on smartphones and, in one case, horrifically livestreamed, it seems there is a caveat to our fears of ubiquitous surveillance: it’s not just citizens who are overseen, it’s everyone — including police officers who use excessive force. Recording police is widely viewed as a way to keep […]

Jake Anderson
By Jake Anderson
New Apple Tech Could Allow Cops to Remotely Stop You From Filming Them

In light of the most recent police murders caught on smartphones and, in one case, horrifically livestreamed, it seems there is a caveat to our fears of ubiquitous surveillance: it’s not just citizens who are overseen, it’s everyone — including police officers who use excessive force. Recording police is widely viewed as a way to keep cops

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US Hacks IPhone, Ends Legal Battle But Questions Linger

Left unanswered, however, were questions about how the sudden development would affect privacy in the future, and what happens the next time the government is frustrated by digital security lockout features.

Associated Press
By Associated Press
A man holds up his phone during a rally in support of data privacy outside the Apple store Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, in San Francisco. Protesters assembled in more than 30 cities to lash out at the FBI for obtaining a court order that requires Apple to make it easier to unlock an encrypted iPhone used by a gunman in December's mass murders in California. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

WASHINGTON -- The extraordinary legal fight pitting the Obama administration against technology giant Apple Inc. ended unexpectedly after the FBI said it used a mysterious method without Apple's help to hack into a California mass shooter's iPhone. Left unanswered, however, were questions about how the sudden development would affect privacy in

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Apple Warns FBI Could Make Them Turn On iPhone Cameras And Microphones Next

‘When they can get us to create a new system to do new things, where will it stop?’

Nadia Prupis
By Nadia Prupis
A man holds up his phone during a rally in support of data privacy outside the Apple store Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016, in San Francisco. Protesters assembled in more than 30 cities to lash out at the FBI for obtaining a court order that requires Apple to make it easier to unlock an encrypted iPhone used by a gunman in December's mass murders in California. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

If the FBI successfully manages to force Apple to unlock the suspected San Bernardino shooter's iPhone, the government could use the precedent to require the tech company to remotely turn on users' iPhone microphones and cameras, Apple's senior vice president warned this week. Eddy Cue, speaking to Univision in a Spanish-language interview,

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Amid Battle With Apple, Memo Reveals Big Brother’s Plan B for Encryption

“They said they wouldn’t seek to legislate ‘backdoors’ in these technologies. They didn’t say they wouldn’t try to access the data in other ways.”

Nadia Prupis
By Nadia Prupis
A man looks at his cell phone as he walks on the street in downtown Madrid, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013.(AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

A secret National Security Council (NSC) "decision memo" shows that the government began ingratiating itself with the tech industry, and ordering its agencies to figure out how to circumvent encryption software and access private data in consumer devices, long before its privacy fight with Apple began, according to new reporting by

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Snowden, Google, WhatsApp Join Apple In Opposing FBI In Fight For Privacy

Former CIA contractor Edward Snowden – who exposed mass surveillance by the US National Security Agency and the UK’s GCHQ – has joined Google and WhatsApp in backing Apple’s challenge to the FBI wanting to unblock an iPhone belonging to a terrorist.

Sputnik News
By Sputnik News
Edward Snowden

Snowden had initially taunted Google in a tweet over the issue, by retweeting: https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/699997565987745792 However, within hours, Google had responded to the Apple-FBI case. The argument arose following the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, on December 2, 2015, in which 14 people were killed and 22 were

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