Surveillance

• We Need A Massive Surveillance Program
  Maciej Cegłowski - Idle Words (14 Jun 2020)
  

  I don’t know how Maciej is always so persuasive. I’m afraid of the ratcheting once we’re past this, but this is gold. The data is already being collected, so why not use it to empower healthcare workers instead of selling skin cream?
  
  

• The Landlord Wants Facial Recognition in Its Rent-Stabilized Buildings. Why?
  Ginia Bellafante - The New York Times (14 Jun 2020)
  

  I heard about this story after seeing Cory Doctorow speak at Berkeley. I hate the idea of a two tier system like this, and I understand why the building owners would think it’s a good idea, but it goes against the spirit of section 8 and the rent-control regulations in big cities. To a much lesser degree I live this situation, as I am a near-market rate tenant in a really old building in San Francisco. Every once in a while, one of my neighbors asks me to email our landlord, to ask him to fix small issues that he’d ignore if they came from someone who’s been living here for decades, and who pays a fraction of what I pay.
  
  

• Twelve Million Phones, One Dataset, Zero Privacy
  Stuart A. Thompson and Charlie Warzel - The New York Times (14 Jun 2020)
  

  A frightening article. This data is being collected in so many different places, by so many decentralized players that it is impossible to put the genie back in the bottle.