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Local law enforcement officials across the country, from Southern California to rural parts of North Carolina, have been using an obscure tracking tool for cell phones, sometimes without warrants. The tool has reportedly been used in New Jersey as well, and it allows law enforcement to follow people’s movements from months in the past, according to public records and emails The Associated Press was able to obtain.
Continue reading Cell Phone Tracking Tool Facilitates Mass Surveillance
By Karen Turner March 28 at 11:15 AM
A new study shows that knowledge of government surveillance causes people to self-censor their dissenting opinions online. The research offers a sobering look at the oft-touted “democratizing” effect of social media and Internet access that bolsters minority opinion.
The study, published in Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, studied the effects of subtle reminders of mass surveillance on its subjects. The majority of participants reacted by suppressing opinions that they perceived to be in the minority. This research illustrates the silencing effect of participants’ dissenting opinions in the wake of widespread knowledge of government surveillance, as revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden in 2013.