Your Data Will Be Used Against You: Policing in the Age of Self-Surveillance

Consumer smart devices are revolutionizing law enforcement, helping solve many previously unsolvable crimes but also providing new pathways for abuse, according to this informative study. George Washington University law professor Ferguson (The Rise of Big Data Policing) spotlights cases in which police gathered vital evidence from gadgetry: a husband nailed for killing his wife because his Google Nest camera recorded the crime, a hit-and-run driver nabbed when her 911 Assist app called the police to report the crash, and a man cleared when his Fitbit indicated that he was immobile at home when the victim was being killed elsewhere. But the author also notes abuses, particularly when data gleaned from smart devices isn’t used to bolster a particular investigation but as a surveillance tool, such as cases in which flawed facial recognition systems have led to wrongful imprisonment. The author argues that stronger regulations are needed to make sure smart device data is protected from warrantless search and seizure (right now, he notes, such data is alarmingly open in general, including to the police). It’s an illuminating look at how personal tech is rapidly changing law enforcement and an urgent warning that Fourth Amendment rights are under threat. (Mar.)