New frontiers of technological surveillance

A prison in Atlanta, Georgia has introduced a state-of-the-art monitoring system that not only records the whereabouts of inmates, but also their heartbeat. This system, developed by Talitrix, uses hundreds of sensors attached to inmate-wearable bracelets, similar to those of Fitbits. Although prison authorities say the technology will improve security and compensate for staff shortages, privacy experts see the move as yet another attack on prisoners' rights.

Beyond the prison walls: monitoring and privacy apps

In India, an app called Covenant Eyes is used by arbiters to monitor a family. This application records every action performed on a device, sending screenshots and network requests to an "ally", in this case two probation officers. This surveillance led to the arrest of a man accused of possession of child pornography. However, glitches in the app may have caused a false alarm, underscoring the importance of scrutinizing tracking technologies.

Government data collection and invasion of privacy

Globally, the collection of government data can have significant privacy consequences. In India, an alleged cyber-attack on the CoWIN vaccine tracking app is believed to have exposed the data of millions of people. In the United States, a recently declassified report revealed that spy agencies acquired massive amounts of data on almost every American citizen by buying it from commercial data brokers, potentially bypassing constitutional protections.

National security concerns

National security fears in the United States are intensifying, with the use of encryption chips manufactured by a subsidiary of a company on the US Department of Commerce's "Entity List" by government entities, including the Navy of the United States, NATO and NASA. The company, Hualan, was placed on the list due to its close ties to the Chinese military, raising concerns about possible unauthorized access. Meanwhile, a Russia-based ransomware gang known as the Clop has launched a hacking campaign against government agencies and international companies by exploiting a vulnerability in the MOVEit file transfer service. The full extent of the stolen data and the list of targets remain uncertain.