Latest from Drew Harwell

Wyden urges ban on sale of Americans’ personal data to ‘unfriendly’ foreign governments

The proposal, a copy of which was reviewed by The Washington Post, would treat Americans’ personal data with the same caution as powerful weaponry, using export-control laws to block its sale to countries marked as potential security threats.
  • Apr 15, 2021

Wrongfully arrested man sues Detroit police over false facial recognition match

The case could fuel criticism of police investigators’ use of a controversial technology that has been shown to perform worse on people of color.
  • Apr 13, 2021

A QAnon revelation suggests the truth of Q’s identity was right there all along

The extremist movement’s leader had purported to be a top-secret government operative. But a possible slip-up in a new documentary about QAnon suggests that Q was actually Ron Watkins, the longtime administrator of the 8kun message board.
  • Apr 5, 2021

How America’s surveillance networks helped the FBI catch the Capitol mob

A Washington Post review of hundreds of pages of court records reveals how the FBI used license plate scanners, facial recognition software and other controversial surveillance technologies to hunt down Capitol rioters during one of the biggest criminal investigations in American history.
  • Apr 2, 2021

Accused Atlanta gunman’s church expels him, as local Korean church leaders mourn, call for action

The conservative Baptist church said Sunday that he is no longer considered a “regenerate believer in Jesus Christ.”
  • Mar 21, 2021

Anti-Asian attacks rise along with online vitriol

Data shows that terms such as “China,” “Wuhan” and “flu” have surged on far-right forums on Telegram, 8kun and TheDonald.win since the election.
  • Mar 17, 2021

Fever scanner company reverses decision, saying tool cited in FDA warning will continue to be sold

The company had previously said it was "retiring” the device while it looked into the FDA’s concerns.
  • Mar 10, 2021

Massive camera hack exposes the growing reach and intimacy of American surveillance

A breach of the camera start-up Verkada "should be a wake-up call to the dangers of self-surveillance,” one expert said. “Our desire for some fake sense of security is its own security threat.”
  • Mar 10, 2021

Fever-scanner company pulls device off market following FDA warning

The FDA on Thursday sent a warning letter to Certify, saying it had not been authorized to sell the device for multi-person scanning.
  • Mar 5, 2021

Those fever scanners that everyone is using to fight covid can be wildly inaccurate, researchers find

A flood of thermal scanners hit the market last year. But researchers say many of the devices use software that can make a feverish person appear perfectly well.
  • Mar 4, 2021
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