LFI Course Materials 2020/Week twelve

Week 10: The rise in consumer surveillance devices

• Real time lecture May 25th 11 Pacific/2 Eastern on Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/9129428892

Overview

One of the newest forms of surveillance is the consumer device -- high-tech gadgets like Amazon Ring or Amazon Echo that have been popping up inside and outside homes for the last several years. All of these devices include always-on, always-recording microphones, and many of them cameras as well. They provide new opportunities for both Big Tech and police to have access to our lives and the lives of our neighbors. This week, we'll hear from Dr. Chris Gilliard about these new devices and why it's both challenging and vital to fight back against them.

Readings

• Should you buy an Amazon Ring doorbell? https://www.aclu.org/blog/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/should-you-buy-ring-doorbell-camera
• Amazon Ring's police partnerships https://www.mic.com/p/amazon-rings-police-partnerships-the-focus-of-open-letter-from-36-civil-rights-groups-19197774
• Amazon's Ring planned neighborhood watchlists based on facial recognition: https://theintercept.com/2019/11/26/amazon-ring-home-security-facial-recognition/
• Ring's hidden data let us map Amazon's sprawling home surveillance network: https://gizmodo.com/ring-s-hidden-data-let-us-map-amazons-sprawling-home-su-1840312279
• Leaked pics from Amazon Ring show potential new surveillance features https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/04/ring-cameras-may-someday-scan-license-plates-and-faces-leak-shows/

Guest lecturer

Dr. Chris Gilliard, Professor of English at Macomb Community College, hypervisible.com

Discussion

TBD

Tasks

• Lecture, readings, discussion forum, and final project work