Sunday, August 10, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Police extend drone surveillance over Stockholm

Mass surveillance

Published 25 January 2024
– By Editorial Staff
2 minute read

The police’s agreement regarding surveillance using drones in Stockholm has been extended. The stated purpose of the surveillance is to not only detect crimes but also to prevent them.

In February, police in Stockholm County announced that they had decided to conduct camera surveillance of parts of the region using drones in order to reduce crime and increase security in crime-prone areas.

The police have now decided to extend the agreement for the use of unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in 28 selected areas.

– We see that there is a risk of crime in these areas. Then we have mainly looked at the risk of violent acts, shootings and explosions, but also previous crime statistics, says Emil Eisersjö, Deputy Commander of Operation Frigg, to Mitt i Stockholm. Operation Frigg is the new national initiative of the Swedish police against organized crime.

The surveillance is mainly for crime prevention purposes, as the police already have legal support to send up drones during ongoing criminal events. In the past year, it has been used once a day, says Eisersjö.

The agreement is criticized by lawyer Peter Hellman, who points to a study by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå), which shows that camera surveillance can be effective as a crime prevention measure in certain areas, such as parking lots and residential areas – but not in central city centers, public transportation or special residential areas with multi-family houses. Nor did it help reduce violent crime, according to the study. With that in mind, he stresses the importance of balancing the potential benefits of surveillance with privacy.

– The police are making sweeping assessments that cover large areas where many innocent people who are not committing crimes live, he says.

The new agreement is effective through March 4, but could be extended or focused on specific areas.

Facts: Surveillance with UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems)

Police authorities in Sweden are authorized to conduct camera surveillance in public places when there is a risk of serious crime. The stated purpose of this surveillance is to prevent, deter or detect crime and to assist in the investigation and prosecution of crime. Footage collected by these cameras can be used as evidence in legal proceedings, especially in cases where there are no eyewitnesses. This can be critical to the outcome of a case.

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Facebook’s insidious surveillance: VPN app spied on users

Mass surveillance

Published yesterday 14:45
– By Editorial Staff
2 minute read

In 2013, Facebook acquired the Israeli company Onavo for approximately 120 million dollars. Onavo was marketed as a VPN app that would protect users’ data, reduce mobile usage, and secure online activities. Over 33 million people downloaded the app believing it would strengthen their privacy.

In reality, Onavo gave Facebook complete insight into users’ phones – including which apps were used, how long they were open, and which websites were visited.

According to court documents and regulatory authorities, Facebook used this data to identify trends and map potential competitors. By analyzing user patterns in apps like Houseparty, YouTube, Amazon, and Snapchat, the company could determine which platforms posed a threat to its market dominance.

When Snapchat’s popularity began to explode in 2016, Facebook encountered a problem: encrypted traffic prevented insight into users’ behavior, reports Business Today. To circumvent this, Facebook launched an internal operation called “Project Ghostbusters”.

Facebook engineers developed specially adapted code based on Onavo’s infrastructure. The app installed a so-called root certificate on users’ phones – consent was hidden in legal documentation – which enabled Facebook to create fake certificates that mimicked Snapchat’s servers.

This made it possible to decrypt and analyze Snapchat’s traffic internally. The purpose was to use the information as a basis for strategic decisions, product development, or potential acquisitions.

Snapchat said no – Facebook copied instead

Based on data from Onavo, Facebook offered to buy Snapchat for 3 billion dollars. When Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel declined, Facebook responded by launching Instagram Stories – a direct copy of Snapchat’s most popular feature. This became a decisive move in the competition between the two platforms.

In 2018, Apple removed Onavo from the App Store, citing that the app violated the company’s data protection rules. Facebook responded by launching a new app: Facebook Research, internally called Project Atlas, which offered similar surveillance functions. This time, the company paid users – some as young as 13 – up to 20 dollars per month to install the app.

When Apple discovered this, the company acted forcefully and revoked Facebook’s enterprise development certificates. This meant that all internal iOS apps were temporarily stopped – one of Apple’s most far-reaching measures ever.

In 2020, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) sued Facebook, now called Meta, for misleading users with false promises about privacy. In 2023, Meta’s subsidiaries were fined a total of 20 million Australian dollars (approximately €11 million) for misleading behavior.

Why it still matters

Business Insider emphasizes that the Onavo story is not just about a misleading app. It also illustrates how one of the world’s most powerful tech companies built a surveillance system disguised as a privacy tool.

The fact that Facebook used the data to map competitors, copy features, and maintain control over the social media market – and also targeted underage users for data collection – raises additional ethical questions.

“Even a decade later, Onavo remains a case study in how ‘data is power’ and how far companies are willing to go to get it”, the publication concludes.

Amazon acquires AI company that records everything you say

Mass surveillance

Published 27 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
3 minute read

Tech giant Amazon has acquired the Swedish AI company Bee, which develops wearable devices that continuously record users’ conversations. The deal signals Amazon’s ambitions to expand within AI-driven hardware beyond its voice-controlled home assistants.

The acquisition was confirmed by Bee founder Maria de Lourdes Zollo in a LinkedIn post, while Amazon told tech site TechCrunch that the deal has not yet been completed. Bee employees have been offered positions within Amazon.

AI wristband that listens constantly

Bee, which raised €6.4 million in venture capital last year, manufactures both a standalone wristband similar to Fitbit and an Apple Watch app. The product costs €46 (approximately $50) plus a monthly subscription of €17 ($18).

The device records everything it hears – unless the user manually turns it off – with the goal of listening to conversations to create reminders and to-do lists. According to the company’s website, they want “everyone to have access to a personal, ambient intelligence that feels less like a tool and more like a trusted companion.”

Bee has previously expressed plans to create a “cloud phone” that mirrors the user’s phone and gives the device access to accounts and notifications, which would enable reminders about events or sending messages.

Competitors struggle in the market

Other companies like Rabbit and Humane AI have tried to create similar AI-driven wearable devices but so far without major success. However, Bee’s device is significantly more affordable than competitors’ – the Humane AI Pin cost €458 – making it more accessible to curious consumers who don’t want to make a large financial investment.

The acquisition marks Amazon’s interest in wearable AI devices, a different direction from the company’s voice-controlled home assistants like Echo speakers. Meanwhile, ChatGPT creator OpenAI is working on its own AI hardware, while Meta is integrating its AI into smart glasses and Apple is rumored to be working on the same thing.

Privacy concerns remain

Products that continuously record the environment carry significant security and privacy risks. Different companies have varying policies for how voice recordings are processed, stored, and used for AI training.

In its current privacy policy, Bee says users can delete their data at any time and that audio recordings are not saved, stored, or used for AI training. However, the app does store data that the AI learns about the user, which is necessary for the assistant function.

Bee has previously indicated plans to only record voices from people who have verbally given consent. The company is also working on a feature that lets users define boundaries – both based on topic and location – that automatically pause the device’s learning. They also plan to build AI processing directly into the device, which generally involves fewer privacy risks than cloud-based data processing.

However, it’s unclear whether these policies will change when Bee is integrated into Amazon. Amazon has previously had mixed results when it comes to handling user data from customers’ devices.

The company has shared video clips with law enforcement from people’s Ring security cameras without the owner’s consent or court order. Ring also reached a settlement in 2023 with the Federal Trade Commission after allegations that employees and contractors had broad and unrestricted access to customers’ video recordings.

Now you’re forced to pay for Facebook or be tracked by Meta

Mass surveillance

Published 22 July 2025
– By Editorial Staff
2 minute read

Social media giant Meta is now implementing its criticized “pay or be tracked” model for Swedish users. Starting Thursday, Facebook users in Sweden and some other EU-countries are forced to choose between paying €7 per month for an ad-free experience or accepting extensive data collection. Meanwhile, the company faces daily fines from the EU if the model isn’t changed.

Swedish Facebook users have been greeted since Thursday morning with a new choice when logging into the platform. A message informs them that “you must make a choice to use Facebook” and explains that users “have a legal right to choose whether you want to consent to us processing your personal data to show you ads.”

Screenshot from Facebook.

The choice is between two alternatives: either pay €7 monthly for an ad-free Facebook account where personal data isn’t processed for advertising, or consent to Meta collecting and using personal data for targeted ads.

As a third alternative, “less personalized ads” is offered, which means Meta uses somewhat less personal data for advertising purposes.

Screenshot from Facebook.

Background in EU legislation

The introduction of the payment model comes after the European Commission in March launched investigations of Meta along with Apple and Google for suspected violations of the DMA (Digital Markets Act). For Meta’s part, the investigation specifically concerns the new payment model.

In April, Meta was fined under DMA legislation and ordered to pay €200 million in fines because the payment model was not considered to meet legal requirements. Meta has appealed the decision.

According to reports from Reuters at the end of June, the social media giant now risks daily penalties if the company doesn’t make necessary changes to its payment model to comply with EU regulations.

The new model represents Meta’s attempt to adapt to stricter European data legislation while the company tries to maintain its advertising revenue through the alternative payment route.

RFK Jr wants health trackers on every American within four years

Mass surveillance

Published 26 June 2025
– By Editorial Staff
"We think that wearables are a key to the MAHA agenda", Kennedy claims.
3 minute read

US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has presented a plan for all Americans to wear body-monitoring technology that tracks their health in real time.

The measure is described as a crucial part of the national initiative MAHA – Make America Healthy Again – which aims to reverse America’s widespread public health crisis using modern technology.

During a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday, Kennedy revealed that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will launch one of its most extensive campaigns ever – to get Americans to wear so-called wearables, body-worn technology that collects health data around the clock.

– We’re about to launch the biggest advertising campaign in HHS history to encourage Americans to use wearables, Kennedy said.

Products mentioned in the initiative include FitBit, Oura Ring, and Apple Watch – popular devices that can measure heart rate, movement, sleep, and in some cases even blood glucose.

– It’s a way people can take control over their own health. They can take responsibility. They can see, as you know, what food is doing to their glucose levels, their heart rates, and a number of other metrics, as they eat it, he explained in a statement also published on the X platform.

“Key to the MAHA agenda”

Kennedy emphasized that he sees the technology as a crucial part of his vision:

– We think that wearables are a key to the MAHA agenda of making America healthy again and my vision is that every American is wearing a wearable in four years.

The Secretary, who belongs to the influential Kennedy family, often emphasizes individual responsibility for health but also links the issue to national security. During his Senate hearing, he described America’s obesity epidemic which now affects about 40 percent of the population as a threat to military readiness.

“Reduce global metabolic suffering”

One of the leading advocates for this type of technology is also President Trump’s nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. Casey Means. She is co-founder of Levels, a company that develops and sells Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGM) sensors attached directly to the skin that send blood glucose values to an app in real time.

Means claims in a blog post that “these small plastic discs” can “reduce global metabolic suffering” and provide much-needed help to the “93.2 percent of people” suffering from metabolic issues.

The food industry is also affected by MAHA. Kennedy recently revealed that Starbucks will make changes to its menu in line with the agenda – even though the company already avoids several common additives such as artificial colors, flavors, and high-fructose corn syrup.

Earlier this year, Kennedy implemented a ban on artificial colors in U.S. food production one of his first major interventions as Secretary. Critics have questioned both methods and priorities in the MAHA policy, but Kennedy sees it as a first step toward a healthier and more responsible nation.

Concerns about mass surveillance

The use of wearable health technology has raised questions about users’ right to privacy. Most health trackers collect large amounts of sensitive information including heart rate, sleep patterns, movement, and blood glucose levels stored in apps connected to companies.

Critics argue that there is a lack of clear transparency in how this data is used, shared, or sold, and that state-encouraged collection of health data risks blurring the line between voluntary health monitoring and systematic surveillance.

While Kennedy emphasizes voluntariness, some analysts warn that large-scale campaigns and technology adaptations by major companies may create indirect pressure to participate.

As more institutions such as employers, schools, or businesses adapt to health tracking, there is a risk that those who opt out may be seen as deviant, receive worse conditions, or be excluded from parts of society.

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