SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
(Photo: Mark Nozell / Creative Commons)
Obama Admin Intervening to Muzzle Police Departments on Surveillance
New AP report exposes 'unusual' federal attempts to block public records requests at local level
Jun 13, 2014
Interviews, court records and public-records requests show that the Obama administration has repeatedly taken the "unusual step" of getting directly involved in "routine state public records cases and criminal trials regarding use of the technology," resulting in police departments censoring or completely withholding the information from the public, according to journalists Jack Gillum and Eileen Sullivan.
The Obama administration's intervention "comes at a time when President Barack Obama has said he welcomes a debate on government surveillance and called for more transparency about spying in the wake of disclosures about classified federal surveillance programs," AP notes.
The withholding of information from the public is making it difficult for the public to gain information about surveillance technology like Stingray, which tricks cell phones into providing tracking and identification information.
_____________________
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare was a staff writer for Common Dreams from 2013-2016. She is currently web editor and reporter for In These Times.
Interviews, court records and public-records requests show that the Obama administration has repeatedly taken the "unusual step" of getting directly involved in "routine state public records cases and criminal trials regarding use of the technology," resulting in police departments censoring or completely withholding the information from the public, according to journalists Jack Gillum and Eileen Sullivan.
The Obama administration's intervention "comes at a time when President Barack Obama has said he welcomes a debate on government surveillance and called for more transparency about spying in the wake of disclosures about classified federal surveillance programs," AP notes.
The withholding of information from the public is making it difficult for the public to gain information about surveillance technology like Stingray, which tricks cell phones into providing tracking and identification information.
_____________________
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare was a staff writer for Common Dreams from 2013-2016. She is currently web editor and reporter for In These Times.
Interviews, court records and public-records requests show that the Obama administration has repeatedly taken the "unusual step" of getting directly involved in "routine state public records cases and criminal trials regarding use of the technology," resulting in police departments censoring or completely withholding the information from the public, according to journalists Jack Gillum and Eileen Sullivan.
The Obama administration's intervention "comes at a time when President Barack Obama has said he welcomes a debate on government surveillance and called for more transparency about spying in the wake of disclosures about classified federal surveillance programs," AP notes.
The withholding of information from the public is making it difficult for the public to gain information about surveillance technology like Stingray, which tricks cell phones into providing tracking and identification information.
_____________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.