• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • HOME
  • NEWS+OPINIONS
    • NEWS TO US
    • COLUMNS
      • APPARENT HORIZON
      • DEAR READER
      • Close
    • LONGFORM FEATURES
    • OPINIONS
    • EDITORIAL
    • Close
  • ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
    • FILM
    • MUSIC
    • COMEDY
    • PERFORMING ARTS
    • VISUAL ARTS
    • Close
  • DINING+DRINKING
    • EATS
    • SIPS
    • Close
  • LIFESTYLE
    • CANNABIS
      • TALKING JOINTS MEMO
      • Close
    • WELLNESS
    • GTFO
    • Close
  • STUFF TO DO
  • TICKETS
  • ABOUT US
    • 5 DOUBLE-U’S
    • MASTHEAD
    • DISTRIBUTION
    • ADVERTISE
    • SUBMISSIONS
    • PRIVACY POLICY
    • Close
  • BECOME A MEMBER

Dig Bos

The Dig - Boston's Only Newspaper

CURRENT STREET EDITION

DIG 23.05 – 4/8/21

THE GREATER BOSTON INSTAGRAM SURVEILLANCE CHALLENGE: FLICK THE POLICE

Written by CHRIS FARAONE Posted August 25, 2015 Filed Under: Media Farm, NEWS+OPINIONS

Copy of #BINJbrother Ad (1)

Image by Kent Buckley

 

Not long ago, at one of the innumerable media conferences I’ve attended in the past few years, the topic turned to mass surveillance, a subject over which I happen to obsess. Among dozens of other blog posts and features I have written about troubling technologies like Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs), last year I led a team at DigBoston in impugning facial recognition software that the city used in secret.

 

“Boston Trolling,” the aforementioned series co-written by Kenneth Lipp and Jonathan Riley about local uses of biometrics and other newfangled incarnations of Big Brother, wound up running in four parts and being aggregated by dozens of outlets. The New York Times recently noted our discovery, though they failed to cite us, and furthermore, they allowed the Boston Police Department to rhetorically erase their ugly record and evade criticism. This is how history gets whitewashed:

 

The authorities in Boston tested facial recognition technology but decided in 2013 not to adopt it, saying it crossed an ethical line. The software had been linked to surveillance cameras to secretly scan the faces of thousands of people at outdoor concerts in the city center. The images had then been fed into software capable of analyzing them.

 

“I don’t want people to think we’re always spying on them,” said William B. Evans, Boston’s police commissioner.

 

Though Times reporters have no clue what’s happening around here, in staying on the case for so long, the Dig has effectively unearthed several thousand damning documents about the metastasized police state in the Commonwealth. We write about these issues nearly every week, to the point of nausea, and will continue to do so until more people listen and pitch in to reverse the curse. What we haven’t been able to find yet, however, is a definitive list of surveillance devices used by all participating government agencies. That’s where you come in.

 

But back to that journalism conference for a second … I was complaining about the difficulty I have had obtaining a compendium of cameras, reference codes and all, when one of the other attendees said, “You’ll just have to go and count them yourself.” She was joking, and certainly no single reporter could inventory the presumably tens of thousands of prying eyes belonging to the MBTA, the Commonwealth, and the City of Boston. At the same time, she was on to something, and I think it’s this …

 

As my research and that of others has shown, the police apparatus tasked with operating so-called smart surveillance has routinely failed to store data safely, to stay organized, and to share everything they should with the public. That bureaucratic mess considered, my teammates at DigBoston and the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism are convinced that there is only one way to efficiently map the police state — we have to do it ourselves, together! You. Me. Everyone. We’re on Instagram all day anyway, so we might as well combine that muscle to protect the common good.

 

We’ll comb through the countless tweets and posts and parse all of the data, which we will use to inform critical stories. All you have to do is snap the pics and use the hashtag #BINJbrother. Thank you in advance for your assistance.

CHRIS FARAONE

A Queens, NY native who came to New England in 2004 to earn his MA in journalism at Boston University, Chris Faraone is the editor and co-publisher of DigBoston and a co-founder of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. He has published several books including 99 Nights with the 99 Percent, and has written liner notes for hip-hop gods including Cypress Hill, Pete Rock, Nas, and various members of the Wu-Tang Clan.

More from author
  • CHRIS FARAONE
    https://digboston.com/author/chris-faraone/
    HOW JULIET HIT A $100K KICKSTARTER GOAL IN 4 DAYS
  • CHRIS FARAONE
    https://digboston.com/author/chris-faraone/
    IF YOU’RE SURPRISED THE BPD CODDLED AN ACCUSED MOLESTER COP, YOU’RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION
  • CHRIS FARAONE
    https://digboston.com/author/chris-faraone/
    DEAR READER: THE POLITICAL SEASON IS UPON US. EMBRACE IT.
  • CHRIS FARAONE
    https://digboston.com/author/chris-faraone/
    VIDEO: CHECK OUT THE NEW DIG MUSIC ISSUE - ON STREETS NOW!

Filed Under: Media Farm, NEWS+OPINIONS Tagged With: #BINJbrother, Beacon Hill, biometrics, Boston, Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism, Boston Police Department, Boston Trolling, BPD, Cambridge, facial recognition, hashtag, instagram, New York Times, Politics, software contracts, surveillance, Twitter, whitewashing

WHAT’S NEW

IF YOU’RE SURPRISED THE BPD CODDLED AN ACCUSED MOLESTER COP, YOU’RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION

IF YOU’RE SURPRISED THE BPD CODDLED AN ACCUSED MOLESTER COP, YOU’RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION

PICS & RECAP: COMMUNITY CANDLE VIGIL HONORING VICTIMS OF ANTI-ASIAN VIOLENCE

PICS & RECAP: COMMUNITY CANDLE VIGIL HONORING VICTIMS OF ANTI-ASIAN VIOLENCE

CAMBRIDGE CHURCH MINISTER SPEAKS ABOUT RECENT VANDALISM OF SIGN

CAMBRIDGE CHURCH MINISTER SPEAKS ABOUT RECENT VANDALISM OF SIGN

PRESSLEY MEETS WITH LOCAL 26 WORKERS

PRESSLEY MEETS WITH LOCAL 26 WORKERS

THE HOUR THAT THE SHIP COMES IN

THE HOUR THAT THE SHIP COMES IN

JANEY OFFICIALLY DECLARES THAT SHE WILL RUN FOR FULL TERM

JANEY OFFICIALLY DECLARES THAT SHE WILL RUN FOR FULL TERM

Primary Sidebar

HEMPIRE FREEDOM PACK 25% OFF

FEATURED EVENT

Most Popular

  • VACCINE EQUITY NOW! COALITION ASKS BAKER TO ALLOCATE 20% OF NEW DOSES TO HARD HIT COMMUNITIES by SHIRA LAUCHAROEN
  • A NEW PLACE FOR MORE PEOPLE TO CALL HOME IN TOUGH TIMES by MARK EMMONS
  • rally to protest discrimination and crimes against Asian and Pacific islanders during Stop Asian Hate rally on Boston Common in Boston PICS & RECAP: “STOP ASIAN HATE BOSTON” RALLY ON THE COMMON by KEIKO HIROMI
  • IF YOU’RE SURPRISED THE BPD CODDLED AN ACCUSED MOLESTER COP, YOU’RE NOT PAYING ATTENTION by CHRIS FARAONE
  • A FAREWELL TRIBUTE (OF SORTS) TO MARTY WALSH by DIG STAFF

READ CURRENT MEMBER EDITION

DIG Member 2.1 – March 2021

READ CURRENT STREET ISSUE

DIG 23.05 – 4/8/21

Footer

digbos

digbos
“We’re not going to survive for 20 more years “We’re not going to survive for 20 more years if we don’t do this [move to a bigger space].” https://digboston.com/how-juliet-hit-a-100k-kickstarter-goal-in-4-days/ #restaurant #business #food #crowdfund #SomervilleMA #coronavirus #COVID19
EDITORIAL: DIGBOSTON SEEKS CLIMATE IDEAS FOR MAYOR EDITORIAL: DIGBOSTON SEEKS CLIMATE IDEAS FOR MAYOR KIM JANEY. Environmental organizations and individual activists invited to submit opinion articles for publication. https://digboston.com/editorial-digboston-seeks-climate-ideas-for-mayor-kim-janey/ #politics @boston_mayor #environment #globalwarming #climate #activist #callforsubmissions #policy #Boston #Massachusetts
“Most are some of my favorite bars or local clas “Most are some of my favorite bars or local classics that I’ve learned to love in my time living in the city. Others just have a great facade that I know would make a great drawing.” https://digboston.com/drawn-but-not-forgotten-local-artist-sketches-beloved-boston-restaurants/ #art #artist #sketch #drawing #Boston #Massachusetts #bar #restaurant
Despite #pandemic hurdles, Mass #music instructors Despite #pandemic hurdles, Mass #music instructors hit new high notes. “My #teaching has gone to another level.” https://digboston.com/the-medium-is-the-maestro/ #education #Massachusetts #coronavirus #COVID19
From the podcast to the book, Wayne Federman chron From the podcast to the book, Wayne Federman chronicles the business of joke-telling. https://digboston.com/the-history-of-stand-up-from-mark-twain-to-dave-chappelle/ #comedy #history #book #interview #Boston #Massachusetts
“I’m calling on some of you to drop by a local “I’m calling on some of you to drop by a local field office and hear what people have to say.” https://digboston.com/dear-reader-the-political-season-is-upon-us-embrace-it/ #politics #commentary #election #Massachusetts
“I think most people agree that we want our publ “I think most people agree that we want our public dollars to go to those companies that are not cutting corners.” https://digboston.com/bill-seeks-to-penalize-contractors-for-unsafe-conditions/ #politics #legislation #construction #safety #labor #Massachusetts
“It’s just shocking to me for Massachusetts, t “It’s just shocking to me for Massachusetts, the state that puts itself forward as this paragon of democracy. Those are just fundamental building blocks of a democratic society.” https://digboston.com/researchers-show-extent-of-lobbying-against-climate-bills-in-ma/ #environment #globalwarming #climate #crisis #politics #lobby #Massachusetts
I was lucky enough to get an extra #vaccine. Here’s how it went down. https://digboston.com/young-healthy-and-inoculated/ #young #youth #student #college #vaccination #publichealth #health #Boston #Massachusetts #coronavirus #COVID19
The MBTA confirmed that it will “fully fund its The MBTA confirmed that it will “fully fund its operating budget in the coming fiscal year and begin to restore cut service.” https://digboston.com/public-transit-public-good-responds-to-restoring-mbta-service/ #transportation #politics #Massachusetts
Load More... Follow on Instagram
Social Buttons

DigBoston facebook DigBoston Twitter DigBoston Instagram

Masthead

About

Submissions

Advertise

Privacy Policy

Customer Service

Distribution

About Us

DigBoston is a one-stop nexus for everything worth doing or knowing in the Boston area. It's an alt-weekly, it's a website, it's an e-mail blast, it's a twitter account, it's that cool party that you were at last night ... hey, you're reading it, so it's gotta be good. For advertising inquiries: [email protected] To reach Editorial: [email protected] For internship opportunities: [email protected]