In June, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) signed an acquisition plan for a 5-year, nearly $5.3 million contract for a controversial surveillance tool called Tangles from tech firm PenLink, according to records obtained by the Texas Observer through a public information request. The deal is nearly twice as large as the company’s $2.7 million two-year contract with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Tangles is an artificial intelligence-powered web platform that scrapes information from the open, deep, and dark web. Tangles’ premier add-on feature, WebLoc, is controversial among digital privacy advocates. Any client who purchases access to WebLoc can track different mobile devices’ movements in a specific, virtual area selected by the user, through a capability called “geofencing.” Users of software like Tangles can do this without a search warrant or subpoena. (In a high-profile ruling, the Fifth Circuit recently held that police cannot compel companies like Google to hand over data obtained through geofencing.) Device-tracking services rely on location pings and other personal data pulled from smartphones, usually via in-app advertisers. Surveillance tech companies then buy this information from data brokers and sell access to it as part of their products.
WebLoc can even be used to access a device’s mobile ad ID, a string of numbers and letters that acts as a unique identifier for mobile devices in the ad marketing ecosystem, according to a US Office of Naval Intelligence procurement notice.
Wolfie Christl, a public interest researcher and digital rights activist based in Vienna, Austria, argues that data collected for a specific purpose, such as navigation or dating apps, should not be used by different parties for unrelated reasons. “It’s a disaster,” Christl told the Observer. “It’s the largest possible imaginable decontextualization of data. … This cannot be how our future digital society looks like.”
This is something that was going to happen eventually it’s just kind of ironic that it’s a deep red state going for government surveillance like this
Nothing says “small government” and “freedom” quite like mass surveillance.
They need mass surveillance to put down the protests for
freedom… errr to protect freedom (white people freedomrich white people freedom).
Every accusation is a confession. Always.
Red states have more poor, desperate people with guns so better keep them from getting uppity.
Totally on brand really. Republicans want to eliminate white collar crime (by never prosecuting it) and catch 110% of blue collar crimes.
Should gather Abbott’s device id and his families, and post all of their data in a constant stream of location, search results, and such. Soon as his and his families families data is being posted they’ll rethink it as a privacy issue.
But doxing is illegal 🤪
Not doxxing, just tracking and auditing a public servant.
Ahh yes, the freedom loving state. Texas. That’s right.
As a reminder, Texas has been Republican controlled for roughly 28 years.
Texas doesn’t have Texan problems; it has Republican ones.
And what would you call that ? A Texas problem. Republicans. Somebody has to vote for the fuckers
The venn diagram is a circle.
Big brother in action. Got to keep those women in line. /s
I know what you mean by /s but seriously that’s gotta be one of the drivers behind this decision. If Republicans control the state after the next gubernatorial election I could totally see a new law to punish the patient of a abortion (it just targets doctors for now).
Will they finally see or hear me say
FUCK GREG ABBOTT
I hope they can, I’m doing it as hard as I can …
Is there anyway we can open source this technology? I’d love to surveil police and politician phones if possible.
Government know people love to keep track of police and politicians so they are making it illegal.
Device-tracking services rely on location pings and other personal data pulled from smartphones, usually via in-app advertisers. Surveillance tech companies then buy this information from data brokers and sell access to it as part of their products.
WebLoc can even be used to access a device’s mobile ad ID, a string of numbers and letters that acts as a unique identifier for mobile devices.
As if you needed more reasons to use an ad-blocker.
This one should be such a goddamn no-brainer to make illegal.
This is why I’m so adamant about privacy. The govt has already been caught several times buying up data from data brokers for “predictive policing”. They’ve been using it in Pasco County, FL to harrass people day and night into either committing a crime so they can arrest them or leaving town. Once you put that data out there, there’s no getting rid of it.
Weird ass fcking state. Can we pawn this one off to Mexico?
Jesus just bomb them if you hate them that much.
Yeah thats true. I love Mexico. I shouldn’t wish a fate like sending Texans upon them.
Make sure to support the government in the next elections so they can spend more public money on “security”
And they’ll “catch” just enough “criminals” (read: non-white people) to give Fox News some metrics they can blow out of proportion for the gullible, rural rubes.
nobody has ever said “remember that good thing that came out of texas”.
If it’s not food, then yeah, we’re setting all the wrong precedents.
Y’all aren’t exactly known for great food either lol
As a Texan who has no pride in their state at all and is actively making plans to move to a different state, I strongly disagree.
Yeah, I’m not a Texan but I also disagree about this. Also, Austin has produced some amazing music over the years (for example, random Austin band I’ve been in love with recently is Being Dead).
It’s a shame the politicians suck so hard, because they could make a killing on tourism if they’d get out of their own way.
Name food or foods that originated in Texas that are worth even a mention.
WHO THE FUCK CARES THE COPS HAVE A LEGAL DEVICE TRACKER CAN WE PLEASE STOP MEMEING AND FOCUS FOR ONE FUCKDAMN MINUTE?!
My dude, they do some decent ribs.
BBQ didn’t originate in Texas, my dude.
100% correct
Isn’t the US already a surveillance country?
Not to this extent.
NSA: AM I A JOKE TO YOU??
It is, but mostly at the Federal level and depending on who’s in the Whitehouse they’re not apt to share that data with the states.
I just learned you can delete you device id on Android 12 or higher under privacy settings.
Is this the same as the advertising id?
In my phone it said “Advertising ID”. Just deleted mine. Really annoyed this was on by default. Are Linux phones a thing yet? I’m tempted to get the most basic bitch phone for work (they’ll never support a rooted phone or things like that) and a different personal phone that I have TOTAL control over.
Im planning on getting a pixel phone next time I switch and will install grapheneos on it. Fuck safetynet compatibility. I’m tired of all the bullshit I have to endure on my Samsung phone.
Custom ROM?
Linux phones are coming along, Posh is very promising and helping make Linux on mobile possible https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosh
I prefer the GNOME-Mobile DE on phone 😃 but I think goid hardware (like, not 2015 specs) is more the problem than good software right now
Get a Pixel phone and flash GrapheneOS onto it. Best out-of-box privacy and security experience that currently exists still with great usability IMO. Does not have an advertising ID or even Google Play services by default. Also, it actually has better battery life in my experience.
Texas reeks of freedom.
Freedom rations are going up this week from 10 to 8!
Small government.
So they only needed to say that all this shit is completely depersonalized and so on for the time being, until they did this like thieves they are.
Typical.
It’s also really funny when people say “oh but it’s a democratic country with institutions and rule of law doing this, so it’s fine”, because this is how a country stops being that. Well, people don’t say this about anything in USA, they usually say this about the EU.
This is why we the humanity can’t have nice things.
Because when we build a nice thing, some jerks decide that we can break it and still have it, because we “already have it”. Completely illogical, but all proponents of government control against freedom and rules-based order against humanism are like that.
