New Group Attacking iPhone Encryption Backed by U.S. Political Dark-Money Network
A new, well-funded pressure group is fighting to get Apple to weaken iPhone privacy protections in the name of catching child predators.
Sam Biddle
Sam Biddle is a technology reporter focusing on issues of surveillance, privacy, and corporate power. He was previously a senior writer at Gawker, and his work has also appeared in GQ, Vice, and the New York Times magazine, among other outlets.
Contacts:
- sam.biddle@theintercept.com
- +1 978 261 7389 on Signal
- @sambiddle on Keybase
- @sambiddle.bsky.social on Bluesky
- @samfbiddle on X
- SecureDrop
Posts:
Top Biden Cyber Official Accused of Workplace Misconduct at NSA in 2014 — and Again at White House Last Year
A previously unreported NSA inspector general report about Anne Neuberger reveals disarray and dysfunction at the top of the cybersecurity hierarchy.
Meta Overhauls Controversial “Dangerous Organizations” Censorship Policy
In an internal update obtained by The Intercept, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company admits its rules stifled legitimate political speech.
The Online Christian Counterinsurgency Against Sex Workers
Evangelical military vets are using “counterterror” internet surveillance techniques to help police get search warrants against sex workers.
The War on Immigrants
Texas State Police Purchased Israeli Phone-Tracking Software for “Border Emergency”
The software was licensed as part of Gov. Greg Abbott’s troubled Operation Lone Star border crackdown.
Pentagon Joins Elon Musk’s War Against Plane Tracking
The U.S. military’s elite special operations command doesn’t want its planes tracked, according to a procurement document.
The War on Immigrants
LexisNexis Is Selling Your Personal Data to ICE So It Can Try to Predict Crimes
ICE uses LexisNexis to track people's cars, gather information on people, and make arrests for its deportation machine, according to a contract.
Pentagon’s Secret Service Trawls Social Media for Mean Tweets About Generals
A document shows the Protective Services Battalion uses sophisticated surveillance tools that can pinpoint anyone’s location.
Algorithm Used in Jordanian World Bank Aid Program Stiffs the Poorest
The algorithm used for the cash relief program is broken, a Human Rights Watch report found.
The End of Roe
U.S. Marshals Spied on Abortion Protesters Using Dataminr
Twitter’s “official partner” monitored the precise time and location of post-Roe demonstrations, internal emails show.