Cops wanted to keep mass surveillance app secret; privacy advocates refused

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Associated Press have revealed that nearly two dozen local police agencies in the United States use a Google Maps-like tech called Fog Reveal to surveil citizens. This software is licensed by Fog Data Science, which draws its data from Venntel, the same source used by federal agencies. The investigation showed how local law enforcement increasingly mines location data for criminal investigations and traced the movements of a potential participant in the January 6 Capitol insurrection using Fog Reveal. However, some agencies stopped using the software due to insufficient information for aid in their investigations.