“Surveillance Society” – Page 2

Surveillance pricing is discrimination by another name

In 2008, on The Price Is Right, retired meteorologist Terry Kniess gave exactly the correct answer – right down to the dollar! – on two grand prizes. Everyone assumed he had cheated, but he said he hadn’t – instead, he memorized the show’s predictable set of prices.

That mind-blowing feat couldn’t happen today. Companies have made it almost impossible to know when the price is “right,” thanks to endless data collection that changes how much things cost across both time and place. Businesses now commonly use computational systems to track behaviour and traits to figure out what consumers might tolerate paying, to extract the maximum possible amount of money from them. This goes by many names: Algorithmic, personalized, surveillant, or even “snitch” pricing (though some economists see it as the holy grail of market efficiency, since everyone is paying what they are willing to pay). Some companies even claim, weakly, that this data collection helps them to deliver personalized and optimized discounts. But no matter what you call it, the result is discriminatory – even as this variance becomes a dominant feature of the modern economy.

by Blazingcatfur•May 6, 2026May 5, 2026•0•"AI - Artificial Intelligence", "Surveillance Society"

Commons tracks Canadians’ Facebook posts about MPs in internal security files

House of Commons officials are keeping detailed internal records on what Canadians say about their elected representatives online, including comments posted to social media, according to testimony at a parliamentary committee.

Deputy Sergeant-at-Arms Paul Mellon told MPs the Commons maintains what he described as a “very robust records management system” that catalogues incidents involving members of Parliament, including online remarks that may be critical or offensive.

by Blazingcatfur•May 4, 2026May 4, 2026•0•"Surveillance Society", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, Freedom of speech

‘We Know You Live Right Here’: No Secrets in America’s New Surveillance Dragnet

Liz McLellan spent a morning in January witnessing the work of federal agents who had arrived in Maine to pursue the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Like other community activists, protesters and passersby around the U.S., McLellan took photos, including of an arrest. Then she followed a federal officer driving an unmarked vehicle to see where the agent was headed next.

McLellan was surprised when the agent led her to her own house and blocked her driveway. Other federal officers quickly arrived, boxing in her car with their own vehicles.

“This is a warning,” an agent told her, according to court records and a video recording. “We know you live right here.”

by Blazingcatfur•May 1, 2026May 1, 2026•0•"Surveillance Society"

President Trump Make Us An Offer!

Sliding into tyranny, one sunny way at a time. @fancypants_s https://t.co/FaRfwQQXjL

— Patti Jo (@TheSupeHero) April 23, 2026

Spread the word: Protests against Bill C-9 taking place across Canada on May 1

We’re entering a critical stretch in the fight against the Liberal government’s anti-religion Bill C-9.

This legislation directly threatens our fundamental freedoms of expression and religion, including the ability of Christians to live out their beliefs without fear of government prosecution.

Certain Bible passages will be effectively banned as “hate speech” if C-9 passes in the Senate.

Carney is making annexation more attractive by the day.

I hope the US accepts us as political refugees.

h/t Patti Jo

by Blazingcatfur•April 23, 2026April 23, 2026•0•"Surveillance Society", Freedom, freedom of religious expression, Freedom of speech

Child social media bans, the Trojan horse for the State surveillance of adults

AUSTRALIA’S government was the first to introduce a ban on under-age use of social media platforms. Though the ban, introduced in December for under-16s, likely had some positive effects, many teenagers had little difficulty outwitting the systems designed to lock them out.

The whole saga should serve as a warning to other governments of the folly of attempting to micro-manage children’s access to a widely accessible communications technology. Governments need to take a step back and ask themselves how they can support, rather than supplant, the supervisory role of parents.

by Blazingcatfur•April 22, 2026April 21, 2026•0•"Surveillance Society"

A New Online Harms Act Would Mean Canadians Talk Less Freely

Once it was confirmed that, for the first time, Canada would be ruled by a majority government achieved through floor-crossing, it didn’t take long for talk of a renewed Online Harms Act to be proposed.

Heritage Minister Marc Miller was approached after his party—thanks to winning three byelections to hold seats it had previously won in last year’s election and gaining five floor-crossing MPs—had turned a minority government into a majority with unfettered legislative power.

by Blazingcatfur•April 20, 2026April 19, 2026•0•"Because Shut Up!", "Cancel Culture", "Surveillance Society", freedom of religious expression, Freedom of speech

Germany’s Authoritarian Liberals Have Gone Berserk

Remember when you, a conservative-leaning, patriotic European, were ridiculed and laughed at for fearing that the game was being rigged, that the Left was coming after you, and that the days in which political institutions at least tried to simulate ideological neutrality were gone? Remember being portrayed by the press as a tin foil hat-wearing simpleton for fearing that Chat Control wasn’t actually—or, at least, not primarily—about destroying the horror of child sexual abuse, but, rather, about social, ideological, and therefore political control? Do you recall being painted as a silly conspiracy theorist for doubting that Marine Le Pen’s judicial prohibition from running for the presidency was really just the impartial courts doing their work? Well, the crumbling German government is tired of keeping up appearances: if it has its way, as in all likelihood it will, right-wing critics of the establishment will soon find it difficult to buy a house or any other form of real estate, for that matter. This will be done, they say, in the name of liberty and democracy.

German YouTubers Niko and Tino are currently under investigation by German authorities after they posted a video criticizing Islam.

If convicted, they will face up to THREE YEARS in prison.

WTF is going on in Germany??? pic.twitter.com/fqw3HbE1LV

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 13, 2026

by Blazingcatfur•April 14, 2026April 14, 2026•0•"Criminalizing Dissent", "Surveillance Society", Germany

Toronto police’s new counterterrorism unit aims to tackle increase in hate crimes

The head of the Toronto Police Service’s new counterterrorism squad says that local police forces have a crucial role to play in pre-empting, investigating and enhancing prosecutions around crimes hatched by extremists.

While terrorism investigations typically fall under the RCMP’s federal policing mandate, Toronto Police last month announced the new unit as part of its response to violence linked to the Middle East conflict. Canada’s largest city is grappling with an increase in alleged hate crimes and extremist violence, which include shootings targeting Jewish schools, synagogues sites and businesses, as well as bullets fired last month at the U.S. consulate.

by Blazingcatfur•April 11, 2026April 11, 2026•0•"Surveillance Society", hate crimes

How Canadian military members violated intelligence-gathering rules during COVID-19

Canadian Armed Forces members used their own personal social media accounts, computers and networks at home during the COVID-19 pandemic and gathered information about Canadians, violating intelligence-gathering rules, according to a newly released report.

The internal military report obtained by CBC News provides a new look behind the scenes at how a controversial military operation went so wrong.

“Everything you could imagine in a military operation went wrong in this case,” said national security expert Wesley Wark.

by Blazingcatfur•April 7, 2026April 7, 2026•0•"CAF - Canadian Armed Forces", "China eats weird animals disease", "Surveillance Society", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, WTF?

‘Creepy surveillance’: why some cities are shutting down Flock cameras amid privacy concerns

In recent city council meetings in Dunwoody, Georgia, a spokesman for Flock Safety, a Georgia-based firm that provides automated license plate readers, has found himself in the hot seat again.

For two months running, some residents of the affluent north Atlanta suburb in the region’s tech corridor have been demanding an end to the city’s contract with the security firm, which has drawn similar protest from California to New York.

Between a recent change in terms of service that removed a line assuring customers that the company does not own and will not sell customer data – done to eliminate redundancy, Flock says – and videos circulating of hackers showing how they had obtained access to live video feeds from Flock cameras, Dunwoody residents and some members of the city council have been in revolt.

by Blazingcatfur•April 6, 2026April 6, 2026•0•"Surveillance Society"

Why Carney’s liberals are going to war with the Bible

Pastor Derek Reimer is not liberal Canada’s favourite free-speech champion. The Bible-bashing leader of Calgary’s Mission 7 ministry has waged a one-man war on his government’s progressive, LGBTQ-friendly agenda – especially its promotion of transgender rights.

In 2023, he was arrested three times after protesting against “family-friendly” storytime events at Calgary’s public libraries, in which local drag queens read to children. He denounced it all as “pervert grooming sessions”, and told a librarian that if she carried on “corrupting kids”, he would post her details online. He also quoted from Deuteronomy 22:5, which states: “A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak.”

So far, his protests have earned him a conviction for harassment, more than 100 days in jail, and limited sympathy from the wider public – who, whatever their views on transgender issues, often see his methods as extreme.

Yet in recent months, his name has frequently been cited in a growing row over freedom of speech – centred around a planned new law that would remove the right of religious activists to quote scripture as a defence against hate crime charges.

(more…)

by Blazingcatfur•April 3, 2026April 3, 2026•0•"Surveillance Society", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, freedom of religious expression, Freedom of speech, hate crimes

UK Police Scale Back ‘Hate’ Investigations

Britain’s Labour home secretary has confirmed that police will no longer investigate most alleged ‘hateful’ comments, although concerns remain over existing database records and whether the new approach still risks undermining free speech.

The recording of so-called ‘non-crime hate incidents’ (NCHI)—statements believed to be “motivated by prejudice” but that don’t meet the criteria for criminal offences—has been under fire for some time, especially following high-profile cases, such as the one involving comedy writer Graham Linehan.

by Blazingcatfur•April 1, 2026March 31, 2026•0•"Surveillance Society"

CARPAY: Ottawa froze protesters’ bank accounts — now Ottawa wants your phone records

Like many expansions of government power, Bill C-22 (dubbed the Lawful Access Act) arrives dressed in reassuring bureaucratic language. It speaks soothingly about “facilitating access” to “basic information” and “modernizing” certain provisions respecting the timely gathering of data. In reality, this legislation represents a significant step toward building the machinery of a surveillance state in Canada.

by Blazingcatfur•March 31, 2026March 30, 2026•0•"Surveillance Society", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government

Police force that sent dozen officers to throw IT boss in a cell over blog post criticising senior officers is being sued

A police force that paid £20,000 compensation to a couple arrested over a school WhatsApp group is being sued by a company director thrown in a cell over a blog post.

A dozen Hertfordshire officers arrived at the home of IT boss Sam Smith after the force received complaints from two Facebook group members.

Mr Smith’s house was searched on March 8 last year, his devices were seized and he spent a night in a cell at Hatfield police station.

by Blazingcatfur•March 29, 2026March 28, 2026•0•"Surveillance Society", WTF?

Christians warned to expected increased hostility, persecution after bill passes in Canada

Canada’s top pro-life group, Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), is warning that the passage of a Liberal bill criminalizing religious expression and belief when quoting parts of the Bible, including about homosexuality and gender, will lead to the “actual persecution” of Christians.

In comments to LifeSiteNews, CLC said the passage of Bill C-9 earlier this week is a warning to Canadians of faith to “prepare for increasing hostility.”

by Blazingcatfur•March 29, 2026March 28, 2026•0•"Surveillance Society", Canada's Corrupt Liberal Government, Christian Persecution