Police body cameras were widely promoted as tools for improving transparency, documenting encounters, and protecting both officers and citizens from false accusations.
But recording an encounter doesn't automatically make the information available to the public.
Depending on applicable law, police departments may withhold footage, delay its release, or redact significant portions.
There are legitimate reasons to protect the identities...
More businesses are encouraging electronic payments, and some have stopped accepting cash altogether.
Digital payments are convenient, but they also create records of financial transactions that can potentially be accessed by banks, payment processors, and government agencies under applicable legal procedures.
Cash offers something electronic payments generally don't: The ability to make ordinary purchases without creating a detailed ele...
Red flag laws allow courts, under specified circumstances, to temporarily restrict firearm possession when evidence suggests that someone presents a serious danger to themselves or others.
Supporters argue that these laws can prevent suicides, domestic violence, and mass shootings by allowing intervention before someone gets hurt.
Critics argue that taking someone's firearms based on predictions about future behavior raises serious const...
Imagine receiving a terminal diagnosis, knowing that your condition will continue deteriorating and that available treatments cannot cure you.
Some patients want every possible medical intervention to prolong their lives. Others want to focus on comfort and spend their remaining time with loved ones.
But what about someone who decides that continuing to live with an incurable condition has become unbearable?
In some jurisdictions, cer...
You own a home on property your family has occupied for generations. The mortgage is paid, the taxes are current, and you have no intention of selling.
Then a government agency announces plans to acquire the property for a development project.
Under eminent domain, governments can take private property for legally recognized public uses, provided constitutional and other legal requirements are satisfied.
Traditionally, people associat...
When a police officer violates someone's constitutional rights, the injured person may attempt to seek compensation through a civil lawsuit.
But qualified immunity can prevent officers from being held personally liable for damages unless the plaintiff can establish that the officer violated clearly established law.
Supporters argue that this protection allows officers to perform difficult duties without constantly fearing personal lawsui...
You work for decades, pay your mortgage, and finally own your home outright.
But there's one bill that never goes away: property taxes.
Even after paying every penny owed to the bank, you must continue paying the government for the privilege of keeping property you supposedly own. Failure to pay can ultimately result in losing that property through tax enforcement proceedings.
Supporters argue that property taxes fund essential local ...
Your personal information can be extremely valuable, even when you've never knowingly agreed to sell it.
Companies collect information about online browsing, purchases, interests, movements, and other activities. Some of that information eventually reaches data brokers that package and sell it to businesses and other customers.
The result is an enormous industry built around collecting and monetizing details about people's lives.
Here...
Automatic license plate readers were introduced as tools to locate stolen vehicles, identify suspects, and assist law enforcement. Those certainly sound like reasonable objectives.
But these cameras don't simply photograph vehicles associated with crimes. They routinely capture the license plates of innocent motorists, recording where and when their vehicles were observed.
That information can be stored, searched, and sometimes shared wi...
Artificial intelligence is becoming more capable at an extraordinary rate. It's already writing computer programs, analyzing medical information, producing convincing fake videos, and performing work that once required trained professionals.
But here's the question that doesn't seem to get enough attention: Who is actually going to control this technology?
A handful of enormously powerful corporations are developing systems that could ev...
