The New York Police Department is pursuing a three-year contract with intelligence company Isr*Ali Cognita worth $750,000 to purchase an advanced surveillance system called FalcoNet, which simulates a cell phone tower to track cell phone locations. The proposed purchase drew objections from civil liberties groups, which highlighted how such draconian technology could collect information from phones belonging to people who are not under police investigation. "Simulators on a mobile site require warrants because they are very intrusive, dragnet surveillance, and this new technology goes even further by incorporating undisclosed artificial intelligence capabilities that analyze people's behavior," said Daniel Schwartz, senior privacy and technology strategist at the New York Civil Liberties Union.

The New York Police Department is pursuing a three-year contract with intelligence company Isr*Ali Cognita worth $750,000 to purchase an advanced surveillance system called FalcoNet, which simulates a cell phone tower to track cell phone locations. The proposed purchase drew objections from civil liberties groups, which highlighted how such draconian technology could collect information from phones belonging to people who are not under police investigation. "Simulators on a mobile site require warrants because they are very intrusive, dragnet surveillance, and this new technology goes even further by incorporating undisclosed artificial intelligence capabilities that analyze people's behavior," said Daniel Schwartz, senior privacy and technology strategist at the New York Civil Liberties Union.