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profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson
@profferguson.bsky.social
10K followers 2.8K following 510 posts

Law Prof. GWU, Tech & Justice. Author: “Your Data Will Be Used Against You,” “The Rise of Big Data Policing,” “Why Jury Duty Matters,” and “The Law of Law School.”

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Andrew Guthrie Ferguson is a professor of law at American University Washington College of Law.

Source: Wikipedia
Law 32%
Political science 29%
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profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · Dec 11
Preorder today. “Your Data Will Be Used Against You: Policing in the Age of Self-Surveillance.” #books

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 20h
Your data will be used against you… (and then your dog will not have an owner anymore).
phillewis.bsky.social Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 21h
Here's that Ring #SuperBowl commercial:

Reposted by Cas Mudde, Joanna Bryson, Elizabeth Sharrow , and 7 more

phillewis.bsky.social
Phil Lewis @phillewis.bsky.social · 21h
Here's that Ring #SuperBowl commercial:

Reposted by Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

oregonian.com
The Oregonian @oregonian.com · 2d
“That means that they can track your location, where you go, what you do and especially who you talk to," U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said.
ICE is buying Americans' private data from 'sleazy' brokers, Oregon senator warns
“That means that they can track your location, where you go, what you do and especially who you talk to," U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden said.
www.oregonlive.com

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 3d
Quoted in this story about facial recognition technology misuse. www.nbcnews.com/tech/securit...
How ICE agents are using facial recognition technology to bring surveillance to the streets
Witnesses describe an expansion of biometric surveillance as immigration agents use facial scanning and photography to track targets and bystanders.
www.nbcnews.com

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 3d
They should just hire 404Media as the inspector general of government surveillance tech. It would be more efficient and more accurate.
jasonkoebler.bsky.social Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 3d
The inspector general is investigating whether ICE’s surveillance is legal. Even if this doesn’t result in any changes it will likely result in more details about how these systems work and that will hopefully be useful: www.404media.co/inspector-ge...
Inspector General Investigating Whether ICE's Surveillance Tech Breaks the Law
DHS's inspector general is probing ICE's biometric and surveillance programs.
www.404media.co

Reposted by Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

jasonkoebler.bsky.social
Jason Koebler @jasonkoebler.bsky.social · 3d
The inspector general is investigating whether ICE’s surveillance is legal. Even if this doesn’t result in any changes it will likely result in more details about how these systems work and that will hopefully be useful: www.404media.co/inspector-ge...
Inspector General Investigating Whether ICE's Surveillance Tech Breaks the Law
DHS's inspector general is probing ICE's biometric and surveillance programs.
www.404media.co

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 3d
Facial recognition on the streets is bad.

Facial recognition that claims to identify people but can’t is worse.

Facial recognition that skipped over the limited privacy and accuracy protocols that you might hope for is our current reality.

www.wired.com/story/cbp-ic...
ICE and CBP’s Face-Recognition App Can’t Actually Verify Who People Are
ICE has used Mobile Fortify to identify immigrants and citizens alike over 100,000 times, by one estimate. It wasn't built to work like that—and only got approved after DHS abandoned its own privacy r...
www.wired.com

Reposted by Mary Rice

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 3d
Apparently, your data being used against you is an international issue.

www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/smartph...
Smartphones Now Involved in Nearly Every Police Investigation
Cellebrite data confirms digital evidence is now central to almost all cases
www.infosecurity-magazine.com

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 4d
Sophisticated interview with Andrew Keen about how “Your Data Will Be Used Against You” keenon.substack.com/p/your-data-...
Your Data Will Now Be Used Against You
Episode 2794: Andrew Guthrie Ferguson on Policing in the Age of Self-Surveillance
keenon.substack.com

Reposted by Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

hacks4pancakes.com
Lesley Carhart @hacks4pancakes.com · 4d
The billionaire media is laying off great tech journalists in crazy quantities this year - replacing them with AI and sycophants. This would be a great time to throw some dollars, euros, pounds, or dollarydoos to @404media.co, @propublica.org or another independent outlet.

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 5d
“The outlier cases include custom summonses that sought records from a youth soccer league in Texas; surveillance video from a major abortion provider in Illinois; student records from an elementary school in Georgia; health records from a major state university…”

www.wired.com/story/ice-15...
ICE Is Grabbing Data From Schools and Abortion Clinics
An agency database WIRED obtained reveals widespread use of so-called 1509 summonses that experts say raises the specter of potential abuse.
www.wired.com

Reposted by Kim L. Scheppele, Brendan Nyhan, Wolfgang Crämer , and 14 more

radleybalko.bsky.social
Radley Balko @radleybalko.bsky.social · 6d
Floored by this story. A man wrote a pollite email to a federal prosecutor objecting to the deportation of an Afghan seeking asylum. DHS responded with an administrative warrant to get the man's info from Google, then visited his home to intimidate him.
DHS Hunts Down 67-Year-Old U.S. Citizen Who Criticized Them in Email
The Department of Homeland Security is using a little-known tool to go after its critics.
newrepublic.com

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 6d
Read this:

A knock on the door to intimidate.

A requests to Google for personal data.

Government surveillance for mild criticism.

Misuse of legal process.

www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio...
Homeland Security is targeting Americans with this secretive legal weapon
Under Trump, the Department of Homeland Security has weaponized administrative subpoenas to attack free speech, according to privacy and civil rights groups.
www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

deflock-redmond.bsky.social
DeFlock Redmond @deflock-redmond.bsky.social · 6d
Great talk with @profferguson.bsky.social about how data collected by private companies, including from devices in your own home, is so easily weaponized against you and what we should do to protect our civil liberties.

#privacy #surveillance #fourthamendment
How to Apply the 'Tyrant Test' to Technology
George Washington University Law School professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson is the author of the forthcoming book Your Data Will Be Used Against You.
www.techpolicy.press

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 6d
Maryland Public Broadcasting for the win. Substantive, deep, and informative. Support your local public broadcasting.

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 8d
If you are worried how data will be used against ICE protesters.

Or how smart homes reveal your secrets.

Or smart cars or medical devices will become evidence in court.

Listen to this conversation.

There are risks, rewards, and even solutions…
techpolicypress.bsky.social Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 8d
In his forthcoming book, Your Data Will Be Used Against You, George Washington University Law School professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson explores how sensor-driven technologies, social media monitoring, and artificial intelligence can be weaponized against democratic values and personal freedoms.
How to Apply the 'Tyrant Test' to Technology
George Washington University Law School professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson is the author of the forthcoming book Your Data Will Be Used Against You.
www.techpolicy.press

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 8d
Hardly evidence of any success… to prove your point. It was the first warning article about how prosecutors (as opposed to police) were weaponizing predictive policing. And basically talks about the failed Chicago Heat list. Odd.
slkollmann.bsky.social Stephanie Kollmann @slkollmann.bsky.social · 8d
Sorry! Predictive Prosecution (2016)

Reposted by Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

slkollmann.bsky.social
Stephanie Kollmann @slkollmann.bsky.social · 8d
Sorry! Predictive Prosecution (2016)

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 8d
Which essay? I can’t see with the paywall.
slkollmann.bsky.social Stephanie Kollmann @slkollmann.bsky.social · 8d
Sure, the authors say the issue is using data to focus resources. But what would that actually look like? The prosecution "evidence" cited is an essay by @profferguson.bsky.social that raises concepts TO test, w/o drawing conclusions. The case-processing article says AI might figure it out for us. 🤷‍♀️

Reposted by Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

slkollmann.bsky.social
Stephanie Kollmann @slkollmann.bsky.social · 8d
Sure, the authors say the issue is using data to focus resources. But what would that actually look like? The prosecution "evidence" cited is an essay by @profferguson.bsky.social that raises concepts TO test, w/o drawing conclusions. The case-processing article says AI might figure it out for us. 🤷‍♀️

Reposted by Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

stef47.bsky.social
There’s only us. There is no them. @stef47.bsky.social · 8d
“As the New York Times recently reported on Friday, tech companies are enabling a surveillance infrastructure that can target anyone for profit while challenging constitutional principles. And we have few laws that are fit to regulate it.”

Reposted by Paul M. Schwartz, Andrew Guthrie Ferguson

techpolicypress.bsky.social
Tech Policy Press @techpolicypress.bsky.social · 8d
In his forthcoming book, Your Data Will Be Used Against You, George Washington University Law School professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson explores how sensor-driven technologies, social media monitoring, and artificial intelligence can be weaponized against democratic values and personal freedoms.
How to Apply the 'Tyrant Test' to Technology
George Washington University Law School professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson is the author of the forthcoming book Your Data Will Be Used Against You.
www.techpolicy.press

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 8d
Thank you to @justinhendrix.bsky.social and @techpolicypress.bsky.social for a great interview about “Your Data Will Be Used Against You.” @nyupress.bsky.social

Worth a listen.

www.techpolicy.press/how-to-apply...
How to Apply the 'Tyrant Test' to Technology
George Washington University Law School professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson is the author of the forthcoming book Your Data Will Be Used Against You.
www.techpolicy.press

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 10d
Article on geofences and the Fourth Amendment just published in GW JOLT. All the thanks in the world to law student editors (they are the best). @gwjolt.bsky.social

gwjolt.org/volume-2/
Volume 2 – GW Journal of Law & Technology
gwjolt.org

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 10d
Third, as uncomfortable as it is to say, this is a form of democratic self-surveillance because we have given the green light to fund and allow the tech. We could stop it tomorrow if we wanted to regulate it. We haven’t and we got this danger. For more…

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 10d
Second, there is nothing stopping other law enforcement (the FBI) from using the same tech on those who went to “No Kings” protests or just expressed their disapproval of these tactics. Congress and the courts could act, but have not. You are just as vulnerable. 3/4

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 10d
First, this is as bad as it looks when an unchecked law enforcement entity is using powerful tracking and identifying tools against the most powerless. 2/4.

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 10d
Both the Washington Post and New York Times have excellent articles about the new surveillance technologies ICE is using to track not just undocumented folks, but protesters and critics. Three quick points. 1/4 www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/t...
How ICE Already Knows Who Minneapolis Protesters Are
www.nytimes.com

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 10d
Yes. I remember being on a podcast with @jordanuhl.com in Trump 1.0 and warning how immigration would be the way surveillance infiltrated ordinary policing. Start with the most powerless. Wonder if that still exists somewhere in the interwebs.

profferguson.bsky.social
Andrew Guthrie Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social · 10d
This is the beginning not the end of how surveillance will change America. We could stop it. We should. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/i...
The powerful tools in ICE’s arsenal to track suspects — and protesters
Biometric trackers, cellphone location databases and drones are among the surveillance technologies agents are using in their immigration enforcement campaign.
www.washingtonpost.com