Your data will be used against you.

How do we come to terms with being surveilled in a democracy? How do we limit the risk that our data will be used against us? Andrew Guthrie Ferguson discusses how smart devices could be weaponized in criminal cases on the blog.

Great discussion on “Your Data Will Be Used Against You” on the Campbell Conversations. Really fun talk. www.wrvo.org/show/campbel...

Basically, we're relying only on sensitivity over *brand awareness* to protect our civil liberties because legislatively we're abandoned. Policing shouldn't be dictated by surveillance companies, and the floor on national human rights policy shouldn't be based on what companies are willing to do.

The depressing thing about this whole scenario is Congress's neglect to protect human rights and civil liberties. It takes for-profit AI companies to say, "no, we don't want to be used that way" because they don't trust the government won't take all tech and make it synonymous with authoritarianism.

Brings us to Trump's critique. In the US, especially in policing, we continuously see policy being made by companies by giving free trials that shape policing, or pro-surveillance rich people giving money exclusively for crime fighting. So company influence over *how* we police is a big deal.

“AI-driven mass surveillance presents serious, novel risks to our fundamental liberties. To the extent that such surveillance is currently legal, this is only because the law has not yet caught up with the rapidly growing capabilities of AI.” www.anthropic.com/news/stateme...

Does the DHS police body cam footage go into Evidence.com? (There is no case). Will it be fused into a real-time crime center? Who gets access for accountability? www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Always seems to happen. madison365.com/milwaukee-po...

Still wonder why people are not focusing on real-time crime centers. It is such a significant change in policing. Also, how do they identify Brady material in all that data?

Radio bit on “Your Data Will Be Used Against You.” www.movin925.com/episode/2-22...

Your data will be used against you. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

“Things are happening in Vegas that are not going to stay in Vegas.”

Agree that there should be more attention in this area. Recently wrote a blog on real-time crime centers, and AI-powered surveillance more broadly. “AI-powered predictive policing and ‘real-time crime center’ tools [] greatly increase the potential for abuse.” www.aclum.org/publications...

Andrew Ferguson @profferguson.bsky.social has posted an excerpt from his forthcoming book, YOUR DATA WILL BE USED AGAINST YOU amzn.to/4s8H6Yq This book is a definite must-read! I've already pre-ordered my copy.

Predictive policing in the AI age (with ALPRs). reason.com/2026/02/18/w...

Worth a read. www.publicbooks.org/the-misuses-...

👀The federal judges in West Virginia, where ICE has been pulling over and detaining people on the freeway, are literally screaming about ICE's tactics. "It is an assault on the constitutional order," Judge Goodwin says. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

How come no one is focusing on the privacy and authoritarian risks from Real-Time Crime Centers? They give police incredible powers (all without constraints/rules). Any thoughts? www.securitymagazine.com/articles/102...

New Article: How Amazon Ring's "Search Party" AI Raises New Questions on Home Surveillance Tech News Weekly explores why Ring's new feature is sparking debate over mass surveillance and data sharing with police.

Someone let the penguins of the Heard and McDonald Islands know that their long ordeal is coming to an end.

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.

If there are any podcasters or book reviewers interested in “Your Data Will Be Used Against You” this Q&A gives great insight into what the book is all about. Check it out. #books #bookreviews nyupress.org/blog/2026/02...

New from Just Tech: in upcoming book, Your Data Will Be Used Against You, @profferguson.bsky.social explains how the rise of self-surveillant smart devices can be weaponized against democratic values and personal freedom. Read more: just-tech.ssrc.org/articles/you...

If you care about surveillance, privacy, policing, tech, and power and are not financially supporting 404media you are doing something wrong. Every day they are doing the work for you. Fund them so they can hire all the tech journalists who have been fired.

Your data will be used against you (and your dog).

@galvinalmanza.bsky.social Guess what arrived today! Can’t wait to read it.

!! Something I've been working on for a year is finally live!! A report from @eff.org , @justjournalism.bsky.social, and IPVM geared toward journalists but important for law makers and the general public decoding the nefarious ways police and surveillance tech gets sold, marketed, and deployed. 🧵

Featuring appearances by Flock, Amazon Ring, ShotSpotter, Evolv, Axon, Fusus, and more.

Delving In Podcast about “Your Data Will Be Used Against You.” www.lccommunityradio.org/archives/del...

This looks like a must read. nyupress.org/978147983828... Ironically, their site blocks VPNs.

I fear poking the AI bear, but do you think law profs should have to disclose AI use? I have yet to use AI (under the old school assumption that I am being paid to create original scholarship and it should be mine alone). I know others have different opinions. But should folks have to disclose?

A particularly urgent episode of @llassabe.bsky.social’s reliably good pod, featuring @profferguson.bsky.social.

Your data will be used against you. www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...

Hey @ssrn.bsky.social: why have you stripped the publication information from articles posted on your site?

Real-Time Crime Centers offer powerful new AI tech to investigate crime. They are funded/subsidized by fed dollars. What happens when those cameras are directed against protestors, immigrants, folks seeking medical care? Local surveillance can be co-opted by federal interests. What is the plan?

Ferguson on Everything-Everywhere Searches Andrew Guthrie Ferguson (George Washington University - Law School) has posted Everything-Everywhere Searches and the Geofence Puzzle (George Washington Journal of Law & Technology (Jan. 2026)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Police surveillance…

Coincidentally, surveillance backlash is my DJ name.

Andrew Guthrie Ferguson joins the American Campus Podcast to discuss his forthcoming title, "Your Data Will Be Used Against You." With a focus on higher education, he dives into how colleges harvest and monetize data. Listen on your favorite podcasting app or directly here:

Your smartwatch, Ring doorbell, and Alexa monitor your most intimate moments, with data just a warrant away from the authorities. In @techpolicypress.bsky.social's episode, Andrew Guthrie Ferguson talks about his upcoming NYU Press book, "Your Data Will Be Used Against You."

If you haven’t already, you should take the time now to opt your data out of Clearview AIs collection: www.clearview.ai/privacy-and-...

A good update of an article-type that has been written several times a year for the past 15 years and yet we just keep buying and deploying new policing technologies. www.salon.com/2026/02/08/p...

Sophisticated interview with Andrew Keen about how “Your Data Will Be Used Against You” keenon.substack.com/p/your-data-...

Really engaging discussion with @llassabe.bsky.social and @americancampus.bsky.social about how surveillance is used on college campuses. We are teaching self-surveillance without thinking about it. americancampuspodcast.buzzsprout.com/2396665/epis...

Since we're re-litigating Ring's sins: How did they grow so fast? Until 2016, Ring gave out free/discounted cameras to police & giving cops perks if the public (including victims of crimes) used the officer's discount code to buy cameras--all of which meant Ring essentially made cops salespeople.

Just arrived today. Can’t wait to read @evanselinger.bsky.social @foxcahn.bsky.social