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Not-So-Friendly Neighborhood Spidernet: Emerging Mass Surveillance Tool to Weave a Web Around Your Digital Life
Loaded on July 1, 2025
by Michael Thompson
published in Criminal Legal News
July, 2025, page 22
Filed under:
Fifth Amendment,
Advanced Imaging Technology,
Fourth Amendment.
Location:
United States of America.
P
olice have long sought tools to monitor and predict criminal activity with precision, and a new system called Spidernet brings that vision closer to reality. Developed by researchers at the University of Portsmouth and University of Winchester, Spidernet is a digital forensics framework designed to track smart …
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More from this issue:
- Understanding Your Constitutional Rights in the ‘100-Mile Border Zone’: A Primer for Non-Citizens in the United States When Confronted by Law Enforcement, by Richard Resch
- Third Circuit: No ‘Constructive Possession’ of Firearm Discovered in Trunk of Vehicle Six Months After Defendant’s Arrest, During Which Time He Was Incarcerated and Vehicle Impounded in Tow Lot Whose Sole Security Feature Was a Locked Gate, by Sagi Schwartzberg
- SCOTUS Announces ‘Economic Loss’ Not Required to Violate Federal Wire Fraud Statute, by David Kim
- The Algocracy Agenda: How AI and the Deep State Are Digitizing Tyranny, by John & Nisha Whitehead
- Driverless Vehicles Are the Newest Mass Surveillance Tool of Law Enforcement, by James Mills
- Not-So-Friendly Neighborhood Spidernet: Emerging Mass Surveillance Tool to Weave a Web Around Your Digital Life, by Michael Thompson
- Shelby County DA Oversees Retesting After Forensic Analyst’s Dismissal for ‘Unethical Conduct’, by Sam Rutherford
- Sixth Circuit Announces Invoking Fifth Amendment While Testifying at Trial Does Not Contradict Prior Proffer Statement Nor Does Questioning the Sufficiency of the Prosecution’s Evidence, by David Kim
- Biomedical Engineers Discover Pruny Fingers Yield the Same Fingerprint Patterns as Dry Ones, by Jo Ellen Nott
- Fourth Circuit: A Finding of Offering Money to Minor for Videos Depicting Specific Conduct Without Establishing Order of Events Insufficient to Establish Offer ‘Caused’ Minor to Produce Explicit Material Within Meaning of Guidelines § 2G2.2(c)(1) Cros, by Sagi Schwartzberg
- From Witness Descriptions to Digital Mugshots: AI’s Growing Role in Policing, by James Mills
- Punishment TV, by Vidal Guzman
- Class Incarceration Has Become a Prominent Factor in Mass Incarceration, by Charles "Keith" Wampler
- California Court of Appeal Issues Writ of Mandate Directing Superior Court to Hold Evidentiary Hearing Under State’s Racial Justice Act, Ruling Defendant Provided Sufficient Evidence to Establish Prima Facie Claim of Implicit Bias by San Diego Police, by Sagi Schwartzberg
- Fourth Circuit Announces Counterman v. Colorado Is New Rule of Constitutional Law That Applies Retroactively to Cases on Collateral Review and Grants Authorization to File Successive § 2255 Motion, by Douglas Ankney
- Colorado Supreme Court Announces Police Facilitating Drug-Detection Dog’s Entry Into Vehicle by Opening Door During Traffic Stop Without Probable Cause Is Unconstitutional Search in Violation of Fourth Amendment, by Anthony Accurso
- Illinois Supreme Court Announces Entering ‘Blind’ Guilty Plea Does Not Waive Defendant’s Right to Challenge Sentence, by Anthony Accurso
- New Orleans Police Continue Using Facial Recognition Despite City Restrictions, by James Mills
- Arizona’s Secret Mass Surveillance System: An Obscure Financial Database Amasses Millions of Financial Records in the Shadows, by Michael Thompson
- Green Light for Justice: Dutch Researchers Find Perovskite Method Improves Gunshot Residue Analysis with Unprecedented Sensitivity, by Jo Ellen Nott
- How Police Departments Hire Bad Cops: The Shadow System Protecting ‘Wandering Officers’, by Clarence Walker, James Mills
- News in Brief
More from Michael Thompson:
- Law Restoring Voting Rights to Some People with Felonies Takes Effect in Missouri, Oct. 1, 2026
- Widespread Abuse Uncovered at Network of Youth Prisons, Oct. 1, 2026
- Prison Policy Initiative Report Finds Prison Policies Ignore Menopause Behind Bars, Oct. 1, 2026
- Colorado Grants, Then Revokes Earned Time Credits, Oct. 1, 2026
- Prison Policy Initiative Report Finds Significant Health Outcomes from Past Incarceration, Oct. 1, 2026
- Nevada Reentry Nonprofit CEO Arrested for Sexual Assault, Oct. 1, 2026
- Disabled Prisoners in New York Aren’t Receiving Entitled Accommodations, Oct. 1, 2026
- Healthcare Still Lacking at Baltimore Jail Decades After Settlement, Oct. 1, 2026
- Kentucky Department of Corrections Restricts Tablet Access, Oct. 1, 2026
- North Carolina’s “Iryna’s Law” Leads to Jail Overcrowding, Sept. 1, 2026
More from these topics:
- Ninth Circuit Refuses to Stay Injunction in Detainees’ Challenge to Conditions at California ICE Lockup, Oct. 1, 2026. GEO Group/Wackenhut, Sanitation, Injunctions, Fifth Amendment, Immigration Detention.
- D.C. Judge Blocks Transfer of Biden-Commuted Federal Death Row Prisoners to “Supermax,” Citing Lack of Meaningful Due Process, April 1, 2026. Transfers, Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement, Fifth Amendment, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Prison Classification.
- Montana Supreme Court Holds Defendant’s Sentence Must Be Vacated Where District Court Premised Sentence on Defendant’s Exercise of Constitutional Rights to Jury Trial, Silence, and Against Self-Incrimination, April 1, 2026. Fifth Amendment, Sixth Amendment, Self-Incrimination Clause, Right to Testify/Remain Silent, Acceptance of Responsibility.
- Acquitted Conduct Sentencing: Not Guilty – But Punished Anyway, March 1, 2026. U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Federal Legislation, Fifth Amendment, Sixth Amendment, Acquitted Conduct/Uncharged Crimes/Dismissed Counts.
- D.C. Federal Court Holds Blocking Prison Reform Advocate’s Access to Federal Prisoners May Violate First Amendment and Due Process, Feb. 1, 2026. Threats by Staff, DOC/BOP misconduct, First Amendment, rights, Fifth Amendment, Access to Computers.
- The Legal Fight for Homeowner Compensation After SWAT Raids, Dec. 15, 2025. Sovereign Immunity, Fifth Amendment, Constitution, state, Destruction of Property.
- How to Build a Human; A Forensics Company Tells Cops It Can Use DNA to Predict a Suspect’s Face. Scientists Worry the Tool Will Deepen Racial Bias., Sept. 15, 2025. Forensic Sciences, Fourth Amendment, rights, DNA Evidence, Advanced Imaging Technology.
- Understanding Your Constitutional Rights in the ‘100-Mile Border Zone’: A Primer for Non-Citizens in the United States When Confronted by Law Enforcement, July 1, 2025. Immigration, Fifth Amendment, Searches - Border Stops/Searches, Level of Suspicion, Routine vs. Non-Routine Border Searches, Immigration Law/Offenses, Fourth Amendment.
- The Algocracy Agenda: How AI and the Deep State Are Digitizing Tyranny, July 1, 2025. Mechanical Searches/Scanners, Search and Seizure, Probable/Proximate Cause, Advanced Imaging Technology.
- Sixth Circuit Announces Invoking Fifth Amendment While Testifying at Trial Does Not Contradict Prior Proffer Statement Nor Does Questioning the Sufficiency of the Prosecution’s Evidence, July 1, 2025. Fifth Amendment, Sufficiency of Evidence, Prior Inconsistent Statements, Proffer Agreements/Statements/Sessions.
