機械受注統計調査報告(令和7年6月実績および令和7年7~9月見通し)
令和6年度電波の有効利用状況調査(各種無線システム・714MHz以下の周波数帯)に係る電波の有効利用の程度の評価結果及び意見募集の結果の公表
令和6年度電波の有効利用状況調査(公共業務用無線局)に係る電波の有効利用の程度の評価結果及び意見募集の結果の公表
放送法施行規則及び一般放送の設備及び業務に関する届出の特例を定める省令の一部を改正する省令等に関する意見募集の結果及び電波監理審議会からの答申
電波法施行規則等の一部を改正する省令案に対する 意見募集の結果及び電波監理審議会からの答申
行政手続法第十五条第四項等に規定する総務省令で定める方法を定める省令案及び行政不服審査法施行規則の一部を改正する省令案についての意見募集
令和7年8月6日からの低気圧と前線による大雨に伴う災害に係る普通交付税(9月定例交付分)の繰上げ交付
弾道ミサイルを想定した住民避難訓練の実施
情報通信審議会 情報通信技術分科会 衛星通信システム委員会作業班(第34回)
令和6年10月27日執行の衆議院比例代表選出議員選挙九州選挙区 における欠員による繰上補充の選挙会において決定された事項
自治体におけるAIの利用に関するワーキンググループ(第6回)
APC at DRAPAC 2025
【フォトアングル番外編】原爆被災者の立体造形「ひかり」に衝撃受ける=8月11日、東京都台東区、伊東良平撮影
「社会活動のための英語講座English for Activists」が再スタート
東京新聞「本音のコラム」で『抵抗川柳句集』紹介される
農薬第五専門調査会(第40回)の開催について(非公開)【8月27日開催】
遺伝子組換え食品等専門調査会(第267回)の開催について(非公開)【8月27日開催】
Victory! Pen-Link's Police Tools Are Not Secret
In a victory for transparency, the government contractor Pen-Link agreed to disclose the prices and descriptions of surveillance products that it sold to a local California Sheriff's office.
The settlement ends a months-long California public records lawsuit with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office. The settlement provides further proof that the surveillance tools used by governments are not secret and shouldn’t be treated that way under the law.
Last year, EFF submitted a California public records request to the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office for information about its work with Pen-Link and its subsidy Cobwebs Technology. Pen-Link went to court to try to block the disclosure, claiming the names of its products and prices were trade secrets. EFF later entered the case to obtain the records it requested.
The Records Show the Sheriff Bought Online Monitoring ToolsThe records disclosed in the settlement show that in late 2023, the Sheriff’s Office paid $180,000 for a two-year subscription to the Tangles “Web Intelligence Platform,” which is a Cobwebs Technologies product that allows the Sheriff to monitor online activity. The subscription allows the Sheriff to perform hundreds of searches and requests per month. The source of information includes the “Dark Web” and “Webloc,” according to the price quotation. According to the settlement, the Sheriff’s Office was offered but did not purchase a series of other add-ons including “AI Image processing” and “Webloc Geo source data per user/Seat.”
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The intelligence platform overall has been described in other documents as analyzing data from the “open, deep, and dark web, to mobile and social.” And Webloc has been described as a platform that “provides access to vast amounts of location-based data in any specified geographic location.” Journalists at multiple news outlets have chronicled Pen-Link's technology and have published Cobwebs training manuals that demonstrate that its product can be used to target activists and independent journalists. Major local, state, and federal agencies use Pen-Link's technology.
The records also show that in late 2022 the Sheriff’s Office purchased some of Pen-Link’s more traditional products that help law enforcement execute and analyze data from wiretaps and pen-registers after a court grants approval.
Government Surveillance Tools Are Not Trade SecretsThe public has a right to know what surveillance tools the government is using, no matter whether the government develops its own products or purchases them from private contractors. There are a host of policy, legal, and factual reasons that the surveillance tools sold by contractors like Pen-Link are not trade secrets.
Public information about these products and prices helps communities have informed conversations and make decisions about how their government should operate. In this case, Pen-Link argued that its products and prices are trade secrets partially because governments rely on the company to “keep their data analysis capabilities private.” The company argued that clients would “lose trust” and governments may avoid “purchasing certain services” if the purchases were made public. This troubling claim highlights the importance of transparency. The public should be skeptical of any government tool that relies on secrecy to operate.
Information about these tools is also essential for defendants and criminal defense attorneys, who have the right to discover when these tools are used during an investigation. In support of its trade secret claim, Pen-Link cited terms of service that purported to restrict the government from disclosing its use of this technology without the company’s consent. Terms like this cannot be used to circumvent the public’s right to know, and governments should not agree to them.
Finally, in order for surveillance tools and their prices to be protected as a trade secret under the law, they have to actually be secret. However, Pen-Link’s tools and their prices are already public across the internet—in previous public records disclosures, product descriptions, trademark applications, and government websites.
Lessons LearnedGovernment surveillance contractors should consider the policy implications, reputational risks, and waste of time and resources when attempting to hide from the public the full terms of their sales to law enforcement.
Cases like these, known as reverse-public records act lawsuits, are troubling because a well-resourced company can frustrate public access by merely filing the case. Not every member of the public, researcher, or journalist can afford to litigate their public records request. Without a team of internal staff attorneys, it would have cost EFF tens of thousands of dollars to fight this lawsuit.
Luckily in this case, EFF had the ability to fight back. And we will continue our surveillance transparency work. That is why EFF required some attorneys’ fees to be part of the final settlement.
Related Cases: Pen-Link v. County of San Joaquin Sheriff’s Office