{"id":1968683,"date":"2023-07-10T15:06:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-10T19:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massachusetts-sued-for-working-with-google-to-secretly-put-spyware-on-residents-phones\/"},"modified":"2023-07-10T15:08:45","modified_gmt":"2023-07-10T19:08:45","slug":"massachusetts-sued-for-working-with-google-to-secretly-put-spyware-on-residents-phones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massachusetts-sued-for-working-with-google-to-secretly-put-spyware-on-residents-phones\/","title":{"rendered":"Massachusetts sued for covertly installing spyware on residents&#8217; phones with Google&#8217;s assistance."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmassachusetts-sued-for-working-with-google-to-secretly-put-spyware-on-residents-phones%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1968683&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<figure>\n        <!-- Image goes here --><br \/>\n      <\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote>\n<h2>A Shocking Revelation: Massachusetts Department of Public Health Accused of Secretly Installing Covid-Tracking Spyware on Residents&#8217; Phones<\/h2>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/never-before-seen-video-of-sunken-titanic-released-marks-first-time-humans-feast-eyes-on-wreck\/\" title=\"Never-Before-Seen VIDEO of Sunken Titanic Released\u2014Marks First Time Humans Feast Eyes on Wreck\">newly released video highlights<\/a> how the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) allegedly colluded with Google to secretly install Covid-tracking spyware on the smartphones of more than one million residents &#8220;without their knowledge or consent.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/RrnKxHkUwzc\">video<\/a> published by the <a href=\"https:\/\/nclalegal.org\/about\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA)<\/a> \u2014 a self-described civil rights group devoted to protecting Americans from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/massachusetts-sued-for-working-with-google-to-secretly-put-spyware-on-residents-phones\/\" title=\"Massachusetts sued for covertly installing spyware on residents' phones with Google's assistance.\">administrative overreach \u2014 walks viewers<\/a> through the core tenets of the organization&#8217;s ongoing <a href=\"https:\/\/nclalegal.org\/robert-wright-and-johnny-kula-v-massachusetts-department-of-public-health-et-al\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lawsuit<\/a> against DPH and Democrat Gov. Maura Healey, which claims Massachusetts violated state residents and workers&#8217; Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights by installing a Covid &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/hong-kong-uses-covid-excuse-to-extinguish-citizens-last-remaining-freedoms\/\" title=\"Hong Kong Uses Covid Excuse To Extinguish Citizens\u2019 Last Remaining Freedoms\">contact-tracing app<\/a>&#8221; on their Androids without their awareness or permission.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/nclalegal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/Wright_First-Amended-Complaint-3.20.2023.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">NCLA&#8217;s legal complaint<\/a>, DPH launched an initial version of the app for Android mobile devices in April 2021 using software provided to the agency by Google. At the time, the installation of the app \u2014 which purportedly causes the device &#8220;to constantly connect and exchange information with other nearby devices via Bluetooth&#8221; to alert individuals of possible exposure to Covid-19 \u2014 was voluntary. Following low download numbers among state residents, however, DPH allegedly began working with Google on June 15, 2021, to &#8220;secretly install the Contact Tracing App onto over one million Android mobile devices located in Massachusetts without the device owners&#8217; knowledge or permission.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>User attempts to delete the app from his or her respective devices proved unsuccessful, as DPH would allegedly &#8220;re-install it onto their device.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;They made it hard to find on your phone because it doesn&#8217;t show up on the home screen with every other app you have,&#8221; NCLA Litigation Counsel Sheng Li <a href=\"https:\/\/nclalegal.org\/2023\/07\/watch-government-spyware-on-your-phone-unfortunately-theres-an-app-for-that\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a>. &#8220;You have thousands and thousands of people who don&#8217;t know this is on their phone.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>According to NCLA, the app purportedly acts as spyware that &#8220;deliberately tracks and records movement and personal contacts onto over a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/data-firm-sued-by-federal-authorities-for-allegedly-selling-geolocation-information-that-could-track-users-at-abortion-clinics\/\" title=\"Data Firm Sued By Federal Authorities For Allegedly Selling Geolocation Information That Could Track Users At Abortion Clinics\u00a0\">million mobile devices<\/a> without their owners&#8217; permission and awareness.&#8221; Among the data accessible to DPH and Google are &#8220;personal identifiers, including the device owner&#8217;s [media access control] address, wireless network IP addresses, phone numbers, and personal emails.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When this stored data is written onto mobile devices&#8217; system logs, it becomes available to DPH, Google, application developers, device manufacturers, network providers, and other third parties with access to the logs,&#8221; NCLA claims in its complaint. &#8220;DPH and third parties can use the MAC address of a device owner and other personal identifiers to trace the logged data back to determine the individual identity of the owners.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As part of their suit, plaintiffs are requesting the U.S. District Court District of Massachusetts issue an injunction barring continued installation of the app without user consent and requiring DPH to work with Google to uninstall the app and delete all records from devices in which the owner did not give permission for installation. Plaintiffs are further requesting the court declare that the alleged installation of the app without proper consent constitutes a violation of their Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights.<\/p>\n<p>Defendants in the case have since filed a <a href=\"https:\/\/nclalegal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/322-cv-11936_Wright_Memo-iso-motion-to-dismiss-final71-copy.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">motion to dismiss<\/a> NCLA&#8217;s request for injunctive relief, claiming the case is now moot since the software was purportedly discontinued when the state&#8217;s Exposure Notification System was shut down following the expiration of the U.S. Covid public health emergency on May 11. NCLA filed an <a href=\"https:\/\/nclalegal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/ECF-34_Opposition-to-MTD.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">opposition to the defendants&#8217; motion to dismiss<\/a> on June 12.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<hr>\n<p>Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/exclusive-american-freedom-convoy-set-to-launch-on-march-1\/\" title=\"Exclusive: \u2018American Freedom Convoy\u2019 Set To Launch On March 1\">state content writer<\/a> for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div data-image data-amount=\"5\">\n<h2>Popular<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\"><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A video by the New Civil Liberties Alliance reveals alleged collusion between the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Google. The video claims that over a million residents had Covid-tracking spyware secretly installed on their smartphones without their consent. NCLA, a civil rights group, aims to safeguard individual rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":1968684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1968683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1968683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1968683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1968684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1968683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1968683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1968683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}