Highlighted Articles
Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping It Secret
With a team of reporters, uncovering an industry in which dozens of companies track the precise location of people’s phones and use it to help advertisers, retailers and even hedge funds
How Paid Experts Help Exonerate Police After Deaths in Custody
Inside the self-reinforcing ecosystem of people who advise, train and defend officers — and who perpetuate the idea that it is safe to use controversial techniques such as shocking people repeatedly with electrical weapons or putting weight on them in facedown restraints
Three Words. 70 Cases. The Tragic History of ‘I Can’t Breathe.’
An accounting of dozens of cases over a 10-year period in which people died in law enforcement custody after they said the same words, showing a pattern of aggressive tactics that ignored prevailing safety precautions
‘Stingray’ Phone Tracker Fuels Constitutional Clash
The first major article about cellphone-tracking devices known as “stingrays,” which raise questions about technology and Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches
New York Times Articles
How a Genetic Trait Common in Black People Is Used to Give Police Cover
An in-depth look at police custody deaths that were ruled accidental or natural and cited sickle cell trait — carrying a single gene for sickle cell anemia — as a cause or factor, even though the condition is generally benign on its own
Tracking Phones, Google Is a Dragnet for Police
An investigation into an enormous Google database called Sensorvault, and how its use by police can help solve crimes, or ensnare innocent people
Hundreds of Apps Can Empower Stalkers to Track Their Victims
Looking at the many services available to people who want to surveil their romantic partners — and how survivors face technical and legal hurdles when trying to end the abuse
Wall Street Journal Articles
Websites Vary Prices, Deals Based on User Data
Uncovering companies that adjust prices and offers online based on a shopper’s characteristics, including location
Rarely Patched Software Bugs in Home Routers Cripple Security
An exclusive analysis of the major security flaws in ubiquitous home devices that leave users open to hacking—and that could have been fixed
Covert FBI Power to Obtain Phone Data Faces Rare Test
Finding the identity of a phone company that challenged a secret “national security letter” and was then sued by the U.S. government
Sealed Court Files Obscure Rise in Electronic Surveillance
A look at the thousands of law-enforcement requests for electronic monitoring that are locked away from public view, even after the investigations that spawned them have ended
New Details Show Broader NSA Surveillance Reach
With Siobhan Gorman, reporting on a surveillance network that covers 75% of Internet communications in the U.S. and includes taps at major Internet junctions in more than a dozen major cities, plus a free FAQ on details of the report
Secret Court’s Redefinition of ‘Relevant’ Empowered Vast NSA Data-Gathering
Shedding light on the history of the National Security Agency’s program to gather domestic phone records, and the secret legal theory behind it
Syria’s Russian Connection
With Margaret Coker, describing how Syria’s embattled regime laid plans to use Russian banks as part of an emergency effort to sidestep U.S. and European sanctions
Google’s Safari Tracking
With Julia Angwin, uncovering Google’s ability to bypass the privacy settings of people using Apple’s Safari Web browser on computers, iPhones and iPads
They Know What You’re Shopping For
With Jeremy Singer-Vine, a WSJ Weekend Review cover story showing how one company can tie people’s online browsing habits to their real, offline identities
The Surveillance Catalog
A look at a trove of marketing materials from the burgeoning “off the shelf” surveillance industry
Using the iPad to Connect
A Technology Journal story on parents using the iPad in speech therapy for their children
Other Reporting and Writing
I Approved This Facebook Message — But You Don’t Know That
For ProPublica, an analysis of hundreds of political ads on Facebook, demonstrating that most of the messages failed to include language required by the Federal Election Commission specifying who paid for the ad
Jen in Translation {樊珍婷}
A blog from my studies in China that includes examples of video and audio production (note: uses a few Chinese characters)