Author Archive

Lindsey Van Ness

Lindsey Van Ness is the editorial assistant for Stateline.
Cybersecurity

For states’ COVID contact tracing apps, privacy tops utility

Exposure notification apps can help slow the virus’ spread, but health department officials say limited data the apps collect is the tradeoff required to assuage privacy concerns.

  • By Lindsey Van Ness
Cybersecurity

Despite security concerns, online voting advances

Security experts understand the desire of entrepreneurs and election officials to use new voting methods to reach voters who may be disenfranchised by in-person or mail-in voting, but the security risk might be too great, they say.

  • By Matt Vasilogambros and Lindsey Van Ness
Management

Police ties to Ring home surveillance come under scrutiny

Many law enforcement agencies have been launching voluntary doorbell camera registries so they can call on homeowners' videos to expedite investigations.

  • By Lindsey Van Ness
Emerging Tech

Did that drone just tell us to stay 6 feet apart?

Drones that monitor social distance, scan crowds and test temperatures worry the public, civil liberties advocates and some in the drone industry.

  • By Lindsey Van Ness
Digital Government

DNA databases are boon to police but menace to privacy, critics say

Police across the country solving cold cases by uploading crime-scene DNA to databases where purchasers of genetic testing kits share their DNA in hopes of finding long-lost relatives.

  • By Lindsey Van Ness
Infrastructure

Body cameras may not be the easy answer everyone was looking for

Although both officers and the public generally support body-worn cameras, the impacts may have been overestimated, according to recent studies.

  • By Lindsey Van Ness