• FarFarAway@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    22
    ·
    1 month ago

    One point of contention. I dont think tangles is some defunct meta app. Texas has recently acquired a contract with a law enforcement surveillance tool called tangles.

    Tangles is a product offered by the cybersecurity company Cobwebs Technologies, which was founded in Israel in 2014 by three former members of Israeli military special units. The company has said their products, which are marketed as open source intelligence (OSINT) tools, have been used to combat terrorism, drug smuggling, and money laundering, but Meta has accused the company of operating as a surveillance-for-hire outfit. In 2023, Cobwebs Technologies was acquired by the Nebraska-based tech firm PenLink Ltd.

    This tool is out there, and still being used.

    • m0darn@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 month ago

      Meta has accused the company of operating as a surveillance-for-hire outfit.

      What?

      • FarFarAway@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        1 month ago

        Idk, ask the Texas Tribune, haha.

        I feel people have made the same mistake before, and confused crowdtangle, which is a disinformation tracker, and tangles, which is a “surveillance-for-hire outfit.” Meta probably felt the need to clarify, at least once time before.