propublica national security reporter formers: ap, wsj, et al. author of 'means of control,' buy: https://xitter.cf/t.co/AqikZqNtg3 signal: byrontau.01
washington, d.c.
Joined September 2008
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It's publication day for Means of Control. penguinrandomhouse.com/books…
Here it is at every stage. From left to right: June 2021 book proposal, Jan 2022 outline and reporting plan, October 2022 first draft, Fall 2023 galley and then the finished book. On shelves today!
A look into the kind of pressure tactics DHS is using to get travelers to unlock devices at border crossings: officials lied to a man, saying they wanted to search his phone for "kiddie porn" when they were investigating him for "terrorism," docs show
404media.co/dhs-said-they-se…
A federal jury in Houston has found that sheriff's deputies in San Antonio conducted an illegal traffic stop when they stopped and searched a Houston man as part of a secretive U.S. Border Patrol surveillance program. ij.org/press-release/federal…
The man, Alek Schott, was at the center of an AP story last year that for the first time revealed the Border Patrol's role in using license plate readers to surveil U.S. drivers and refer them to local law enforcement for pretextual stops and searches.
apnews.com/article/immigrati…
Thank you so much to Shawn for having me on to talk about surveillance, national security and more.
Investigative journalist Byron Tau breaks down just how much data the devices around us may be collecting.
From phones, Ring cameras, license plate readers, and toll transponders to smart TVs, robot vacuums, and Alexa, Tau explains the growing number of ways our digital and physical lives can be connected and tracked.
Tau also reveals why he sued the U.S. Postal Service after spending years trying to obtain basic records about how the agency handles Americans' digital information, including email addresses, phone numbers, and physical addresses.
@ByronTau
If you want to see the hollowness of the modern internet, behold this book club scammer's AI agent pitching me using poorly scraped or stolen data thinking that I'm "Christopher Byron," who himself is an "author" writing AI generated ebook slop on Amazon. Great use of tokens.
Byron Tau retweeted
The news is out: Tomorrow morning, @washingtonsun becomes The Washington Sun. nytimes.com/2026/09/08/busin…
Really important @josephfcox story that adds a huge amount of detail about the domestic intelligence program the U.S. Border Patrol is running, where it secretly singles out "suspicious" U.S. citizens and then refers them to local police officers for a pretextual stop.
New: a secretive DHS predictive policing unit is analyzing Americans' financial activity, feeding those names to police, then having cops pull them over. Not suspected of specific crime. We're revealing unit name: Predictive Intelligence Targeting Team 404media.co/a-secretive-dhs-…
Byron Tau retweeted
Phenomenal news! Welcome @catebrown12 @byaaroncdavis @joel_schectman @ByronTau!! 🎉🎉🎉
ProPublica Hires Four Reporters to Expand Washington and National Security Coverage propublica.org/atpropublica/…
A 6-3 Supreme Court this morning finds that "an individual has a reasonable expectation of privacy in his cell-phone location information" which requires a warrant to obtain. supremecourt.gov/opinions/25…
Byron Tau retweeted
From the Cheesecake Factory to a Pulitzer Prize: @ByronTau on The love, journalism Show
youtu.be/7MtAPjDJGc4
NEW from @KFFHealthNews and @AP: From festering infections to untreated cancer, ICE detainees across the US describe medical neglect in hundreds of court filings we reviewed over the past months.
Link below.
One man pulled his own tooth. Another man was recovering from several heart surgeries when he was put into detention and given inadequate medicine. A look inside a detention apparatus unprepared to deal with the complex medical needs of its population. apnews.com/article/ice-immig…
Byron Tau retweeted
DHS ramps up surveillance in immigration raids, sweeping in citizens.
Inside Trump’s Minnesota crackdown.
My latest for @AP w/ @ByronTau: apnews.com/article/digital-c…
NEW: After Brendan Carr's FCC threatened a San Francisco radio station, eight current and former staffers say the station dialed back on politics .
‘Chilling effect’ does not begin to describe the neutering of our political coverage," said one reporter.
apnews.com/article/trump-med…
Byron Tau retweeted
Sources: Bay Area radio station KCBS-AM, which faced MAGA backlash over ICE coverage, scaled back political reporting after Brendan Carr's threats of a probe (@byrontau / Associated Press)
apnews.com/article/trump-med…
mediagazer.com/251215/p15#a2…
Another excellent look from @dakekang at how U.S. technology, in the hands of authoritarian China, is fueling transnational repression, including against people living in the United States.
This quoted post is unavailable.
A link to this story is here: apnews.com/article/whistlebl…
