Pen-Link has agreed to disclose the prices and descriptions of its surveillance products following a settlement in a California public records lawsuit. The Electronic Frontier Foundation sought information about the Sheriff’s Office's use of Pen-Link and its subsidiary, Cobwebs Technology. Despite Pen-Link's initial claims of trade secrets, records showed a $180,000 payment for the Tangles "Web Intelligence Platform," which permits extensive online monitoring. This case demonstrates that government surveillance tools must not be treated as confidential under the law and emphasizes the importance of transparency.
The settlement ends a months-long California public records lawsuit with the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office.
The records disclosed in the settlement show that in late 2023, the Sheriff's Office paid $180,000 for a two-year subscription to the Tangles "Web Intelligence Platform."
The intelligence platform overall has been described in other documents as analyzing data from the "open, deep, and dark web, to mobile and social."
Pen-Link went to court to try to block the disclosure, claiming the names of its products and prices were trade secrets.
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