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US National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency awards $24 million for AI-enabled monitoring technologies
BlackSky Technology Inc. has secured a $24 million, four-year delivery order from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) as part of the Luno A Facility Operational Monitoring (FOMO) programme. BlackSky will use its AI-powered monitoring system to track changes in activity at global military and economic sites, including ports, airfields, railways, and military bases. The system integrates real-time satellite imagery with AI to deliver rapid intelligence. The company already monitors…
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Sierra Space has been contracted by the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command to design next-gen “Resilient GPS” (R‑GPS) satellites. These are smaller, cost‑effective satellites intended to bolster the existing GPS constellation and protect them against jamming and spoofing by adversaries. The R-GPS program gained pace as per the new “Quick Start” authority established under Section 229 of the National Defense Authorization Act. This provision empowers the U.S. Space Force to rapidly launch…
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The contract to be delivered by Thales Northern Ireland has been granted by the Ministry of Defense on behalf of the Ukrainian Government. According to the deal, Thales will produce more than 5,000 lightweight-multirole missiles to be used by Ukraine. A Ukrainian manifacturing partner will produce launchers and necessary equipment for the deployment of the missiles. The initial worth of the contract is £1.16 billion and it can potentially rise £500 million more.https://www.gov.uk/government/…
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The European Commission and the European Investment Fund announced its investment of €40 million in Keen Venture Partners in an effort to support defence-tech innovation in Europe. The investment is made under the Defence Equity Facility of the EU, a €175 million initiative to boost the private investment field for defence in the EU. Keen Venture is a company that invests in emerging startups at the forefront of defense and security, with a particular interest in cutting-edge technologies like…
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Draganfly Inc. has secured a contract with the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department to deploy drones for enhanced surveillance and rapid-response missions along the southern U.S. border. According to the company, the initiative “positions Cochise County as a national model for technology-enabled border enforcement”.https://uk.investing.com/news/company-news/draganfly-drones-to-boost-cochise-county-border-surveillance-93CH-4126537Publication: investing.com
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Planet Labs PBC, a leading provider of satellite imagery and geospatial solutions, has been awarded a substantial seven-figure contract by NATO to deliver a platform solution to support continuous space-based surveillance, delivery of early warning signals and strenghtening of Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). The platform solution is expected to incorporate Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning analytics.https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250612808959/en/NATO-Selects-Planet-for-…
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Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) with Nammo AS to provide ammunition production and delivery for the Nordic countries. The first partnership agenda is on the production of artillery and small arms calibres worth $155 million. Beyond this, the partnership will also focus on research and development for defence and joint ammunition use among these countries.https://defence-industry.eu/nordic-countries-sign-strategic-ammunition-partnership-…
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Sweden has signed a contract with MBDA, a European missile manufacturer, to acquire a fifth-generation anti-tank guided missile system. While the exact quantity and delivery timeline remain undisclosed, the deal includes missiles, launchers, support equipment, and services. The acquisition is part of a broader Sweden–France defense cooperation launched in 2023. According to the Swedish Defense Material Administration, the transaction will support the development of advanced weapon systems for…
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Leading AI company OpenAI is to provide generative AI capabilities in addressing security challenges in both frontline warfighting efforts and office business functions for the US Department of Defense. The project is estimated to run until July 2026. It marks the first collaboration for OpenAI under their initiative to incorporate AI for governments.https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/17/openai-military-contract-warfightingPublication: The Guardian (Via Agence France-Presse)
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MBDA’s start-up NEODE Systems has secured its first major contract from France’s defense procurement agency (Direction Générale de l’Armement) to enhance the Akeron MP missile system with AI-driven capabilities. The project will test a decision-support tool designed to boost surveillance, targeting, identification and engagement performance for beyond-line-of-sight missions.https://www.army-technology.com/news/neode-akeron-mp-contract/Publication: Army Technology
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The NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) has ordered Carl-Gustaf M4 weapon systems and munitions from Swedish defense firm Saab on behalf of the Netherlands and France to support ground combat modernization. The contract includes advanced ammunition types and will begin delivery in 2025. This order builds on a €176 million framework agreement since 2022 and highlights ongoing collaboration between Saab, NSPA, and NATO member states.https://defence-industry.eu/nspa-orders-carl-gustaf-m4-…
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NATO Allied Command Operations (ACO) has contracted ICEYE within the frame of the Alliance Persistent Surveillance from Space. The initiative is coordinated by NATO and is intended to improve the space-based sharing of intelligence across NATO member states. ICEYE’s SAR satellites, capable of high-resolution imaging in all weather and lighting conditions, will support faster decision-making in political and military fields. This builds on ICEYE’s earlier agreement in March 2025 to supply data…
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Universities across the US are setting up task forces, tightening disciplinary policies, employing surveillance cameras, and hiring private investigators to track anti-Israel student protesters in response to criticisms that they have allowed antisemitism to spread alongside pro-Palestinian demonstrations. In early February 2025, US president Donald Trump signed an executive order directing the State and Education Departments to push colleges to report non-citizen students or staff who engage…
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In January 2025 as Robert Fico's coalition government fell apart, he began claiming, based on a single ChatGPT-generated email, that peaceful mass anti-government protests could escalate into violent clashes between citizens and security forces, and trigger a coup d'état. The government began wiretapping organisers of anti-government protesters, journalists, and opponents, as well as tracing financial transactions and photos. The opposition party filed a criminal complaint alleging the…
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Human Rights Watch has called for an investigation into Georgian security forces' "brutal police violence" against peaceful protesters during two weeks of demonstrations against the government following elections in October that the OSCE has said were marred by vote-buying, double voting, physical violence, and intimidation. The authorities have since arrested hundreds of people and surveilled participants with Chinese-made facial recognition cameras. https://www.rferl.org/a/hrw-…
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UCLA has come under criticism for "militarising" its campus and the amount of money it's spending on security since pro-Palestinian protests began in 2023. The university's new Office of Campus Safety is led by former Sacramento police chief Rick Braziel, who says he wants to create a "beautiful campus where people feel safe and comfortable with each other". Others, however, feel that stepped-up patrols are making the campus climate tense.https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-10-11/…
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The Vancouver police board has asked retired officers to investigate police surveillance of pro-Palestinian demonstrations following complaints from protesters and legal advocates about the excessive use of force and invasions of privacy during a protest on May 31, 2024. Protesters have accused the police of attempting to criminalise and repress people's right to freedom of expression; conducting surveillance via drones, personal mobile phones, and body-worn cameras; and using extreme force.…
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In preparation for the anniversary of the October 7 attacks, Vancouver police planned to post "significant and visible" extra officers throughout the city. In the year since, the Vancouver police department had attended 344 protests relating to the Israel-Hamas war at a cost of C$4.1 million and including 3,318 overtime shifts. Police also planned to increase their presence around mosques, synagogues, SkyTrain stations, and community centres, including a public safety trailer and mobile command…
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Anti-Israel groups planned protests in New York City for the anniversary of the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack. Law enforcement said police planned to be out in full force and to beef up security at synagogues and mosques for Rosh Hashanah, taking place the same week. Expectations were that the anniversary would exacerbate already-inflamed tensions on university campuses. In addition, additional cameras were planned in addition to the 80,000 cameras already in the city's NYPD Domain…
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Go back to the report page Methodology We looked at the top period tracking apps downloaded in the Google Play Store, some of which we had examined in our original research, and some of which are newly emerging apps that have since grown in popularity. The top period-tracking apps with the most downloads included Flo; Period Tracker by Simple Design; and apps we'd tested in our previous research that still exist such as Maya, Period Tracker by GP Apps, as well as several apps popular…
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Go back to the full report page Flo, headquartered in London, UK, is one of the most popular period-tracking apps on the market with over 380 million downloads. The app was previously accused of sharing data with Facebook, such as informing Facebook whenever a Flo user was on their period or if they intended to get pregnant. In 2021, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reached a settlement with Flo to undergo an audit of their privacy policy and to obtain user permissions before…
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Go back to the full report pagePeriod Tracker by Simple Design is another popular period tracking app that has over 150 million users. To begin using this app the user answers a set of three onboarding questions for about their cycle pattern. The user has the option to answer 'I'm not sure' for each question. After answering 'I'm not sure' for these three questions, we were able to proceed on the app without having to create an account. Throughout our experience inputting our cycle…
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Go back to the full report pageThe Maya app is a period tracker app by Plackal Tech based in India. In our previous investigation, we revealed Maya was sharing a plethora of user input data to Facebook. However, in response to our 2019 research, the app claimed it had since ‘removed both the Facebook core SDK and Analytics SDK from Maya’ while ‘continu[ing] to use the Facebook Ad SDK, post opt-in to our terms and conditions and privacy policy’ for revenue purposes, the latter of which 'does not…
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Go back to the full report pagePeriod Tracker by GP Apps is another popularly downloaded app we previously looked at in 2019. In our original research, we determined that this app did not appear to share any user input data with Facebook. This time, we examined the third parties that the app appeared to integrate and what kind of data was being shared with these third parties, as well as what user data the app was storing on its own or external services. It’s worth noting that the…
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Go back to the full report pageThe WomanLog app, developed by Pro Active App SIA, is a Latvia-based period tracking app with over 10 million downloads that features an 'Intelligent Assistant' chatbot (more on this below). To get started on the app, we completed a short onboarding questionnaire about which app mode we intended to use (e.g., standard) and the length of our cycle and period. Our answers to these questions were sent across the web traffic to the app developer's API:
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Go back to the full report pageWocute is a Singapore-based period tracking app with over 5 million global downloads. To get started on the app, a user first needs to complete a short onboarding questionnaire about their goal for using the app ('track my cycle'); their year of birth (which we skipped), followed by the length of their period cycle and start date of their last period (for which we selected 'I'm not sure'). These responses were all communicated to the API:
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Go back to the full report pageStardust is a New York-based astrology-themed period tracking app that has recently risen in popularity, having received a spike in downloads in the U.S. following the overturning of Roe v. Wade. According to its website, the app takes a de-identification approach to users' privacy by utilising a third party 'security system' operated by Rownd, “an authentification platform that stores your contact information for us [Stardust] so that we cannot associate your…
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Go back to the full report pageThe last app we looked at was Euki, which has been recognised among privacy advocates. The app is a U.S. non-profit privacy-by-default period tracker app founded by a group of social tech and sexual and reproductive health organisations like Digital Defense Fund and Ibis Reproductive Health. The app has recently become open-source. We ran the Euki app through the DIAAS environment to observe its web traffic as for the above apps. There were no onboarding…
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Go back to the full report pageLimitationsBefore our analysis, we note the technical limitations (and the scope of our research) meant we did not test certain features mentioned, such as Google Fit integrations offered by some apps. We also mention the limitations of our DIAS environment, which only allows us to see web (client-side) interactions, rather than server-side interactions, the latter of which are increasingly common among more advanced platforms that utilise cloud computing (e.…