vox--2020-01-10--Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who was friends with Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, expl

Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who was friends with Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, explained

Jeffrey Epstein was found dead on August 10 , 2019 , in a Manhattan jail where he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges .
New York City ’ s medical examiner has ruled his death a suicide .
The money manager was accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls , bringing them to his home for massages during which he masturbated or had intercourse with them .
He was indicted in 2007 , but as Julie K. Brown reported at the Miami Herald , he ultimately got just 13 months in a county jail , thanks to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who would later become secretary of labor under President Trump .
In July , however , Epstein was arrested in New Jersey and charged with sex trafficking , in connection with allegations that he recruited young girls for abuse at his homes in New York and Palm Beach .
If convicted , he could have faced 45 years in prison .
Epstein said that any encounters he had with his accusers were consensual , and that he believed they were 18 at the time .
He pleaded not guilty to the trafficking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ woman named Jennifer Araoz said in an interview with Today that Epstein had forcibly raped her in 2002 , when she was about 15 years old .
Meanwhile , disturbing allegations have continued to come out since Epstein ’ s death .
For example , two women have stated in court papers that Epstein had them flown from New York to Florida and pressured them into sex with him while he was on work release from jail , according to the New York Times .
And recipients of donations by Epstein are facing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , for example , received $ 850,000 from Epstein , including gifts made after his jail sentence , a January report revealed .
Epstein ’ s story is a master class in the power dynamics that have been exposed by the # MeToo movement but have yet to truly change .
When authorities began investigating Epstein , he assembled a team of private investigators to dig up dirt on the girls who accused him and the police and prosecutors working the case .
Then he and his team of powerful lawyers , including @ @ @ @ @ @ @ able to convince prosecutors to go easy on him despite disturbing allegations by a growing number of women and girls .
Epstein was proud of his “ collection ” of famous friends , which included Bill Clinton and Donald Trump , and there ’ s long been speculation that some of these friends may have participated in his abuses .
But because he was able to minimize publicity around the details of his case for so long , he was also able to keep details about anyone else who may have been involved @ @ @ @ @ @ @ fact that Epstein avoided serious punishment for years is a reminder that the American justice system has long been all too willing to ignore the words of girls and women , especially when they accuse a wealthy and influential man .
Now that Epstein is dead , the women who say he harmed them will not get to face him in court .
But the investigation into his crimes is ongoing , and a number of women are pursuing civil claims against his estate .
As the results of those legal actions become @ @ @ @ @ @ @ influence that protected Epstein and those close to him from scrutiny is finally beginning to unravel .
Epstein was known for his wealth and his predilection for young girls .
Everything else was something of a mystery .
Jeffrey Epstein , who died at 66 years old , was known as an influential financier until his 2007 indictment for sex crimes — though there was a good deal of mystery about how , exactly , he made his money .
After working at the investment bank Bear Stearns in the early 1980s , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Epstein and Co. , in 1982 , advertising his services for those with assets worth more than $ 1 billion — and was soon managing billions of dollars in client assets .
By 1992 , he owned the largest private residence in Manhattan .
For tax purposes , he ran his business from the island of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands since at least 1996 , and near that island , he owned the island of Little St. James .
That island was also home to Epstein ’ s foundation , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ known for donating $ 6.5 million to Harvard University for the establishment of a mathematical biology and evolutionary dynamics program .
In a 2003 Harvard Crimson article on Epstein and his gift to the university , he is described by Harvard luminaries — including Alan Dershowitz , who would later help represent him when Epstein was accused of sex crimes in 2007 — as “ brilliant ” and “ one of the most pleasant philanthropists.
” In a 2002 New York magazine profile , Epstein was described by even those closest to him @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the sources of his immense wealth remaining largely unknown and with one acquaintance even comparing him to the Wizard of Oz , implying that there might be less behind the curtain than appearances would otherwise suggest : Michael Stroll , who sued Epstein over a failed business deal in the 2000s , told New York magazine in 2007 , “ Everybody who ’ s his friend thinks he ’ s so darn brilliant because he ’ s so darn wealthy .
I never saw any brilliance , I never saw him work @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wealthy works 26 hours a day .
This guy plays 26 hours a day.
” Epstein was also an accumulator of famous friends — and his connections would later prove extremely important as he attempted to defend himself against allegations of sexual abuse .
He gained some measure of fame in the early 2000s for flying President Bill Clinton , actor Kevin Spacey , and comedian Chris Tucker to Africa to tour AIDS prevention and treatment project sites .
Clinton would go on to fly multiple times on Epstein ’ s private plane @ @ @ @ @ @ @ flight logs obtained by Gawker in 2015 .
Gawker also obtained and published Epstein ’ s address book , which included politicians , actors , and celebrities .
In 2002 , Epstein described his famous friends as a “ collection ” of sorts , saying , “ I invest in people — be it politics or science .
It ’ s what I do.
” He was at one point spending $ 20 million per year to subsidize a group of scientists and their research on topics ranging from Tibetan monks to altruistic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with Donald Trump , who described Epstein to New York magazine in 2002 as someone who “ enjoys his social life.
” The money manager ’ s friends and acquaintances were apparently willing to continue socializing with him despite his tendency to have eccentric or even downright disturbing ideas .
Several people say that he wanted to “ use his New Mexico ranch as a base where women would be inseminated with his sperm and would give birth to his babies , ” James B. Stewart , Matthew Goldstein , and Jessica Silver-Greenberg @ @ @ @ @ @ @ July .
The idea was not a secret , they write ; one scientist recalls Epstein discussing it during a dinner at his townhouse in 2001 , while another Times source remembers hearing about it from Epstein and at least one other person .
The fact that Epstein was able to retain his famous “ collection ” of friends despite talking openly about using himself as the center of a eugenics experiment may be a testament to his influence , to his associates ’ ability to look the other way , or both @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are crucial to understanding his story .
They may have helped him get a lighter sentence in 2008 , but they ’ re important for another reason too .
His friendships with famous people have led to speculation that they , too — most notably Clinton and Trump — might have participated in his abuse of girls .
But because Epstein was able to keep all the details of his prosecution quiet , it ’ s impossible for the public to know exactly who else was involved in his crimes .
By protecting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to protect his famous friends as well .
A police investigation found that Epstein had sexually abused dozens of girls .
He got a shockingly light sentence .
Much of Epstein ’ s “ social life ” involved very young women .
“ I ’ ve known Jeff for fifteen years , ” Trump said in 2002 .
“ Terrific guy .
He ’ s a lot of fun to be with .
It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do , and many of them are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 2007 New York magazine article , Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff described flying on Epstein ’ s private plane in the 1990s , saying Epstein “ was followed onto the plane by — how shall I say this ?
— by three teenage girls not his daughters ” who were “ 18 , 19 , 20 , who knows ” and “ model-like.
” “ He has never been secretive about the girls , ” Wolff said .
“ At one point , when his troubles began , he was talking to me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say , I like young girls.
’ I said , ‘ Maybe you should say , ‘ I like young women.
’ ” Finally , in 2005 , a woman reported to Florida police that a wealthy man had molested her stepdaughter , according to the Daily Beast .
The tip led Palm Beach detectives to investigate , and they identified multiple girls who said Epstein had abused them .
The case was eventually referred to the FBI , and in 2008 , after years of investigation and legal wrangling , Epstein pleaded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and procurement of minors for prostitution in a deal with federal prosecutors .
According to court and police records reviewed by the Miami Herald ’ s Julie Brown , Epstein routinely had underage girls brought to his Palm Beach mansion , where he paid them to give him massages .
During the massages , he often subjected the girls to sexual abuse — asking them to touch him while he masturbated , touching them himself , and sometimes having intercourse with them , Brown reports .
Then , according to the Herald , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him more girls — which some of them did , finding recruits at malls and house parties .
According to Joseph Recarey , the lead Palm Beach detective on the case , Epstein was essentially operating a “ sexual pyramid scheme.
” Brown identified about 80 women who say they were molested or otherwise sexually abused by Epstein , and some accounts suggest the total number may be much higher .
“ He told me he wanted them as young as I could find them , ’ ’ Courtney Wild , who says @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Epstein , told Brown .
“ He wanted as many girls as I could get him .
It was never enough.
’ ’ In response to lawsuits by some of the girls , Epstein has said that they consented to “ the acts alleged ” and that he believed they were 18 , the Daily Beast reports .
In many cases , the effects on the girls were devastating .
“ You can ’ t ever stop your thoughts , ” Jen-Lisa Jones , who says Epstein molested her when she was 14 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can trigger something .
For me , it is the word ‘ pure ’ because he called me ‘ pure ’ in that room and then I remember what he did to me in that room.
’ ’ ” The women who went to Jeffrey Epstein ’ s mansion as girls tend to divide their lives into two parts , ” Brown writes : “ life before Jeffrey and life after Jeffrey.
” Wild was a 14-year-old middle school student and cheerleading captain when she met Epstein , Brown writes .
She later @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years in prison on drug charges .
One woman who said Epstein molested her was found dead of a heroin overdose last year , leaving behind a young son .
The FBI had prepared a 53-page sex crimes indictment for Epstein in 2007 that could have sent him to prison for life , according to the Herald .
Instead , he cut a deal with Alexander Acosta , then the US attorney in Miami , which allowed him to serve just 13 months — not in federal or state prison , but in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ county jail .
He was granted work release to go to a “ comfortable office ” for 12 hours a day , six days a week , despite the fact that the Palm Beach Sheriff ’ s Department prohibited work release for sex offenders .
Epstein ’ s deal , called a “ non-prosecution agreement , ” granted immunity to “ any potential co-conspirators , ” meaning that if any of Epstein ’ s powerful friends were involved in his crimes , they would face no consequences .
And Acosta agreed that the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ victims , preventing them from showing up in court to try to challenge it .
New charges seemed like a new chance for prosecutors to hold Epstein accountable In July 2019 , though , Epstein was arrested at a New Jersey airport upon his return from a trip to France .
He was charged with sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy in federal court in New York .
If convicted , he could have faced up to 45 years in prison , along with the forfeiture of his Manhattan townhouse , according to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t worried about double jeopardy in this case , a source told the Washington Post , probably because the New York case includes new victims or new alleged crimes .
Significantly , the indictment alleged that between 2002 and 2005 , Epstein recruited girls as young as 14 not just to his Palm Beach residence , but also to his Manhattan house , where he sexually abused them .
The indictment also states that Epstein knew some of the girls were underage , because they “ expressly told him their age.
” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worked and conspired with others , including employees and associates who facilitated his conduct by , among other things , contacting victims and scheduling their sexual encounters with Epstein.
” In addition to Epstein , the New York case seemed like it could potentially lead to charges against some of those “ associates.
” “ We hope that prosecutors will not stop with Mr. Epstein because there were many other people who participated with him and made the sex trafficking possible , ” David Boies , a lawyer for some of Epstein ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It also appeared possible that Epstein could give up information on crimes by some of his powerful friends in exchange for a lighter sentence , though former New York prosecutor Mimi Rocah wrote in the Daily Beast that he “ shouldn ’ t expect the ridiculous sweetheart deal he got the first time around.
” “ There are probably quite a few important people , powerful people , who are sweating it out right now , ” the Miami Herald ’ s Brown said in a July MSNBC appearance .
“ We @ @ @ @ @ @ @ whether Epstein is going to name names.
” Meanwhile , in July , after repeated calls for his resignation , Acosta announced he was stepping down from his Labor Department post .
The new charges also led to a new public allegation .
In July , 32-year-old Jennifer Araoz said in an interview with NBC ’ s Today that a young woman approached her outside her New York City high school in 2001 , engaged her in conversation , and ended up introducing her to Epstein at his New York townhouse .
At @ @ @ @ @ @ @ talked , with her telling him about her father ’ s death from AIDS a few years before .
But over the next year , Araoz said , Epstein manipulated her into giving him massages that ended with him masturbating .
Then , in 2002 , she said , “ he raped me , forcefully raped me.
” Epstein ’ s case is an example of how wealthy and powerful men can get away with sexual abuse For a time , Epstein was markedly forthcoming about some of the allegations against him .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2005 , his attorney said , “ Mr .
Epstein is very passionate about massages .
… The massages are therapeutic and spiritually sound for him ; that is why he has had many massages.
” He even donated $ 100,000 to Ballet Florida purely so that dancers could also have massages .
Despite the severity of the crimes he was accused of , Epstein avoided major consequences thanks to his wealth and connections .
He was able to hire a team , including private investigators , Dershowitz , and Starr , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
His investigators and lawyers worked to discredit or intimidate the women and girls who came forward , and the authorities working on the case , according to the Herald .
After the case was referred to the FBI , Epstein ’ s team mounted a “ year-long assault ” on federal prosecutors , investigating them and their families looking for “ personal peccadilloes ” that might disqualify them from the case , according to a 2011 public statement by Acosta .
None of this would have been possible without Epstein ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ other powerful people may also have played a key role .
Epstein ’ s plea agreement refers to unspecified information he supplied to federal investigators , according to Brown .
It ’ s not clear what that information was , but Brown notes that Epstein was a key federal witness in the prosecution of two executives with Bear Stearns , the investment brokerage that failed as part of the 2008 financial crisis .
Epstein had at one time been an investor in a hedge fund managed by those executives .
So it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wealthy men helped keep him out of prison .
( The executives were eventually acquitted . )
Ultimately , Brown reports , Acosta caved under the pressure .
He and his team not only allowed Epstein to avoid a long prison sentence but also worked with Epstein ’ s lawyers to make sure the case was kept as quiet as possible .
All told , Brown ’ s extensive reporting paints a picture that ’ s all too common : a rich and well-connected man manipulating the legal system to protect himself .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Harvey Weinstein , who , according to the New Yorker ’ s Ronan Farrow , hired an army of private investigators , including ex-Mossad agents , to track actresses and journalists in an effort to suppress sexual harassment and assault allegations against him .
Epstein ’ s deal with prosecutors did more than just protect him .
By granting immunity to potential co-conspirators , it let any friends or associates of Epstein who might also have participated in his abuse avoid consequences as well .
Over the years , speculation has swirled about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , if any , might have committed sex crimes on his properties .
During the 2016 presidential race , then-Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus speculated that Bill Clinton might have been involved : “ When you hang out with a guy who has a reputation like Jeffrey Epstein , multiple times , on private jets , on weekends , on trips , on places at least where it ’ s been reported not very good things happen , it would be good to know what our former president was doing , ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ however , has not been accused of any specific Epstein-related wrongdoing . )
Also during the 2016 race , a woman going by the name Katie Johnson sued Trump , saying he had raped her at one of Epstein ’ s parties when she was 13 , the Daily Beast reports .
She later dropped the suit .
It ’ s hard for the public to know how to evaluate these claims when so little about Epstein ’ s crimes has ever come to light , due to pressure from his lawyers and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ money and influence have protected not just Epstein but anyone who might be connected to him , a disturbing example of power perpetuating itself .
The girls and women who reported abuse by Epstein , meanwhile , were markedly powerless .
Most of them “ came from disadvantaged families , single-parent homes or foster care , ” Brown reports .
“ Many of the girls were one step away from homelessness.
” Their youth and poverty may have made it easier for Epstein and his alleged recruiters to lure them in with promises @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intimidate them , and easier for prosecutors to discount or disbelieve them when the time came .
Investigation into Epstein continues after his death Despite Epstein ’ s death , investigation and legal action in his case have continued , leading to further revelations about his influence , as well as his ability to avoid consequences for the allegations against him .
For example , according to lawsuits filed after his death , Epstein coerced two women to have sex with him while he was on work release , Ali Watkins reports at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ previously recruited them in New York , and had them flown to Florida to have sex with him during his jail sentence , the suits allege .
Meanwhile , the new charges against Epstein , as well as his death , led to increased attention to the way he apparently used donations to academics and institutions as a way to launder his public image after his 2007 indictment .
MIT , in particular , has been the focus of scrutiny , with the director of the university ’ s Media Lab , Joichi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ report showed that he received donations from Epstein and worked to conceal their source .
In January , an investigation by the university found that Epstein had made 10 donations between 2002 and 2017 , and that top administrators had been aware of the gifts , the New York Times reported .
( Epstein had been a registered sex offender since 2008 . )
Though unique in many ways , Epstein ’ s case is also common in others : one of all too many instances in which victims of sexual misconduct are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from marginalized groups .
Women who have come forward to say that singer R. Kelly abused them have faced a similar kind of erasure .
As Vox ’ s Constance Grady notes , Kelly has been “ accused of creating an abusive ‘ sex cult ’ of very young women , whom he allegedly isolates , brainwashes , and abuses physically and emotionally.
” Girls and young women are routinely seen as unreliable narrators of their own experiences , including abuse , and it typically takes the testimony of many women for a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ For example , young female athletes had been reporting abuse by Larry Nassar , the USA Gymnastics team doctor who was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison earlier this year for abusing more than 100 young athletes , since 1997 .
For more than a decade , officials at Michigan State University , where he worked , did nothing .
It took a groundbreaking investigation by the Indianapolis Star , the brave testimony of dozens of survivors , and , perhaps , the growing strength of the # MeToo movement , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Meanwhile , for the women who say Epstein abused them , that justice has been elusive .
It seemed that might be about to change after Epstein ’ s July arrest .
“ Oh my God , ” Michelle Licata , one of Epstein ’ s accusers , told the Miami Herald upon hearing about the new indictment .
“ Finally , finally , finally !
Justice !
” But Epstein ’ s death ends his prosecution for the indictment filed in July .
However , New York authorities are continuing to investigate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of women are filing suit against his estate .
“ On behalf of the victims I represent , we would have preferred [ Jeffrey Epstein ] lived to face justice , ” attorney Lisa Bloom said shortly after his death .
But , she continued : “ Our civil cases can still proceed against his estate .
Victims deserve to be made whole for the lifelong damage he caused .
We ’ re just getting started.
” Correction : A previous version of this article misstated the name of the island Epstein @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is Little St. James .
Update : Though Epstein had previously said he donated $ 30 million to Harvard University , a Harvard source familiar with the donation told Vox the money manager only gave $ 6.5 million .
Jeffrey Epstein ’ s suicide is unexpectedly shining a light on the conditions in America ’ s jails .
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Jeffrey Epstein was found dead on August 10, 2019, in a Manhattan jail where he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges. New York City’s medical examiner has ruled his death a suicide.
The money manager was accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls, bringing them to his home for massages during which he masturbated or had intercourse with them. He was indicted in 2007, but as Julie K. Brown reported at the Miami Herald, he ultimately got just 13 months in a county jail, because of a deal signed by US attorney Alexander Acosta, who would later become secretary of labor under President Trump.
In July, however, Epstein was arrested in New Jersey and charged with sex trafficking, in connection with allegations that he recruited young girls for abuse at his homes in New York and Palm Beach. If convicted, he could have faced 45 years in prison.
Epstein said that any encounters he had with his accusers were consensual, and that he believed they were 18 at the time. He pleaded not guilty to the trafficking charges.
But disturbing allegations have continued to come out since Epstein’s death. In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, for example, the attorney general of the Virgin Islands said that the money manager had run a sex trafficking operation from his private islands, bringing in girls as young as 11 to be abused. And recipients of donations by Epstein are facing scrutiny — the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for example, received $850,000 from Epstein, including gifts made after his jail sentence, a January report revealed.
Epstein’s story is a master class in the power dynamics that have been exposed by the Me Too movement but have yet to truly change.
When authorities began investigating Epstein, he assembled a team of private investigators to dig up dirt on the girls who accused him and the police and prosecutors working the case. Then he and his team of powerful lawyers, including Alan Dershowitz and Kenneth Starr, were able to convince prosecutors to go easy on him despite disturbing allegations by a growing number of women and girls.
Epstein was proud of his “collection” of famous friends, which included Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, and there’s long been speculation that some of these friends may have participated in his abuses. But because he was able to minimize publicity around the details of his case for so long, he was also able to keep details about anyone else who may have been involved out of the public eye.
The fact that Epstein avoided serious punishment for years is a reminder that the American justice system has long been all too willing to ignore the words of girls and women, especially when they accuse a wealthy and influential man. Now that Epstein is dead, the women who say he harmed them will not get to face him in court. But the investigation into his crimes is ongoing, and a number of women are pursuing civil claims against his estate. As the results of those legal actions become public, the web of power and influence that protected Epstein and those close to him from scrutiny is finally beginning to unravel.
Epstein was known for his wealth and his predilection for young girls. Everything else was something of a mystery.
Jeffrey Epstein, who died at 66 years old, was known as an influential financier until his 2007 indictment for sex crimes — though there was a good deal of mystery about how, exactly, he made his money.
After working at the investment bank Bear Stearns in the early 1980s, he founded his own firm, J. Epstein and Co., in 1982, advertising his services for those with assets worth more than $1 billion — and was soon managing billions of dollars in client assets. By 1992, he owned the largest private residence in Manhattan. For tax purposes, he ran his business from the island of St. Thomas in the US Virgin Islands since at least 1996, and near that island, he owned the island of Little St. James.
That island was also home to Epstein’s foundation, the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation — best known for donating $6.5 million to Harvard University for the establishment of a mathematical biology and evolutionary dynamics program. In a 2003 Harvard Crimson article on Epstein and his gift to the university, he is described by Harvard luminaries — including Alan Dershowitz, who would later help represent him when Epstein was accused of sex crimes in 2007 — as “brilliant” and “one of the most pleasant philanthropists.”
In a 2002 New York magazine profile, Epstein was described by even those closest to him as “mysterious,” with many of the sources of his immense wealth remaining largely unknown and with one acquaintance even comparing him to the Wizard of Oz, implying that there might be less behind the curtain than appearances would otherwise suggest:
Epstein is said to run $15 billion for wealthy clients, yet aside from Limited founder Leslie Wexner, his client list is a closely held secret. A former Dalton math teacher, he maintains a peripatetic salon of brilliant scientists yet possesses no bachelor’s degree. For more than ten years, he’s been linked to Manhattan-London society figure Ghislaine Maxwell, daughter of the mysteriously deceased media titan Robert Maxwell, yet he lives the life of a bachelor, logging 600 hours a year in his various planes as he scours the world for investment opportunities. He owns what is said to be Manhattan’s largest private house yet runs his business from a 100-acre private island in St. Thomas. ... Says another prominent Wall Streeter: “He is this mysterious, Gatsbyesque figure. He likes people to think that he is very rich, and he cultivates this air of aloofness. The whole thing is weird.”
Michael Stroll, who sued Epstein over a failed business deal in the 2000s, told New York magazine in 2007, “Everybody who’s his friend thinks he’s so darn brilliant because he’s so darn wealthy. I never saw any brilliance, I never saw him work. Anybody I know that is that wealthy works 26 hours a day. This guy plays 26 hours a day.”
Epstein was also an accumulator of famous friends — and his connections would later prove extremely important as he attempted to defend himself against allegations of sexual abuse. He gained some measure of fame in the early 2000s for flying President Bill Clinton, actor Kevin Spacey, and comedian Chris Tucker to Africa to tour AIDS prevention and treatment project sites. Clinton would go on to fly multiple times on Epstein’s private plane in 2002 and 2003, according to flight logs obtained by Gawker in 2015. Gawker also obtained and published Epstein’s address book, which included politicians, actors, and celebrities.
In 2002, Epstein described his famous friends as a “collection” of sorts, saying, “I invest in people — be it politics or science. It’s what I do.” He was at one point spending $20 million per year to subsidize a group of scientists and their research on topics ranging from Tibetan monks to altruistic behavior. He was also good friends with Donald Trump, who described Epstein to New York magazine in 2002 as someone who “enjoys his social life.”
The money manager’s friends and acquaintances were apparently willing to continue socializing with him despite his tendency to have eccentric or even downright disturbing ideas. Several people say that he wanted to “use his New Mexico ranch as a base where women would be inseminated with his sperm and would give birth to his babies,” James B. Stewart, Matthew Goldstein, and Jessica Silver-Greenberg of the New York Times reported in July. The idea was not a secret, they write; one scientist recalls Epstein discussing it during a dinner at his townhouse in 2001, while another Times source remembers hearing about it from Epstein and at least one other person.
The fact that Epstein was able to retain his famous “collection” of friends despite talking openly about using himself as the center of a eugenics experiment may be a testament to his influence, to his associates’ ability to look the other way, or both.
Epstein’s connections are crucial to understanding his story. They may have helped him get a lighter sentence in 2008, but they’re important for another reason too. His friendships with famous people have led to speculation that they, too — most notably Clinton and Trump — might have participated in his abuse of girls. But because Epstein was able to keep all the details of his prosecution quiet, it’s impossible for the public to know exactly who else was involved in his crimes. By protecting himself, Epstein may have been able to protect his famous friends as well.
A police investigation found that Epstein had sexually abused dozens of girls. He got a shockingly light sentence.
Much of Epstein’s “social life” involved very young women. “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years,” Trump said in 2002. “Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
In the 2007 New York magazine article, Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff described flying on Epstein’s private plane in the 1990s, saying Epstein “was followed onto the plane by — how shall I say this? — by three teenage girls not his daughters” who were “18, 19, 20, who knows” and “model-like.”
“He has never been secretive about the girls,” Wolff said. “At one point, when his troubles began, he was talking to me and said, ‘What can I say, I like young girls.’ I said, ‘Maybe you should say, ‘I like young women.’ ”
Finally, in 2005, a woman reported to Florida police that a wealthy man had molested her stepdaughter, according to the Daily Beast. The tip led Palm Beach detectives to investigate, and they identified multiple girls who said Epstein had abused them. The case was eventually referred to the FBI, and in 2008, after years of investigation and legal wrangling, Epstein pleaded guilty to charges of solicitation of prostitution and procurement of minors for prostitution in a deal with federal prosecutors.
According to court and police records reviewed by the Miami Herald’s Julie Brown, Epstein routinely had underage girls brought to his Palm Beach mansion, where he paid them to give him massages. During the massages, he often subjected the girls to sexual abuse — asking them to touch him while he masturbated, touching them himself, and sometimes having intercourse with them, Brown reports. Then, according to the Herald, he would offer them money to find him more girls — which some of them did, finding recruits at malls and house parties.
According to Joseph Recarey, the lead Palm Beach detective on the case, Epstein was essentially operating a “sexual pyramid scheme.” Brown identified about 80 women who say they were molested or otherwise sexually abused by Epstein, and some accounts suggest the total number may be much higher.
“He told me he wanted them as young as I could find them,’’ Courtney Wild, who says she recruited 70 or 80 girls for Epstein, told Brown. “He wanted as many girls as I could get him. It was never enough.’’
In response to lawsuits by some of the girls, Epstein has said that they consented to “the acts alleged” and that he believed they were 18, the Daily Beast reports.
In many cases, the effects on the girls were devastating.
”The women who went to Jeffrey Epstein’s mansion as girls tend to divide their lives into two parts,” Brown writes: “life before Jeffrey and life after Jeffrey.”
Wild was a 14-year-old middle school student and cheerleading captain when she met Epstein, Brown writes. She later became addicted to drugs and served three years in prison on drug charges.
One woman who said Epstein molested her was found dead of a heroin overdose in 2017, leaving behind a young son.
The FBI had prepared a 53-page sex crimes indictment for Epstein in 2007 that could have sent him to prison for life, according to the Herald. Instead, he cut a deal with Alexander Acosta, then the US attorney in Miami, which allowed him to serve just 13 months — not in federal or state prison, but in a private wing of a Palm Beach county jail.
He was granted work release to go to a “comfortable office” for 12 hours a day, six days a week, despite the fact that the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Department prohibited work release for sex offenders.
Epstein’s deal, called a “non-prosecution agreement,” granted immunity to “any potential co-conspirators,” meaning that if any of Epstein’s powerful friends were involved in his crimes, they would face no consequences. And Acosta agreed that the deal would be kept secret from the victims, preventing them from showing up in court to try to challenge it.
New charges seemed like a new chance for prosecutors to hold Epstein accountable
In July 2019, though, Epstein was arrested at a New Jersey airport upon his return from a trip to France. He was charged with sex trafficking and sex trafficking conspiracy in federal court in New York. If convicted, he could have faced up to 45 years in prison, along with the forfeiture of his Manhattan townhouse, according to the New York Times.
Prosecutors weren’t worried about double jeopardy in this case, a source told the Washington Post, probably because the New York case includes new victims or new alleged crimes. Significantly, the indictment alleged that between 2002 and 2005, Epstein recruited girls as young as 14 not just to his Palm Beach residence, but also to his Manhattan house, where he sexually abused them.
The indictment also states that Epstein knew some of the girls were underage, because they “expressly told him their age.” And the document states that Epstein “worked and conspired with others, including employees and associates who facilitated his conduct by, among other things, contacting victims and scheduling their sexual encounters with Epstein.”
In addition to Epstein, the New York case seemed like it could potentially lead to charges against some of those “associates.”
“We hope that prosecutors will not stop with Mr. Epstein because there were many other people who participated with him and made the sex trafficking possible,” David Boies, a lawyer for some of Epstein’s accusers, told the Daily Beast.
It also appeared possible that Epstein could give up information on crimes by some of his powerful friends in exchange for a lighter sentence, though former New York prosecutor Mimi Rocah wrote in the Daily Beast that he “shouldn’t expect the ridiculous sweetheart deal he got the first time around.”
“There are probably quite a few important people, powerful people, who are sweating it out right now,” the Miami Herald’s Brown said in a July MSNBC appearance. “We’ll have to wait and see whether Epstein is going to name names.”
Meanwhile, in July, after repeated calls for his resignation, Acosta announced he was stepping down from his Labor Department post.
The new charges also led to a new public allegation. In July, 32-year-old Jennifer Araoz said in an interview with NBC’s Today that a young woman approached her outside her New York City high school in 2001, engaged her in conversation, and ended up introducing her to Epstein at his New York townhouse. At first, she said, they just talked, with her telling him about her father’s death from AIDS a few years before. But over the next year, Araoz said, Epstein manipulated her into giving him massages that ended with him masturbating. Then, in 2002, she said, “he raped me, forcefully raped me.”
Epstein’s case is an example of how wealthy and powerful men can get away with sexual abuse
For a time, Epstein was markedly forthcoming about some of the allegations against him. In one communication with Palm Beach police in 2005, his attorney said, “Mr. Epstein is very passionate about massages. … The massages are therapeutic and spiritually sound for him; that is why he has had many massages.” He even donated $100,000 to Ballet Florida purely so that dancers could also have massages.
Despite the severity of the crimes he was accused of, Epstein avoided major consequences thanks to his wealth and connections.
He was able to hire a team, including private investigators, Dershowitz, and Starr, famous for his investigation of Bill Clinton. His investigators and lawyers worked to discredit or intimidate the women and girls who came forward, and the authorities working on the case, according to the Herald.
After the case was referred to the FBI, Epstein’s team mounted a “year-long assault” on federal prosecutors, investigating them and their families looking for “personal peccadilloes” that might disqualify them from the case, according to a 2011 public statement by Acosta.
None of this would have been possible without Epstein’s substantial fortune. But his relationships with other powerful people may also have played a key role. Epstein’s plea agreement refers to unspecified information he supplied to federal investigators, according to Brown. It’s not clear what that information was, but Brown notes that Epstein was a key federal witness in the prosecution of two executives with Bear Stearns, the investment brokerage that failed as part of the 2008 financial crisis. Epstein had at one time been an investor in a hedge fund managed by those executives. So it’s possible that his knowledge about other wealthy men helped keep him out of prison. (The executives were eventually acquitted.)
Ultimately, Brown reports, Acosta caved under the pressure. He and his team not only allowed Epstein to avoid a long prison sentence but also worked with Epstein’s lawyers to make sure the case was kept as quiet as possible.
All told, Brown’s extensive reporting paints a picture that’s all too common: a rich and well-connected man manipulating the legal system to protect himself. The account recalls the case of producer Harvey Weinstein, who, according to the New Yorker’s Ronan Farrow, hired an army of private investigators, including ex-Mossad agents, to track actresses and journalists in an effort to suppress sexual harassment and assault allegations against him.
Epstein’s deal with prosecutors did more than just protect him. By granting immunity to potential co-conspirators, it let any friends or associates of Epstein who might also have participated in his abuse avoid consequences as well.
Over the years, speculation has swirled about which of Epstein’s famous friends, if any, might have committed sex crimes on his properties. During the 2016 presidential race, then-Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus speculated that Bill Clinton might have been involved: “When you hang out with a guy who has a reputation like Jeffrey Epstein, multiple times, on private jets, on weekends, on trips, on places at least where it’s been reported not very good things happen, it would be good to know what our former president was doing,” he told Bloomberg. (Clinton, however, has not been accused of any specific Epstein-related wrongdoing.)
Also during the 2016 race, a woman going by the name Katie Johnson sued Trump, saying he had raped her at one of Epstein’s parties when she was 13, the Daily Beast reports. She later dropped the suit.
It’s hard for the public to know how to evaluate these claims when so little about Epstein’s crimes has ever come to light, due to pressure from his lawyers and acquiescence from prosecutors. Epstein’s money and influence have protected not just Epstein but anyone who might be connected to him, a disturbing example of power perpetuating itself.
The girls and women who reported abuse by Epstein, meanwhile, were markedly powerless. Most of them “came from disadvantaged families, single-parent homes or foster care,” Brown reports. “Many of the girls were one step away from homelessness.”
Their youth and poverty may have made it easier for Epstein and his alleged recruiters to lure them in with promises of cash, easier for investigators to intimidate them, and easier for prosecutors to discount or disbelieve them when the time came.
Investigation into Epstein continues after his death
Despite Epstein’s death, investigation and legal action in his case have continued, leading to further revelations about his influence, as well as his ability to avoid consequences for the allegations against him.
For example, according to lawsuits filed after his death, Epstein coerced two women to have sex with him while he was on work release, Ali Watkins reports at the New York Times. He had previously recruited them in New York, and had them flown to Florida to have sex with him during his jail sentence, the suits allege.
Another lawsuit, filed by Denise N. George, the attorney general of the Virgin Islands, alleges that Epstein brought girls as young as 11 or 12 to his private island for sexual abuse, using a database to track their movements, the Times reports. In one case, a 15-year-old girl tried to swim off the island and escape after being forced to perform sex acts, the suit alleges, but she was captured and Epstein confiscated her passport.
Meanwhile, the new charges against Epstein, as well as his death, have led to increased attention to the way he used donations to academics and institutions as a way to launder his public image after his 2007 indictment. MIT, in particular, has been the focus of scrutiny, with the director of the university’s Media Lab, Joichi Ito, resigning in September after a report showed that he received donations from Epstein and worked to conceal their source. In January, an investigation by the university found that Epstein had made 10 donations between 2002 and 2017, and that top administrators had been aware of the gifts, the New York Times reported. (Epstein had been a registered sex offender since 2008.)
Though unique in many ways, Epstein’s case is also common in others: one of all too many instances in which victims of sexual misconduct are ignored or brushed aside when they come from marginalized groups. Women who have come forward to say that singer R. Kelly abused them have faced a similar kind of erasure. As Vox’s Constance Grady notes, Kelly has been “accused of creating an abusive ‘sex cult’ of very young women, whom he allegedly isolates, brainwashes, and abuses physically and emotionally.”
Girls and young women are routinely seen as unreliable narrators of their own experiences, including abuse, and it typically takes the testimony of many women for a powerful man to face any consequences. For example, young female athletes had been reporting abuse by Larry Nassar, the USA Gymnastics team doctor who was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison earlier this year for abusing more than 100 young athletes, since 1997. For more than a decade, officials at Michigan State University, where he worked, did nothing.
It took a groundbreaking investigation by the Indianapolis Star, the brave testimony of dozens of survivors, and, perhaps, the growing strength of the #MeToo movement, to finally bring Nassar to justice.
Meanwhile, for the women who say Epstein abused them, that justice has been elusive.
It seemed that might be about to change after Epstein’s July arrest. “Oh my God,” Michelle Licata, one of Epstein’s accusers, told the Miami Herald upon hearing about the new indictment. “Finally, finally, finally! Justice!”
But Epstein’s death ends his prosecution for the indictment filed in July. However, New York authorities are continuing to investigate Epstein’s case, and a number of women are filing suit against his estate.
“On behalf of the victims I represent, we would have preferred [Jeffrey Epstein] lived to face justice,” attorney Lisa Bloom said shortly after his death. But, she continued: “Our civil cases can still proceed against his estate. Victims deserve to be made whole for the lifelong damage he caused. We’re just getting started.”
Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the name of the island Epstein owns. The island’s name is Little St. James.
Update: Though Epstein had previously said he donated $30 million to Harvard University, a Harvard source familiar with the donation told Vox the money manager only gave $6.5 million.
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vox--2020-01-10--How Amazon’s Ring is creating a surveillance network with video doorbells

The Ring video doorbell is Amazon ’ s latest infiltration into Americans ’ everyday lives , and even though it offers customers convenience and a sense of security , it ’ s also attracting scrutiny .
Amazon already dominates how we shop for goods online ; its Web Services arm is the backbone of numerous internet companies ; and its Prime Video and Music services are angling to become primary ways we watch and listen to media .
As its influence has expanded , Amazon has become a political and social flashpoint , facing accusations from politicians , activists , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on monopolistic e-commerce practices , that it mistreats its workers , that it doesn ’ t pay enough in taxes , and that its relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Palantir facilitates human rights abuses at the US ’ s southern border .
Now the company ’ s Ring cameras are stoking fears that the e-commerce giant is further encroaching on people ’ s privacy as Ring turns neighborhoods into surveillance operations and profits from the false perception that crime is on the rise .
The company ’ s social media app @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their devices record , has been shown to exacerbate racial stereotypes and profiling .
Critics view Ring ’ s growing partnerships with local police departments as self-serving and a way for a private company to use the public sector and taxpayer money to promote its own interests .
What exactly is Ring , anyway ?
Ring is a smart security device company .
It ’ s best known for its video doorbell , which allows Ring users to see , talk to , and record people who come to their doorsteps .
Acquired @ @ @ @ @ @ @ early 2018 , the company sells wifi-enabled products that integrate with its social media app called Neighbors , where users can post videos of suspicious activity and crimes outside their front doors , as well as view posts from other people within a 5-mile radius .
Ring ’ s low-cost security devices are part of the fastest-growing segment of smart devices , with shipments expected to grow about 21 percent every year through 2023 , according to the market research firm IDC .
Ring says it has “ millions of users ” worldwide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ number .
The devices are meant to deter theft , which , conveniently , also protects Amazon ’ s e-commerce business from losses on stolen packages .
For full access to Ring ’ s capabilities , on top of device costs users pay a subscription fee that ranges from $ 30 ( video saving and sharing ) to $ 100 ( professional monitoring ) annually .
What does its social media app Neighbors do ?
If you install a Ring device , you ’ re automatically enrolled in its Neighbors social media app @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use the app , where they can anonymously read or post — using video or not — about crime , safety , suspicious activity , and lost pets within 5 miles of their home .
The app also alerts users to real-time 911 call data as well as content from its own news team .
Posts largely discuss “ suspicious ” people and stolen Amazon packages , and people often post video footage alongside commentary .
Trained moderators attempt to remove racist posts , but plenty of examples of racial profiling persist on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Ring user posts around its Brooklyn headquarters found that the majority of those reported as “ suspicious ” were people of color .
Neighbors is one of several increasingly popular fear-based social media apps , whose focus on crime gives people the mistaken perception that crime is increasing despite actual crime being at its lowest rate in decades .
Ring devices have been the subject a series of high-profile hacks , including one in which a man used a family ’ s Ring to harass an 8-year-old girl in her bedroom in Mississippi @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hacks were “ in no way related to a breach or compromise of Ring ’ s security ” but were rather the result of people reusing compromised passwords that hackers exploited to gain access to Ring devices .
The hacks have led consumer groups to issue a product warning telling people not to buy the devices .
Consumers in turn have filed multiple class action lawsuits against the company , saying negligence on Ring ’ s part led to hackers gaining access to their devices .
Ring has suggested that consumers use new @ @ @ @ @ @ @ such hacks .
While two-factor authentication is available on the devices — a process that would require users to provide an extra piece of information , like a passcode from their phones , in order to gain access to the cameras — Ring is not making it mandatory for existing users because the company said it would cause mass logouts .
Two-factor authentication will now be the default for new users , who will have to opt out if they don ’ t want the service .
Ring has also unveiled a privacy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this month that makes it easier for users to control their security settings in one place .
In the dashboard , users will now be able to see who is logged in and log them out .
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden , who co-wrote a letter in November 2019 prior to the hacks asking Ring to detail its security measures , doesn ’ t believe the new measures go far enough .
Ring security could also be jeopardized from within .
As part of the response to the senator , Ring stated that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ footage and had since been terminated .
Ring did not specify what sort of information they ’ d gotten or why .
As of the beginning of January , Ring has partnered with 770 police departments in the US ( up from 400 in August 2019 ) , and it ’ s continuing to expand this network .
Amazon ’ s head of devices and services Dave Limp told Wired , “ I ’ m proud of that program , and I think we ’ ll continue to do it .
If anything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it.
” Partnerships give police a direct portal through which they can request video from Ring users in the event of an active nearby crime investigation .
Ring users are not required to give video to police and their identities are kept secret , but Amazon has been coaching police on how to more successfully get video from Ring users without a warrant , according to Vice .
CNET reported that for more than a year , ending in July 2019 , Ring ’ s police partners had access to a map that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of where Ring devices were installed , giving them a general idea of who might have a Ring , if not exact addresses .
Ring users who are victims of a crime , of course , may choose to share video with police of their own accord .
These partnerships also give police departments discounts on Ring products , which they can extend to their communities .
While on the surface that could seem like a plus for citizens , it raises issues of competitive fairness and what role private companies should play @ @ @ @ @ @ @ learned that Ring has worked with police to try to automatically activate nearby Ring video cameras in the event of a 911 call so that cops would , with user permission , be able to use the footage in ensuing investigations .
The project isn ’ t currently being pursued .
Gizmodo reported that what police departments disclose about their partnership with Ring is written or approved by Ring .
Vice reported that partnerships require police departments to fill Ring-defined positions like a “ Partnership Point of Contact ” and “ Community Relations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t have any job requirements but that it requests people already in those positions to attend trainings .
Critics note that all this effectively turns the police into the marketing arm of one of the most valuable companies in the world .
As the Electronic Frontier Foundation recently put it , “ This arrangement makes salespeople out of what should be impartial and trusted protectors of our civic society.
” Ring has long told reporters that it doesn ’ t use facial recognition , but it has left open the possibility that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for future implementation .
The company has filed patents to that effect .
And reporting from BuzzFeed News found that Ring ’ s Ukraine arm has been working on facial recognition technology and that it employs a “ head of face recognition research.
” The Intercept reported in November 2019 that Ring planned neighborhood “ watch lists ” that use facial recognition to alert Ring users when someone considered “ suspicious ” came into a Ring device ’ s view .
Earlier in November , Amazon ’ s vice president of public policy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( D-Mass . )
that facial recognition capabilities in Ring devices were a “ contemplated but unreleased feature.
” Most recently Ring told senators , “ If our customers want these features in Ring security cameras , we will release these features only with thoughtful design including privacy , security , and user control , and we will clearly communicate with our customers as we offer new features.
” Ring ’ s competitor Nest , which is owned by Google , already uses facial recognition in some of its cameras .
Besides being @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also proven faulty , especially when it comes to identifying nonwhite people .
Research from MIT and the University of Toronto has shown that Amazon ’ s facial recognition technology frequently mistakes dark-skinned women for men , among other issues .
Amazon has also developed it own facial recognition tech , called Rekognition , which the company sells to law enforcement agencies — leading some activists to speculate that the tech may be introduced into Ring surveillance cameras .
Ring told Recode that it doesn ’ t use Rekognition in its Ring products @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would do so in the future .
As Slate ’ s April Glaser pointed out , Amazon ’ s Rekognition proved too complicated a tool for strapped police departments with outdated computers to use .
Distributing that workload — surveillance for now , but potentially facial recognition in the future — among consumers with Ring doorbells , however , seems to be a much more viable action .
For good or bad , Amazon is squarely in the public ’ s spotlight these days .
While many people adore the convenience Amazon and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they ’ re questioning the cost .

The Ring video doorbell is Amazon’s latest infiltration into Americans’ everyday lives, and even though it offers customers convenience and a sense of security, it’s also attracting scrutiny.
Amazon already dominates how we shop for goods online; its Web Services arm is the backbone of numerous internet companies; and its Prime Video and Music services are angling to become primary ways we watch and listen to media. As its influence has expanded, Amazon has become a political and social flashpoint, facing accusations from politicians, activists, and its own sellers that it relies on monopolistic e-commerce practices, that it mistreats its workers, that it doesn’t pay enough in taxes, and that its relationship with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Palantir facilitates human rights abuses at the US’s southern border.
Now the company’s Ring cameras are stoking fears that the e-commerce giant is further encroaching on people’s privacy as Ring turns neighborhoods into surveillance operations and profits from the false perception that crime is on the rise. The company’s social media app, where users can share the surveillance their devices record, has been shown to exacerbate racial stereotypes and profiling. Critics view Ring’s growing partnerships with local police departments as self-serving and a way for a private company to use the public sector and taxpayer money to promote its own interests.
What exactly is Ring, anyway?
Ring is a smart security device company. It’s best known for its video doorbell, which allows Ring users to see, talk to, and record people who come to their doorsteps. Acquired by Amazon for $839 million in early 2018, the company sells wifi-enabled products that integrate with its social media app called Neighbors, where users can post videos of suspicious activity and crimes outside their front doors, as well as view posts from other people within a 5-mile radius.
Ring’s low-cost security devices are part of the fastest-growing segment of smart devices, with shipments expected to grow about 21 percent every year through 2023, according to the market research firm IDC. Ring says it has “millions of users” worldwide but wouldn’t provide a specific number. The devices are meant to deter theft, which, conveniently, also protects Amazon’s e-commerce business from losses on stolen packages.
For full access to Ring’s capabilities, on top of device costs users pay a subscription fee that ranges from $30 (video saving and sharing) to $100 (professional monitoring) annually.
What does its social media app Neighbors do?
If you install a Ring device, you’re automatically enrolled in its Neighbors social media app. People without Ring devices can also use the app, where they can anonymously read or post — using video or not — about crime, safety, suspicious activity, and lost pets within 5 miles of their home. The app also alerts users to real-time 911 call data as well as content from its own news team.
Posts largely discuss “suspicious” people and stolen Amazon packages, and people often post video footage alongside commentary. Trained moderators attempt to remove racist posts, but plenty of examples of racial profiling persist on the app. A Vice review of Ring user posts around its Brooklyn headquarters found that the majority of those reported as “suspicious” were people of color.
Neighbors is one of several increasingly popular fear-based social media apps, whose focus on crime gives people the mistaken perception that crime is increasing despite actual crime being at its lowest rate in decades.
Hacking and security on Ring
Ring devices have been the subject a series of high-profile hacks, including one in which a man used a family’s Ring to harass an 8-year-old girl in her bedroom in Mississippi. The company has stated that the hacks were “in no way related to a breach or compromise of Ring’s security” but were rather the result of people reusing compromised passwords that hackers exploited to gain access to Ring devices.
The hacks have led consumer groups to issue a product warning telling people not to buy the devices. Consumers in turn have filed multiple class action lawsuits against the company, saying negligence on Ring’s part led to hackers gaining access to their devices.
Ring has suggested that consumers use new passwords or enable two-factor authentication to prevent such hacks. While two-factor authentication is available on the devices — a process that would require users to provide an extra piece of information, like a passcode from their phones, in order to gain access to the cameras — Ring is not making it mandatory for existing users because the company said it would cause mass logouts. Two-factor authentication will now be the default for new users, who will have to opt out if they don’t want the service.
Ring has also unveiled a privacy dashboard that will go into effect later this month that makes it easier for users to control their security settings in one place. In the dashboard, users will now be able to see who is logged in and log them out.
Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden, who co-wrote a letter in November 2019 prior to the hacks asking Ring to detail its security measures, doesn’t believe the new measures go far enough.
Ring security could also be jeopardized from within. As part of the response to the senator, Ring stated that four employees had improperly accessed Ring doorbell footage and had since been terminated. Ring did not specify what sort of information they’d gotten or why.
More recently, the Electronic Frontier Foundation found that the Ring Neighbors app sends personally identifiable information — including a unique identifier code, your mobile carrier, and your device’s IP address — to analytics and marketing companies as well as Facebook. It’s not clear what these third party trackers are doing with the information.
How Ring’s police partnerships work
As of the beginning of January, Ring has partnered with 770 police departments in the US (up from 400 in August 2019), and it’s continuing to expand this network. Amazon’s head of devices and services Dave Limp told Wired, “I’m proud of that program, and I think we’ll continue to do it. If anything we’re putting more resources on it.”
Partnerships give police a direct portal through which they can request video from Ring users in the event of an active nearby crime investigation. Ring users are not required to give video to police and their identities are kept secret, but Amazon has been coaching police on how to more successfully get video from Ring users without a warrant, according to Vice. CNET reported that for more than a year, ending in July 2019, Ring’s police partners had access to a map that could be zoomed in to street level of where Ring devices were installed, giving them a general idea of who might have a Ring, if not exact addresses.
Ring users who are victims of a crime, of course, may choose to share video with police of their own accord.
These partnerships also give police departments discounts on Ring products, which they can extend to their communities. While on the surface that could seem like a plus for citizens, it raises issues of competitive fairness and what role private companies should play in the public justice system.
CNET learned that Ring has worked with police to try to automatically activate nearby Ring video cameras in the event of a 911 call so that cops would, with user permission, be able to use the footage in ensuing investigations. The project isn’t currently being pursued. Gizmodo reported that what police departments disclose about their partnership with Ring is written or approved by Ring. Vice reported that partnerships require police departments to fill Ring-defined positions like a “Partnership Point of Contact” and “Community Relations Coordinator.”
Ring told us it doesn’t have any job requirements but that it requests people already in those positions to attend trainings. Critics note that all this effectively turns the police into the marketing arm of one of the most valuable companies in the world. As the Electronic Frontier Foundation recently put it, “This arrangement makes salespeople out of what should be impartial and trusted protectors of our civic society.”
Where facial recognition fits in
Ring has long told reporters that it doesn’t use facial recognition, but it has left open the possibility that it’s working on that technology for future implementation. The company has filed patents to that effect. And reporting from BuzzFeed News found that Ring’s Ukraine arm has been working on facial recognition technology and that it employs a “head of face recognition research.” The Intercept reported in November 2019 that Ring planned neighborhood “watch lists” that use facial recognition to alert Ring users when someone considered “suspicious” came into a Ring device’s view. Earlier in November, Amazon’s vice president of public policy Brian Huseman told Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) that facial recognition capabilities in Ring devices were a “contemplated but unreleased feature.”
Most recently Ring told senators, “If our customers want these features in Ring security cameras, we will release these features only with thoughtful design including privacy, security, and user control, and we will clearly communicate with our customers as we offer new features.”
Ring’s competitor Nest, which is owned by Google, already uses facial recognition in some of its cameras.
Besides being just creepy, facial recognition technology has also proven faulty, especially when it comes to identifying nonwhite people. Research from MIT and the University of Toronto has shown that Amazon’s facial recognition technology frequently mistakes dark-skinned women for men, among other issues.
Amazon has also developed it own facial recognition tech, called Rekognition, which the company sells to law enforcement agencies — leading some activists to speculate that the tech may be introduced into Ring surveillance cameras. Ring told Recode that it doesn’t use Rekognition in its Ring products but declined to comment on whether it would do so in the future.
As Slate’s April Glaser pointed out, Amazon’s Rekognition proved too complicated a tool for strapped police departments with outdated computers to use. Distributing that workload — surveillance for now, but potentially facial recognition in the future — among consumers with Ring doorbells, however, seems to be a much more viable action.
For good or bad, Amazon is squarely in the public’s spotlight these days. While many people adore the convenience Amazon and its products offer, more and more they’re questioning the cost.


vox--2020-01-11--Less than one-third of Iowa and New Hampshire voters have settled on a candidate

CONWAY , New Hampshire — One month out from the “ first-in-the-nation ” primary , less than one-third of New Hampshire registered voters have “ definitely ” made up their mind .
In Iowa , with 23 days and counting until the caucuses , about the same share of voters has decided for sure , according to a recent CBS/YouGov poll of the two early states .
“ I ’ m torn now ; I wasn ’ t torn before , ” New Hampshire voter Tina Craig of Albany , a Sen. Elizabeth Warren supporter , told me after seeing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attention presidential candidates are lavishing on the early states breeds indecision .
“ Getting any voter locked into a candidate is hard , ” said Hanover voter Robert Cornell , who was leaning toward Warren after seeing her in person but also considering Sen. Bernie Sanders .
“ Being face to face , hearing her ideas went further with me.
” Some voters I ’ ve talked to across New Hampshire still have a long list of candidates they ’ re looking at , but most have narrowed it down to two or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ media likes to silo candidates into “ progressive ” and “ moderate ” lanes , voters don ’ t make decisions as neatly .
Some voters like former Vice President Joe Biden and self-avowed democratic socialist Bernie Sanders ; others are choosing between progressive Elizabeth Warren and more moderate candidates like Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend , Indiana , Mayor Pete Buttigieg .
“ [ Warren ] and Buttigieg are right there at the top , ” said Concord voter Robert Fried .
“ I want to see which one will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Even though we ’ re in the final stretch of the 2020 primary race , in some ways , it ’ s just getting started .
The big field is helping keep people undecided .
But that ’ s also just the way Iowa and New Hampshire voters are .
Voters “ have no reason to make up their mind early ” with such a large and ideologically diverse field , University of New Hampshire pollster Andy Smith told me recently .
New Hampshire voters in particular are famous for deciding on a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ right up until they go into the voting booth .
And many of the dozens of voters I ’ ve spoken to at candidate events say that while they ’ re narrowing down to a few candidates , they still haven ’ t found The One yet .
That tracks in Iowa as well .
The Hawkeye State holds caucuses on February 3 where voters literally have to sort themselves into groups based on the candidates they support .
Voting happens out in the open , and candidate “ viability ” — or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ percent threshold — matters hugely to their chances .
This also increases the importance of people who support lower-tier candidates that won ’ t reach the viability threshold and have to throw their vote behind someone else .
“ The second choices are going to matter more than they usually do because there ’ s going to be a lot of not viable candidates , ” John Deeth , a longtime party activist and member of the Johnson County Democrats executive committee , told me recently .
Veteran Iowa pollster Ann Selzer told @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her that just 31 percent of respondents said their minds were made up in the recent CBS/YouGov poll .
That number went up slightly in the most recent Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa poll Selzer ’ s firm conducted , where 40 percent of likely caucusgoers said they had made their mind up about a candidate .
Still , another 45 percent said they could be persuaded .
“ What people don ’ t understand is the caucus is designed for people to keep an open mind , ” Selzer said .
“ The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no advantage is there , to locking in on a candidate.
” With New Hampshire ’ s primary being held about a week after Iowa ’ s February 3 caucuses , a lot could change between now and primary day on February 11 .
“ Unlike a general election when there are numerous offices on the ballot , in the NH primary there ’ s only one decision a voter has to make , so they have the luxury of waiting until the last minute to make up their mind , ” said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ longtime New Hampshire politico supporting Biden .
“ That ’ s why the primary ’ s very difficult to predict , to poll.
” New Hampshire voters may still be undecided , but they want someone who can beat Trump “ I want that guy out so bad , I can ’ t even tell you .
Getting Trump out , that ’ s number one , ” Conway voter Mike Manson told me .
Beyond that , many voters haven ’ t decided who they ’ ll vote for .
Manson himself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was best to do that ; he said Klobuchar was top of his list , but he was also considering Biden and Buttigieg .
“ We have so much talent , it ’ s really hard to choose , ” said voter Margaret Merrill of Madison , who was trying to decide between Biden and Klobuchar .
Merrill added she ’ d “ take the garbage collector ” over Trump , and was eager for Democrats to select their nominee .
“ The sooner we focus on a candidate , the sooner we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

CONWAY, New Hampshire — One month out from the “first-in-the-nation” primary, less than one-third of New Hampshire registered voters have “definitely” made up their mind. In Iowa, with 23 days and counting until the caucuses, about the same share of voters has decided for sure, according to a recent CBS/YouGov poll of the two early states.
“I’m torn now; I wasn’t torn before,” New Hampshire voter Tina Craig of Albany, a Sen. Elizabeth Warren supporter, told me after seeing Sen. Amy Klobuchar speak.
All the attention presidential candidates are lavishing on the early states breeds indecision.
“Getting any voter locked into a candidate is hard,” said Hanover voter Robert Cornell, who was leaning toward Warren after seeing her in person but also considering Sen. Bernie Sanders. “Being face to face, hearing her ideas went further with me.”
Some voters I’ve talked to across New Hampshire still have a long list of candidates they’re looking at, but most have narrowed it down to two or three people. Even though the national media likes to silo candidates into “progressive” and “moderate” lanes, voters don’t make decisions as neatly. Some voters like former Vice President Joe Biden and self-avowed democratic socialist Bernie Sanders; others are choosing between progressive Elizabeth Warren and more moderate candidates like Sen. Amy Klobuchar and former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg.
“[Warren] and Buttigieg are right there at the top,” said Concord voter Robert Fried. “I want to see which one will capture swing voters and Republican women.”
Even though we’re in the final stretch of the 2020 primary race, in some ways, it’s just getting started.
The big field is helping keep people undecided. But that’s also just the way Iowa and New Hampshire voters are.
Voters “have no reason to make up their mind early” with such a large and ideologically diverse field, University of New Hampshire pollster Andy Smith told me recently.
New Hampshire voters in particular are famous for deciding on a candidate at the last minute — sometimes right up until they go into the voting booth. And many of the dozens of voters I’ve spoken to at candidate events say that while they’re narrowing down to a few candidates, they still haven’t found The One yet.
That tracks in Iowa as well. The Hawkeye State holds caucuses on February 3 where voters literally have to sort themselves into groups based on the candidates they support. Voting happens out in the open, and candidate “viability” — or whether a candidate can reach a 15 percent threshold — matters hugely to their chances. This also increases the importance of people who support lower-tier candidates that won’t reach the viability threshold and have to throw their vote behind someone else.
“The second choices are going to matter more than they usually do because there’s going to be a lot of not viable candidates,” John Deeth, a longtime party activist and member of the Johnson County Democrats executive committee, told me recently.
Veteran Iowa pollster Ann Selzer told me it’s no surprise to her that just 31 percent of respondents said their minds were made up in the recent CBS/YouGov poll. That number went up slightly in the most recent Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa poll Selzer’s firm conducted, where 40 percent of likely caucusgoers said they had made their mind up about a candidate. Still, another 45 percent said they could be persuaded.
“What people don’t understand is the caucus is designed for people to keep an open mind,” Selzer said. “The process encourages that. There’s no advantage is there, to locking in on a candidate.”
With New Hampshire’s primary being held about a week after Iowa’s February 3 caucuses, a lot could change between now and primary day on February 11.
“Unlike a general election when there are numerous offices on the ballot, in the NH primary there’s only one decision a voter has to make, so they have the luxury of waiting until the last minute to make up their mind,” said former US Ambassador Terry Shumaker, a longtime New Hampshire politico supporting Biden. “That’s why the primary’s very difficult to predict, to poll.”
New Hampshire voters may still be undecided, but they want someone who can beat Trump
There’s a familiar refrain circulating around New Hampshire voters: “anyone but” President Donald Trump.
“I want that guy out so bad, I can’t even tell you. Getting Trump out, that’s number one,” Conway voter Mike Manson told me.
Beyond that, many voters haven’t decided who they’ll vote for. Manson himself wasn’t entirely sure which candidate was best to do that; he said Klobuchar was top of his list, but he was also considering Biden and Buttigieg.
“We have so much talent, it’s really hard to choose,” said voter Margaret Merrill of Madison, who was trying to decide between Biden and Klobuchar. Merrill added she’d “take the garbage collector” over Trump, and was eager for Democrats to select their nominee.
“The sooner we focus on a candidate, the sooner we can get working,” she said.