The “Free” Internet That Was Bait For Mass Surveillance

It was billed as one of those warm, city-benevolent gestures: Big Apple Connect, a shiny, feel-good initiative from the Adams administration to finally drag public housing into the 21st century by providing free internet.

“Digital equity,” they called it. Nothing says equity like putting modems next to the radiators in buildings that haven’t had working elevators since the days of Ed Koch.