You have received public records – congrats! So what do you do now? Now you should go through documents and begin analyzing their contents. This might be quick and straightforward, or cumbersome and time-consuming depending on the kind or records that you were given. Usually records will be in a low-resolution scanned PDF but there will be the rare instance where you will receive readable PDFs where you can do a ctrl+find search.
Depending on the purpose of your research from the outset, you can utilize the information you have obtained to bring more awareness around government surveillance and drive change.
Write about government surveillance
You can write about your research and findings and create a report, write a letter to the editor, or blog about it. Below are some examples that talk about government surveillance
Check LBPD, a blog that discusses surveillance tactics of the Long Beach Police Department. It has public records, reports and articles.
ACLU, as part of their civil liberties work, conducts various projects related to government surveillance.
EFF, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit focused on digital civil liberties.
Share your findings with local news media
Local media should be reporting on things relevant to its community, including government surveillance that’s happening locally.
Hold government accountable through local activism and get others involved
Use the information you have uncovered to push for change in local government. Push back on surveillance by generating public awareness and putting collective pressure on local elected officials to curtail surveillance activities. Oakland Privacy in collaboration with ACLU developed a surveillance advocacy toolkit.
File more records request
The fight against government surveillance is not a one-time activity. We have to constantly keep vigilant and protect our civil liberties, push for transparency and demand accountability. Even if your local government proclaims to curb surveillance, it often becomes the public’s responsibility to ensure the government follows through on its commitments. There may be other instances where a government only temporarily pauses use of surveillance tech, and then starts using it again when the public pressure subsides. Finally, just because government abandons one piece of surveillance tech, it does not mean that it will not revisit at a future date or turn to other surveillance equipment.