After twenty months of review by multiple citizen commissions, privacy advocates, city staff, and elected officials, on March 13, 2018, the Berkeley City Council unanimously approved a powerful new law aimed at protecting privacy rights. Based on a model created…
Author: Lou Katz
On March 13 Berkeley Can Become A City Of Refuge
The City Council is on the verge of implementing significant reforms aimed at protecting the civil liberties of all Berkeley residents, including immigrants. Full article here. The vote will be held at the March 13 City Council meeting at Old…
Councilmember Kaplan Sponsors Resolution To Terminate Agreement With ICE
Following up on the Privacy Commission’s recommendation that OPD sever ties with ICE, Oakland Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan quickly showed leadership by agreeing to sponsor the Resolution necessary to rescind the prior Council authorization to enter into such an agreement. …
Oakland Poised To Protect Civil Liberties
Update 5-10-17: Oakland’s Public Safety Committee voted unanimously on May 9 to support the Surveillance Technology Ordinance. Thanks largely to your letters, calls and emails. My guest piece in the East Bay Express, on why Oakland needs to adopt a…
City of Providence Set to Pass Wide Ranging Community Safety Act Ordinance
On June 1, The Providence City Council voted 13-1 to adopt the Providence Community-Police Relations Act. Key Points of the CSA Prohibition on racial profiling and other forms of profiling Police cannot use race, ethnicity, color, national origin, language, gender, gender…
Berkeley Law panel on Stingrays
On March 8, 2017 at 12:45pm, panelists Professor Catherine Crump, Steve Trush, and Oakland Privacy member Brian Hofer will speak at the Berkeley Information Privacy Law Association’s “What are Stingrays?”, regarding cell site simulator use by law enforcement. Watch the…
Trump will soon be in charge of our surveillance apparatus – what can we do?
Oakland Privacy member and Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission Chair Brian Hofer’s guest essay discussing President-Elect Donald Trump being handed the keys to the surveillance kingdom in this week’s East Bay Express. Catherine Crump, Professor at UC Berkeley, writes about local…
Yes, We Can
Today, ACLU National announced its campaign to #TakeCTRL, by empowering local communities to take back control over their police department’s use of surveillance equipment. You can read about it here. Locally, our success has helped inspire the national campaign. You…