Proposition E on the San Francisco March 2024 ballot, sponsored by the group Safer San Francisco and championed by SF Mayor Breed, seems to violate 2021 state law (Assembly Bill 481). The ballot initiative purports to allow SFPD to use…
Author: Tracy Rosenberg
Video from AC Transit Tempo Platform Cameras Given to OPD and SLPD Without Court Orders
Update: AC Transit has replied to our letter and stated they will agendize a discussion of the audit for an upcoming board meeting. When AC Transit proposed adding platform cameras to Bus Rapid Transit platforms along East Oakland’s International Avenue,…
We’re Hiring! 2024 Privacy Rights Fellowship
The application period ends Wednesday January 31st at midnight Pacific Standard Time. We will not be able to accept any applications after the deadline passes. We are thrilled to have so many strong candidates to choose from. Oakland Privacy has…
Why We Can’t Censor Our Way Out of Online Harms
by Tracy Rosenberg Online Harms Need A Structural Solution: Ham-Handed Censorship Won’t Fix It There is no doubt about it. Internet 2.0 made some people a lot of money. The quandary of the early 2000’s of how to monetize the…
There They Go Again
City of Pasadena agendizes purchase of a cell site simulator (stingray) with no usage policy Pasadena, the Socal city that among other things houses Cal-Tech, is following in the City of Vallejo’s inglorious foosteps by putting the purchase of a…
The Threats of London Breed
Four years after the passage of San Francisco’s surveillance ordinance by a vote of 10-1, SF mayor London Breed is threatening to ask city voters to gut it via ballot inititative. Breed’s proposed ordinance would, among other things, allow surveillance…
Alameda County Militarized Equipment
In the coming weeks, Alameda County will be putting forward for a public vote their inventory and usage policys for the county sheriff’s large arsenal of military equipment. ALCO, partially as a result of their operation of the large correctional…
The Saga of AB 1463 and Other Sacto Tales
The 2023 legislative season in CA’s state capital has come to a close. Oakland Privacy intervened on your behalf on over 65 bills (a world record), piping up in support, opposition or demanding changes. Our final batting average in sign/veto…
Time to Ditch Chrome
The Chrome Privacy campaign sought to intervene in Google’s reworking of advertising cookies to increase user privacy. Um….. that didn’t work. Google’s long-running “Privacy Sandbox” is more like a privacy tar pit. It does inhibit the activities of third party…
AMEMSA Justice Collective
The AMEMSA Justice Collective is a new statewide coalition that seeks to advance civil rights protections for Asian , Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian communities. The AJC is directed by and accountable to AMEMSA communities and seeks to organize…