by J.P. Massar Passing legislation is only half the battle. Without oversight by watchdogs, be they legislators or public-interest organizations or both, executives can easily ignore inconvenient laws that increase their workload or their budget. Without pushback, the interpretation of…
Santa Clara County passed the first surveillance transparency ordinance in the United States on June 7, 2016. They remain the only county in the nation to have a surveillance oversight law in effect. (The others are in cities or regional…
On March 10, the Berkeley City Council completed their mandatory review of body worn camera policy under the surveillance transparency (CCOPS) ordinance passed in the City in March of 2018. Surveillance transparency laws require the legislative body to formally approve…
On March 11, the Public Safety committee of the Santa Cruz City Council unanimously recommended passage of a surveillance transparency ordinance for the City of Santa Cruz. The proposed ordinance includes a complete ban on the use of predictive policing…
Update: On October 15th, the Berkeley City Council approved an amendment to their surveillance transparency ordinance banning the use of facial recognition technology, except when from an outside source, unsolicited and tied to a specific individual crime. The Council also…
Update: November 12th is the day Berkeley’s automated license plate reader policy hits the council. Berkeleyside: Berkeley Is Being Bamboozled Update: On September 4, 2019, Berkeley’s Police Review Commission, which is empowered by the surveillance ordinance to provide recommendations regarding…
At the May 14 meeting of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, the City of SF became the 10th jurisdiction in the country to adopt a comprehensive oversight protocol for the acquisition and use of surveillance tech. The 8-1 vote…
San Francisco’s surveillance transparency ordinance with a twist (a ban on municipal use of facial recognition software) took a giant step today towards…
This spring, the city of San Francisco will consider Oakland Privacy’s signature surveillance transparency regulation legislation, but with a twist. The Stop Secret Surveillance Act, introduced on January 29, 2019 by Supervisor Aaron Peskin and Board of Supes prez Norman…
