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.
Brian Hofer writes to the Oakland City Council, describing the Cell Phone Tower Simulator (aka Stingray) Use Policy the Oakland Privacy Advisory Committee and the Oakland Police arrived at. The policy was adopted by the Oakland City Council at their February 7th, 2017, meeting.
There is no policy regarding cell site simulators in existence even remotely close to Oakland’s, as to the narrowness of allowable use, oversight, and transparent reporting. Although I was proud of what we accomplished with Alameda County in breaking new ground, the Oakland policy far exceeds all standards at the federal, state, or local level:
Groundbreaking legislation that will put limits upon the local surveillance state is up for consideration in the Bay Area these next few months. With a new administration being handed the vast resource of existing Federal surveillance capabilities, it is more crucial than ever that localities understand what their police are doing in this regard and take measures to protect the civil liberties of the people…
—–
Read the full op-ed we wrote that begins as above, published in the Oakland Post
—–
Passed out of the Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission on Thursday, Jan 5th, 2017, the proposed Surveillance Equipment Regulation legislation (OPAC-Surveillance-Ordinance-Adopted – PDF) received praise from a number of people involved in civil liberties work. Here are some quotes and statements of support taken from tweets:
“Oakland’s surveillance ordinance is good example for local govs to protect civil liberties.” – Professor of Law Catherine Crump, University of California at Berkeley (testifying, right)
“It’s never been more essential for communities to say no to secret & discriminatory surveillance.Oakland took important step tonight.” – Nicole Ozer, Policy Director, ACLU of California
“This proposal achieves the goal of formalizing privacy values” – Nuola O’Connor, Center for Democracy and Progress
Mother Jones profiles Calibre instructor Dave Grossman: “Are You Prepared to Kill Somebody?” A Day With One of America’s Most Popular Police Trainers; The dark vision of “killology” expert Dave Grossman.
by J.P. Massar
Jeronimo Yanez, the officer who shot Philando Castile in his car in Minnesota took a training course called “The Bulletproof Warrior,” now renamed as the “Street Survival Seminar.”
The evidence suggests that this course, and courses similar to it, offered by a private company called Calibre Press, are even worse than Urban Shield – the organized para-military and terror response training put on for police by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department – if that’s imaginable.
The winter edition of Utne Reader features an article by Media Alliance ED and Oakland Privacy member Tracy Rosenberg on California’s network of fusion centers.
http://www.utne.com/politics/fusing-california-zm0z16wzsel
Welcome to the terrorism database. You’re in it.