Data Privacy

Federal Trade Commission Proposed Rulemaking On Data Privacy And Commercial Surveillance

by  •  • 0 Comments

On November 21st, the newly filled out Federal Trade Commission accepted written comments on an Announcement of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) that asked a sweeping set of questions about what to do about the commercial data economy in the United States.

The ANPRM was historic for the scope of issues it tried to tackle and the agency’s apparent willingness, under new chair Lina Khan, to dig into every aspect of tracking, surveillance and data exchange.

All over the country, privacy and anti-surveillance advocates strove to answer the call and submit comments. Here are ours, submitted jointly with Media Alliance, and focusing on biometrics, pay-for-privacy schemes, algorithms and consent.

Read more →

Data Privacy

CA Privacy Advocates Comments To CA Privacy Protection Agency 11/21/22

by  •  • 0 Comments

A coalition of privacy advocates, including Oakland Privacy, Media Alliance, Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, ACLU Action, Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Consumer Federation submitted comments on the latest draft of CA Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) rulemaking.

The rulemaking follows the Ca Legislature’s 2018 enactment of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the 2020 ballot initiative that enacted the California Privacy Act (CPRA).

The groups stated:

“As privacy advocates, we are concerned about several changes to the regulations that appear to set up additional barriers to consumers’ ability to exercise their rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)”.

Read more →

Shotspotter Gunshot Detection

Oakland Police Department Captain Selling Shotspotter Gun Detection Software in Portland

by  •  • 0 Comments

Portland privacy activists have reported that Oakland Police Captain Trevelyon Jones, the head of OPD’s Shotspotter Division, has been appearing remotely at community meetings in Portland, Oregon at the request of gunshot detection software manufacturer Shotspotter, to hawk their product.

Jones, a city of Oakland employee, appears to be on city time during these appearances, (at least two), in which Shotspotter is trying to gin up community support for a municipal contract. In an earlier appearance, people present at the meeting reported that Lieutenant Jones said he had to depart early from the meeting due to police business.

Why is a high-level OPD lieutenant, who according to Transparent California collected over $60,000 in overtime in 2021 and total compensation of more than $433,000 from the City moonlighting as a Shotspotter sales agent?

Oakland Privacy filed an ethics complaint with the Oakland Public Ethics Commission on 12/21/22. See a copy of the complaint below.

Read more →

Uncategorized

2023 Privacy Rights Fellow: Jessica Ramos

by  •  • 0 Comments

Oakland Privacy is pleased to announce that Jessica Ramos will be joining us as the 2023 Privacy Rights Fellow. Jessica is Oakland born-and-raised and is currently pursuing a Ph.D at the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California. She wrote her senior dissertation at UC Berkeley as an undergraduate on Oakland Privacy’s work. Welcome Jessica!

Thank you to the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment for the generous support to make these fellowships possible.

Outgoing 2022 fellow Yadi Younse sat down with us to talk about her fellowship experience. Read more about Yadi’s 2022 fellowship experience.

Read more →

Data Privacy

Don’t Write That Down: Reflections on Body Temperature and Ovulation Surveillance

by  •  • 0 Comments

by Ursula Curiousa

When I was learning to read and write, my teacher gave me homework to devise my very first survey to deploy with three people. Question 1 for all of us in the class: “What is your name?” Question 2 was of my own design: “What is your favorite animal?” I was six years old. I had already written down the answer to Question 1 for my second respondent, a small-town attorney who usually humored me, when he refused to participate in my survey. “No, I’m not going to answer your questions.” I was so shocked that I remember the scene 29 years later. He smiled wryly and touched his long eyebrows.

“So you’re reading and writing now?” he asked me rhetorically. “Be careful with that. Don’t write everything down.” As a kid, I thought this behavior was bizarre. As I get older and bare-bones privacy protections get stripped away (like the recent over-turn of Roe v. Wade-based abortion protections with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision), I think I am starting to understand.

Read more →

Drones

Drones Flew Over The Solano Stroll

by  •  • 0 Comments

In September, the next door cities of Berkeley and Albany hold a street fair called the Solano Stroll, along the avenue that crosses both cities. The event attracts thousands of people. A report filed with the Berkeley City Council due to the requirements of Berkeley’s surveillance ordinance framework revealed the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office flew drones “unobtrusively” over the event, focusing on the perimeter of the rooftops. The use of the sheriff’s department drones would not have been known to the public without the 2018 surveillance ordinance, which requires reports to the City Council after the temporary use of unpermitted technologies for exigent circumstances.

Read more →