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 was one shy of unanimous, as Supervisors Ronen and Walton who were both indisposed, are co-sponsors of the Act.
The Stop Secret Surveillance Act, sponsored by Supervisor Aaron Peskin, requires board approval of existing and new equipment, use polices and civil rights impact reports to be created for each methodology and annual reports summarizing use, all available to the public.
San Francisco’s Stop Secret Surveillance Act also bans the use of intrusive facial recognition software by the City, which has been demonstrated to be dangerously inaccurate and racially biased. San Francisco has become the first municipality in the nation to ban its use.
Some of the plentiful press coverage: