Related Updates
BART says all cars will have working security cameras by July 1
BART is considering a policy that would balance security interests and privacy rights. The BART Surveillance & Community Safety Act would require its Board of Directors to grant specific approval for each new surveillance device after listening to public comment and conduct yearly reviews of their use. Misuse, or ineffectiveness,...
EFF to BART: Adopt Spy Tech Control Law
EFF urged the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Board to adopt a new law that would ensure community control of whether to adopt new surveillance technologies. All too often, police executives unilaterally decide to adopt powerful new spying tools that invade our privacy, chill our free speech, and...
Drones, So Useful in War, May Be Too Costly for Border Duty
Equipped with high-tech cameras and radar, and capable of staying in the air much longer than planes flown by humans, drones fill a critical gap in border security, officials with Homeland Security say. The drones are also used to assist state and local law enforcement agencies for operations that may...
How Do You Stop the Surveillance State from Spreading? It's a Lot Trickier Than You Might Think
When asked, groups that pushed for the passage of the Santa Clara ordinance emphatically denied that their efforts actually served to facilitate the purchase of surveillance technologies. Shahid Buttar is the director of grassroots advocacy at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit dedicating to defending civil liberties in the digital...
California Grounds Two Bad Drone Bills
When EFF analyzes state legislation regulating the operation of drones, we look for a few elements. How will the bill affect law enforcement use of drones? And how will the bill impact private drone use, whether for recreation, journalism, or innovative new business applications? Will the legislation protect the public...
Santa Clara County Weighs Surveillance Reforms to Enhance Transparency and Oversight
The Board of Supervisors of Santa Clara County, a jurisdiction in central California, is currently weighing a series of local surveillance reforms that could establish a model for other counties and municipalities. At a hearing last Thursday —one of many so far—I spoke in support of the proposed...
DHS Issues Process and Privacy Guidance on State and Local Drones
Just before the holidays, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) working group released guidance for state and local agencies using drone aircraft. The document, Best Practices for Protecting Privacy, Civil Rights & Civil Liberti es In Unmanned Aircraft Systems Programs ...
Dakota-du-Nord: les policiers pourront utiliser des drones armés
Nadia Kayyali, responsable des questions de surveillance à l'Electronic Frontier Foundation, une organisation à but non lucratif qui défend les libertés civiles, remarque que la nouvelle loi tranche avec le discours habituel des corps policiers au sujet des drones. «Les policiers disent vouloir des drones pour aider les opérations de...
Community to Lawmakers: Stop the Showcase of Military and Surveillance Technology in Alameda County
Disturbing displays of military and surveillance equipment being used by state and local police have become commonplace. So it’s not hard to imagine why Urban Shield, a four-day long “preparedness” exercise and equipment exhibition coordinated by the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department, was asked not to return...
Amazingly, city council and cops agree on reasonable limits for new drone
Hanni Fakhoury , an attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and a former federal public defender said that this policy and its limitations "make sense." "They basically arise to exigent circumstances where time is of the essence," he told Ars by e-mail. "And most importantly, it’s great the city actually...
