A talk sponsored by Legal Pathways at  the University of Washington Tacoma

Back in the day, police surveillance meant two cops, a pair of binoculars, and an unmarked car parked outside a suspect's house. But today, law enforcement agencies around the country have acquired sophisticated camera networks, computer systems, and automated algorithms designed to collect and analyze information on everyone, regardless of whether they're connected to this crime. Not only do these system produce challenges for everyone's civil liberties, they also have a disparate impact on communities along socio-economic and racial lines.

Dave Maass is a senior investigative researcher at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a San Francisco-based non-profit that advocates for civil liberties as technology advances. In partnership with the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, EFF has built the Atlas of Surveillance (atlasofsurveillance.org)--a collaborative research project to find out what police departments and sheriffs officers are using which kinds of surveillance, such as body-worn cameras, drones, face recognition, automated license plate readers, predictive policing, gunshot detection, and real-time crime centers. This talk will cover how to use the Atlas and why it's so important to shine light on these issues as society tackles important debates over racial bias, police budgets, and digital privacy. You will also learn how you can participate in the research project, even if you only have 30 minutes to spare. Certain select UW classes will have the opportunity to earn extra credit by contributing to the Atlas of Surveillance project.