S.T.O.P. Concerned That NYC Report On NYPD Misconduct At Floyd Protests Ignores Mass Surveillance

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For Immediate Release S.T.O.P.  Concerned That NYC Report On NYPD Misconduct At Floyd Protests Ignores Mass Surveillance Today’s report made several important findings about excessive force during the Black Lives Matter protests, but it ignored mass surveillance of protesters, including facial recognition, drones, and social media monitoring.   (NEW YORK, NY, 12/18/2020) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy group, expressed concerns that today’s New York City Department of Investigations report into NYPD misconduct at this summer’s George Floyd protests ignores officer’s use of invasive mass surveillance tools. Reporting previously revealed the role of facial recognition, drones, and social media monitoring in the NYPD’s response to this summer’s historic demonstrations, but these technologies were ignored in the Department of Investigation’s official evaluation.   SEE: Report - Investigation into NYPD Response to George Floyd Protests https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doi/reports/pdf/2020/DOIRpt.NYPD%20Reponse.%20GeorgeFloyd%20Protests.12.18.2020.pdf   The Verge - NYPD used facial recognition to track down Black Lives Matter activist https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/18/21373316/nypd-facial-recognition-black-lives-matter-activist-derrick-ingram   N.Y. Times - U.S. Watched George Floyd Protests in 15 Cities Using Aerial Surveillance https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/us/politics/george-floyd-protests-surveillance.html   “The City’s report is painfully incomplete,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “It’s crucial to address the ways that officers attacked protesters on the ground, but we can’t ignore the ways that New Yorkers were tracked from above. During this summer’s protests, we saw the NYPD use unprecedented tracking tools to monitor hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers for simply exercising their First Amendment rights. These technologies are a threat to protests and democracy itself, and the city must do more to hold the NYPD accountable.”   This summer, the civil rights group objected to the use of facial recognition surveillance to target protest leader Derrick Ingram. The group had also opposed expansive local and federal aerial surveillance of protesters.   S.T.O.P. Condemns NYPD Facial Recognition Surveillance Of BLM Protest Leader https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2020/8/14/stop-condemns-nypd-facial-recognition-surveillance-of-blm-protest-leader?rq=derrick   S.T.O.P. Condemns DHS Air Surveillance Of BLM Protests https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2020/6/19/stop-condemns-dhs-air-surveillance-of-blm-protests?rq=drone The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider hosted by the Urban Justice Center. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.   - END –