S.T.O.P Condemns White House-Palantir Partnership on COVID-19 Surveillance, Expresses Concern About NY State-Bloomberg Partnership on Contact Tracing

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View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P Condemns White House-Palantir Partnership on COVID-19 Surveillance, Expresses Concern About NY State-Bloomberg Partnership on Contact Tracing. [NEW YORK, NY, 4/22/2020] -- Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy group, condemned the White House’s planned use of the controversial Silicon Valley firm Palantir to surveil the spread of COVID-19. Palantir was previously condemned for its work assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement with deportation operations, and there are no legal or technical safeguards to prevent Palantir from using newly-acquired health data to assist ICE or law enforcement agencies. SEE: The Daily Beast - Trump Turns to Peter Thiel's Palantir to Track Virus https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-administration-turns-to-peter-thiels-palantir-to-track-coronavirus?source=twitter&via=desktop Mijente - Palantir Played Key Role in Arresting Families for Deportation, Document Shows https://mijente.net/2019/05/palantir-arresting-families/  “Contact tracing is important, but we can’t entrust those with a history of abusing surveillance powers to lead this effort,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “Palantir’s technology has already been used to target our undocumented neighbors, and we can’t trust them to responsibly use our health data as well. We cannot allow the federal government to expand its public monitoring in response to COVID-19 without putting privacy protections in place. While we don’t know if this sort of public health monitoring will help, we do know that it puts over-policed communities at risk.” The civil rights group also expressed concern at New York Governor Cuomo announcement that former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will lead New York ‘s COVID-19  contract tracing efforts. S.T.O.P. had previously condemned Mayor Bloomberg’s failure to apologize for discriminatory surveillance, especially New York City’s decade-long effort to unconstitutionally surveil Muslim New Yorkers for simply practicing their faith.  SEE: Financial Post - New York to launch tri-state virus tracing program with Bloomberg's help https://business.financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/new-york-to-launch-tri-state-virus-tracing-program-with-bloombergs-help He’s Sorry for Stop-and-Frisk, and Locker-Room Talk. Where’s Mike Bloomberg’s Apology for Spying on Muslims? https://www.thedailybeast.com/michael-bloomberg-is-sorry-for-stop-and-frisk-and-locker-room-talk-wheres-his-apology-for-spying-on-muslims Cahn continued, “Combining Michael Bloomberg and surveillance is a recipe for disaster. During his time in office, Mayor Bloomberg oversaw some of the most widespread and discriminatory surveillance in U.S. history. While Mayor Bloomberg has apologized to the New Yorkers he traumatized through ‘stop-and-frisk,’ he has never apologized to the nearly one million Muslim New Yorkers who faced years of illegal and discriminatory surveillance on his watch.” 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 –   Copyright © 2019 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved.