For Immediate Release
Civil Rights Groups Welcome NYC Council Passage of POST Act
The landmark bill requires the NYPD to disclose all surveillance systems and undergo annual privacy audit.
[NEW YORK, NY, 06/18/2020] -- Today, Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), Brennan Center for Justice, Empire State Indivisible, and Legal Aid Society, welcome the New York City Council’s passage of the Public Oversight Of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act by a vote of 43 to 6. The civil rights group says that passing the POST Act will allow lawmakers and the public to understand what surveillance tools the NYPD uses, including tools used to track protesters and religious communities.
SEE: POST Act Overview Website
https://www.postact.org/
N.Y. Times - New York City Oversight Bill to Force Police to Detail Surveillance Tools
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/06/12/technology/12reuters-minneapolis-police-surveillance.html
N.Y. Daily News A long overdue curb on NYPD spying
https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-a-long-overdue-curb-on-nypd-spying-20200618-cnxvkmmrwjfvlclhteut7b365y-story.html
The prior day, New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio publicly agreed to sign the POST Act if the City Council passed it. He now has 30 days in which to sign the measure into law, but the POST Act passed with more than a two-thirds majority, the number needed for a veto override.
NY1 - De Blasio Backs City Council Bill To Uncover NYPD Surveillance Technology
https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2020/06/17/nypd-must-reveal-surveillance-methods-under-city-council-post-act-
“The POST Act is not just a milestone for privacy and civil rights, it will also save lives,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “Unchecked police surveillance causes more police stops, more arrests, and more police violence. The NYPD’s invasive tools often are no-better than high-tech profiling of Black and Latin/X New Yorker, putting our communities of colors at risk of the same deadly violence that took the lives of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others. Now the NYPD will have to show the public just how invasive and biased its tracking tools are. For far too long, the NYPD has used federal and private grants to spy on New Yorkers without any civilian oversight, particularly New Yorkers of color, immigrants, and the Muslim community. The POST Act isn’t the end of surveillance reform, it’s just the first step, but it’s a crucial first step at that. Above all, it’s proof of the power of public protests to dismantle systems of police violence.”
“This moment couldn’t have happened without New Yorkers taking to streets and demanding racial justice and police accountability,” said Brennan Center for Justice Counsel Ángel Díaz. “The POST Act brings surveillance oversight to the nation’s largest police force, and is a first step in addressing the NYPD’s reliance on broken and biased technologies. The Brennan Center will use this law to continue fighting for our constitutional rights and freedoms, and to advocate for an equal justice system that respects the rule of law.”
“We applaud the City Council for hearing the voices of the people and passing the POST Act, said Legal-Aid Society Digital Forensics Supervising Attorney Jerome Greco. “Transparency is a required step on the path to police accountability,” said Jerome D. Greco, Digital Forensics Supervising Attorney at the Legal Aid Society. “NYPD technology allows for near-constant surveillance of New York City’s communities of color, using facial recognition, predictive policing, drones, and so much more. The public should not have to wait years to uncover the abuses of these invasive tools. We urge the Mayor to sign the POST Act into law immediately.”
“As a grassroots organization focused on government accountability the passage of the POST Act is a welcome and much needed development,” said Empire State Indivisible Co-Lead Organizer Kellie Leeson. “The POST Act is an important step in building transparency in the NYPDs surveillance technology, an issue of growing importance as these technologies improve. Our group is committed to continuing this fight to safeguard our rights and privacy, to rethink public safety and to redirect our collective resources to allow all New Yorkers to thrive.”
The POST Act requires the NYPD to post a privacy and use policy for every surveillance system it uses in New York City. Advocates say the POST Act is even more critical given escalating surveillance of protesters. The POST Act was previously endorsed by New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams; the City Council’s Progressive and Black, Latino/a, and Asian Caucuses; the New York Times Editorial Board, and a coalition of more than 100 civil rights and community-based organizations.
San Francisco Banned Facial Recognition. New York Isn’t Even Close.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/18/opinion/nypd-post-act-surveillance.html
Sign-on letter from 70 organizations supporting the POST Act
https://stopspying.org/post-act-letter
Sign-on letter from 42 organizations supporting the POST Act
https://www.stopspying.org/post-act-letter-may-2020
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.
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CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn;
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