For Immediate Release
S.T.O.P. Announces $245K Grant From Open Society Foundations
[NEW YORK, NY, 07/18/2020] -- Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy group, announces it was awarded $245,000 in grants from the Open Society Foundations, a leading global philanthropy. The grants will support S.T.O.P.’s growing work on how so-called “smart cities” infrastructure and COVID-19 contact tracing apps erode privacy, threaten civil rights, and promote discrimination.
SEE: Open Society Foundations – Who We Are
https://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/who-we-are
S.T.O.P – COVID-19 Privacy Research
https://www.stopspying.org/covid19
“We are incredibly grateful to OSF for their generous support,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “Not only will this funding help us expand our urgent work to combat invasive and biased surveillance, it’s also an endorsement of our work from one of the world’s largest philanthropies. This is an extraordinary milestone for our organization, which was only launched a year and a half ago.”
The funding comes after the New York privacy group had already released two reports on the potential privacy impact of emerging contact tracing technologies. These reports highlighted the dangers of investing in unproven technologies to combat COVID-19 and promote mass surveillance, calling instead for a significant investment in culturally competent manual contact tracing.
SEE: Report – Combatting COVID on Campus
https://www.stopspying.org/campus-covid
Report – Beware: Bluetooth Ahead
https://www.stopspying.org/bluetooth
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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