S.T.O.P. Welcomes Congressional Questioning Of Google On Geofence Warrants

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View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Welcomes Congressional Questioning Of Google On Geofence Warrants Urges New York State to pass first-in-the-country bans on geofence warrants and police use of commercial data brokers to track location data.   [NEW YORK, NY, 07/29/2020] -- Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy group, welcomes Congressional questioning of Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet, on so-called ‘geofence warrants,’ which can authorize the tracking of thousands of cell phone through a single court order. The questions by Representative Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota came during today’s hearing of the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law, where Mr. Kelly expressed concerns about the unconstitutionality of such searches.   SEE Video Of Hearing https://www.c-span.org/video/?474236-1/heads-facebook-amazon-apple-google-testify-antitrust-law&live&vod   Wall Street Journal - Police Requests for Google Users’ Location Histories Face New Scrutiny https://www.wsj.com/articles/police-requests-for-google-users-location-histories-face-new-scrutiny-11595842201   “We’re excited to see Congress turn its attention to the threat of geofence warrants,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “These searches undermine Americans privacy and the most fundamental guarantees of our Constitution. When a single court order okays searches on hundreds or even thousands of individuals, it undermines the entire purpose of requiring warrants in the first place. The judges approving these orders simply can’t know how much data they’re handing over to law enforcement when they approve the request. New York must not wait on Congress to act, we must outlaw geofence searches now.”   In April, the civil rights group had welcomed the introduction of the nation’s first proposed ban on geofence warrants. The proposed New York law would also go further, outlawing police use of commercial databases to track location data.   SEE: Release - S.T.O.P. Welcomes Introduction Of NY Geolocation Tracking Ban, Blocks Use Of COVID-19 Surveillance In Criminal Cases https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2020/4/10/stop-welcomes-introduction-of-ny-geolocation-tracking-ban   Protocol - New York lawmakers want to outlaw geofence warrants as protests grow https://www.protocol.com/new-york-lawmakers-want-to-outlaw-geofence-warrants 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. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.