S.T.O.P. Condemns Proposed Times Sq. Casino Drones, AI Cameras

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View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Condemns Proposed Times Sq. Casino Drones, AI Cameras (New York, NY 10/21/22) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, condemns the proposed use of surveillance drones and artificial intelligence cameras in Times Square. Caesars Entertainment and SL Green Realty Corporation proposed using gambling revenues for increased neighborhood surveillance. SEE: Gizmodo - Casino Developers Want to Fill Times Square With Surveillance Drones https://gizmodo.com/times-square-nyc-caesars-casino-surveillance-drones-1849683511 The New York Times - Times Square May Get One of the Few Spectacles It Lacks: A Casino https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/19/nyregion/casino-times-square.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare  “If the city makes this high-stakes bet on casino surveillance, the whole effort will go bust,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn.  “And I worry they’ll gamble away the future of our public streets. For generations, New Yorkers have used Times Square to protest injustice and march for a better future, but this plan will give us a techno dystopian nightmare instead. At a time when our cars, subway rides, and busses are more monitored than ever, adding a new fleet of drones and AI cameras will rob us of the right to even walk down the street untracked. The system will waste money, be ripe for abuse, and it won’t do a thing about the real drivers of crime.” “The very worst time to introduce new surveillance tools like drones that will have profound and lasting impacts on privacy and justice is when people are worried about their safety,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Scholar-in-Residence Evan Selinger. “Given the timing, here’s the main question we should be asking. Have stakeholders and civil society groups been involved in this plan to discuss the key issues—first and foremost whether the proposal is security theater that promotes a false sense of safety while creating dangerous infrastructure that in all likelihood will be abused?” In June, the civil rights group organized a rally against NYPD facial recognition in Times Square, handing out masks with the faces of former New York City mayors. Passersby, including New York-based performer The Naked Cowboy, joined STOP in using the masks to fool nearby NYPD cameras. SEE: Press Release - S.T.O.P. Protests NYPD Facial Recognition In Times Sq. With Mayor Mask Handout https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2022/6/16/stop-protests-nypd-facial-recognition-in-times-sq-with-mayor-mask-handout The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. 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-- CONTACT: S.T.O.P. Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn   Copyright © 2021 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.