S.T.O.P. Welcomes OIG Report On NYPD Violations of Surveillance Transparency Law

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View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Welcomes OIG Report On NYPD Violations of Surveillance Transparency Law The Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD detailed the department’s failure to comply with the landmark POST Act. (New York, NY, 11/3/2022) - Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy group, welcomes a report from the Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD, detailing the NYPD’s failure to fully comply with the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act. Enacted in 2020, the POST Act is the first New York City surveillance law since 9/11, and it required the Department to detail every technology it uses and how NYPD data is shared. The report urged the NYPD to give both the OIG and the public greater information about how New Yorkers are surveilled. SEE: Report - An Assessment of NYPD's Response to the Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act\ https://www.nyc.gov/assets/doi/reports/pdf/2022/20PostActRelease.Rpt.11.03.2022.pdf NYPD - Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act Impact and Use Policies https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/about/about-nypd/public-comment.page “When the police break the law, it’s a scandal,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “In passing the POST Act, our lawmakers made clear that the NYPD cannot hide its surveillance anymore. The NYPD fought us at the City Council, and they lost. But now, the same officers who swore to uphold the law are violating it. The NYPD’s POST Act reports gave us a few important insights, but most aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. Not only do we need to strengthen the POST Act, we need to ensure the NYPD follows the law as it’s written.” Key Findings Include: The NYPD’s narrow interpretation of the POST Act undermines the law; NYPD used boilerplate language for its POST Act reports, hiding details of specific technologies; The NYPD largely failed to address the bias of its surveillance tools; The NYPD used blanket reports for multiple tools, once again detailed data for each technology; NYPD failed to specify the specific safeguards / data sharing arrangements for each technology; The report comes a year after the civil rights group issued its own report on the NYPD’s POST Act failures, highlighting many of the same problems. The report found that other police departments routinely comply with surveillance laws that are far more stringent than what is imposed by the POST Act. SEE: Report - Above The Law? https://www.stopspying.org/above-the-law   Just yesterday, STOP decried the NYPD’s latest surveillance venture, opposing its partnership with Amazon to use the Ring Neighbors App. The group warned that such a public-private surveillance partnership would promote vigilantism, racial profiling, and police violence.   S.T.O.P. Condemns NYPD Plan To Join Amazon Ring’s ‘Neighbors’ https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2022/11/2/stop-condemns-nypd-plan-to-join-amazon-rings-neighbors 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.