S.T.O.P. Welcomes OIG Findings That NYPD Breaks Surveillance Law

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View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Welcomes OIG Findings That NYPD Breaks Surveillance Law The Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD’s found that the Department continues to reject more than 93% of the OIG’s recommendations for complying with the landmark Public Oversight of Surveillance Technology (POST) Act. (New York, NY, 3/30/2023) - Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy group, welcomes the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for the NYPD’s annual report, 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 requires the Department to detail every technology it uses and how NYPD data is shared. The OIG found that the NYPD continues to reject more than 93% of its recommendations for how to fully comply with the POST Act. S.T.O.P. renewed its call on the City Council to pass broader surveillance legislation, including amendments to strengthen the POST Act and bans on the most dangerous technologies, like facial recognition. SEE: OIG Press Release - DOI’S Office of the Inspector General For The New York City Police Department Issues Ninth Annual Report https://www.nyc.gov/assets/doi/reports/pdf/2023/13OIGNYPDRpt.Release.03.30.2023.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 “The NYPD continues to make clear that they don’t care what the law says,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “This report helps support what advocates have said for years: that the NYPD is violating the POST Act. The Mayor and Council cannot continue to allow for the police to flagrantly disregard the law. They must implement new measures to hold the NYPD accountable for these violations and to protect New Yorkers from its lawless surveillance.” 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. Last November, S.T.O.P. welcomed the OIG’s inaugural report in response to the POST Act, which detailed NYPD’s noncompliance with the law and urged NYPD to give both the OIG and the public greater information about how New Yorkers are surveilled. In 2021, S.T.O.P. issued its own report on the NYPD’s POST Act failures. 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: Press Release - S.T.O.P. Welcomes OIG Report On NYPD Violations of Surveillance Transparency Law https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2022/11/3/mdm1a76sdohz1um4azvjm1k6sbnnz5 Report - Above The Law? https://www.stopspying.org/above-the-law 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.