Last night, Cambridge residents and city leadership met to discuss next steps for a surveillance oversight ordinance. The vibe in the room was optimistic. It was a rare moment of political harmony in a country beset by division. The Police Commissioner, the...
The Boston Police Department bought three drones without informing the City Council or the people of Boston. Officers were seen testing a drone in a low-income, community of color in Jamaica Plain. The Department doesn’t have a privacy policy to govern the...
Where do the candidates for Boston Mayor and City Council stand on policing, surveillance, and immigration? We asked them. On September 27, the ACLU—along with our coalition partners Muslim Justice League, Families for Justice as Healing, Digital Fourth, Council on American-Islamic Relations – Massachusetts, Jewish Voice...
A few weeks ago, the local NPR station in Boston published a piece I wrote about Apple’s new face recognition identification system on the iPhone X. My primary argument was that consumers should reject the technology, in an effort to send a...
After working with the ACLU, ACLU supporters, and local allies like Digital Fourth in Somerville for over a year, Mayor Curtatone has released a new policy to ensure democratic oversight and transparency pertaining to surveillance technology acquisitions. The policy requires a three...
Who needs local laws to require a transparent, democratic process before local police can buy new surveillance technologies? After a mysterious drone flight over a Jamaica Plain housing project, and the ensuing confusion among officials about exactly what happened, it’s clear Boston...
Since Trump’s inauguration in January 2017, Boston officials have come out strong in defense of immigrants, Muslims, and other marginalized groups that find themselves in the crosshairs of the new administration. But key Boston Police Department policies and programs put these communities...
On September 11, the 16th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, thousands of spies, police officers, prosecutors, and surveillance profiteers will gather in Washington D.C. for a spying technology extravaganza known as ISS World Americas. On its website, the event organizers describe ISS...
In mid-August, Donald Trump offended much of the country when he appeared to equate anti-fascist protesters with neo-Nazis. Last week, he pardoned the notorious Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt after refusing to follow a federal judge’s order to...
Last weekend, we learned that Donald Trump’s large family and frequent travel are bankrupting the Secret Service. USA Today reports that about 130 of the thousands of agents who work long hours protecting the president and his family likely won’t get paid...