OPINION: Studying the surveillance technology in use by law enforcement in the Bay Area has led us to believe camera registries and networks are so prevalent that residents could rightly question whether their purpose is for surveillance instead of security. But uncovering how and when these cameras and other technologies are being used is not easy.
Category: Data Privacy
Posted inData Privacy, Government & Politics, Law & Justice, Public Safety, Technology
S.F. Police Accessed Private Cameras to Surveil Protesters, Digital Privacy Group Reveals
When a tech executive helped bankroll a private network of security cameras in San Francisco, it was touted as crime-fighting technology that would not be directly in the control of law enforcement. But a report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital privacy advocacy group, shows that the San Francisco Police Department gained remote access […]
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Data Privacy, Public Safety
Tracking Surveillance Tech Used by Bay Area Law Enforcement
From automated license plate readers to drones to devices designed to identify gunshots, law enforcement agencies use a variety of tools to gather data. Many are visible, if not immediately obvious to casual passersby. Dave Maass, senior investigative researcher with the digital privacy nonprofit Electronic Frontier Foundation, has been keeping a close eye on the […]
Posted in“Civic” Podcast, Data Privacy, Public Safety
Law Enforcement Monitors Protesters, Reporting Shows
With hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets in recent weeks to protest police killings and racism, the law enforcement response has been highly visible. But in less obvious ways, law enforcement officers also gather information about protesters both online and in public. Cyrus Farivar, a reporter on the tech investigations unit of […]
Posted inData Privacy, Data Privacy, News
Consumer Reporting Firms Fought for a Year to Exempt Data From California Privacy Law
Even though federally regulated consumer reports were already exempted from California’s ambitious new privacy law, the companies that sell them spent much of the last year engaged in an as yet unsuccessful lobbying effort to prevent individuals from opting out of sharing their own data from the firms’ databases. That’s in part because they have diversified beyond consumer reports and credit scores and into the creation of personal profiles based on online information that is less well regulated and critics of the industry call intrusive.
Posted inData Privacy, Data Privacy, Economy & Business, News, Public Safety, Transportation
New State Law Pits Privacy Against Free Speech, Public Records and Data Brokers
Though consumers may ask companies to delete or stop collecting data about them, the First Amendment and open-records statutes may thwart their efforts to get people-search sites to delete data after the law takes effect in January. Information brokers argue that the data they post comes from government entities and is publicly available.
Posted inData Privacy, Data Privacy, News
California Attorney General Plans Few Privacy Law Enforcement Actions, Telling Consumers to Take Violators to Court
Attorney General Xavier Becerra says his office is ill equipped to prosecute violations of the state’s landmark data-privacy law, which takes effect in January. Only a handful of the most egregious cases will be handled per year. Instead, he wants aggrieved consumers to take violators to court on their own.
Posted inCity Hall, Data Privacy, Data Privacy, Economy & Business, News, Social Justice, Technology
Writing the Rules on Data Privacy in S.F. Could Disrupt the Disrupters
As city officials this spring craft a ‘privacy-first policy’ mandated by voter-approved Proposition B, supporters hope its lofty ambitions will start to become a reality this summer. Already there are signs that the city could move to the forefront of enforcing limits on data collection and reshaping our relationship with technology companies.
Posted inData Privacy, Elections, Fall 2018 Election, Media, News, Open Government, Social Justice, Technology
S.F. Voters Want Tough Data Privacy Rules, But Obstacles Loom
Voter-approved Proposition B mandates that San Francisco create what supporters say would be the toughest data-protection policy of any U.S. city, and would go beyond California’s landmark Consumer Privacy Act. Now comes the hard part: writing the rules that will overcome legal, technical and enforcement challenges.
Posted inCampaign Finance: The Rising Cost of Winning Votes, Data Privacy, Elections, Open Government
What Don’t We Know About Campaign Finance?
The Public Press spent six months digging and sorting, and many hours talking with staff at the Ethics Commission for clarification on the best ways to find and distill the information on the 2015 elections.