News & Commentary

As the Trump Administration exploits local surveillance systems to target immigrants, California residents are fighting for legislation and reforms that protect all residents from invasive surveillance.

We learned last weekend that a trove of personal information from 50 million people — one in three U.S. Facebook users — was harvested for an influence and propaganda operation led by Cambridge Analytica, a company later used by the Trump campaign. Was Facebook hacked? Nope. All of this personal information was accessed through the Facebook “app gap,” a major privacy hole in Facebook’s app platform that the ACLU had been challenging since 2009, when we showed how Facebook quizzes posed this threat.

Companies developing facial-recognition software need to consider how their products enable dragnet surveillance, discriminatory enforcement, and abuse.

Last night, the Bay Area city of Alameda unanimously rejected a proposed $500,000 contract to purchase license plate reader technology from Vigilant, a company that recently sold ICE access to its nationwide database. This is a win for the rights of all residents.

Is law enforcement in your area demanding personal info from social media companies? Here's how to find out.

These days, it seems like almost every city is launching “smart initiatives” that promise to turn data about the city into improved public services, a vibrant business community, or a new approach to challenges like public health. 

A newly leaked FBI report contains troubling signs that the feds are scrutinizing and possibly surveilling Black activists in its search for potential "extremists."

Anaheim used a 'covert purchase' procedure to hide $700,000 worth of acquisitions, loaned its surveillance equipment out to other jurisdictions, and used the devices to investigate a much broader array of crimes than was originally promised.

As mobile iris-scanning apps and tools become available, racial profiling by law enforcement could lead to Latinos and people of color having their eyes scanned simply because they speak Spanish or have brown skin.