Main Page/Crash Courses/Programs and training/Week 8

Week 8: Police surveillance/activist threat model, plus privacy tools 102

• Real time lecture: November 29th, 12 - 2 pm Pacific/3 - 5 pm Eastern on Zoom https://zoom.us/j/9129428892
• Slides:

Overview

The rise in surveillance technologies over the past 30 years has occurred alongside the increase in mass incarceration and violent policing, especially in Black, poor, and immigrant communities. Thanks to the work of accountability movements, we've learned that police now have access to an unprecedented amount of new surveillance equipment that is often acquired and used without democratic oversight, and with little to no regulation. Police also have new relationships with corporate entities, like Amazon, in mutually beneficial relationships to acquire and deploy more of these surveillance technologies. During the 2020 uprisings for Black lives, we saw many of these capabilities used against protestors in the streets. This week, we'll discuss the landscape of police surveillance and what it means for directly impacted people in our communities. We'll also cover some more about privacy tools that we didn't get to during our privacy tools 101 week.

Readings

Lots of readings this week -- get through whatever you can!

• ACLU guide to police surveillance technologies: https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/files/field_document/tc2-technology101-primer-v02.pdf
• ACLU CCOPS legislation around the country: https://www.aclu.org/issues/privacy-technology/surveillance-technologies/community-control-over-police-surveillance?redirect=feature/community-control-over-police-surveillance
• EFF's Atlas of Surveillance (documenting police surveillance in communities) https://atlasofsurveillance.org/
• EFF's Activist Threat Model: https://ssd.eff.org/en/playlist/activist-or-protester
• High tech polie surveillance of protestors year in review 2020: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/12/high-tech-police-surveillance-protests-and-activism-year-review-2020
• Media Justice "Protect Black Dissent" campaign: https://mediajustice.org/campaign/stop-spying/
• How the NYPD is using post-911 tools on everyday New Yorkers https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/nyregion/nypd-9-11-police-surveillance.html

Discussion

Link:

Tasks

• Lecture, readings, discussion forum, and final project work