San Francisco police violated city law by using a private camera network
By Mariel Zasso. Pen Sula 360 Press [P360P]
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Northern California are asking a California state court to rule that the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) violated city law when it used a network of private surveillance cameras to spy on protests against police violence following the killing of George Floyd.
The two San Francisco-based nonprofits sued the city and county in October 2020 for violating the city's Surveillance Technology Ordinance, which prohibits any city department, including the SFPD, from using or acquiring surveillance technology without prior approval from the city's Board of Supervisors.
In May 2019, the Board of Supervisors passed the Stop Secret Surveillance Ordinance, a landmark law that requires accountability and oversight of surveillance technology and makes San Francisco the first city in the United States to ban government use of facial surveillance systems.
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