Protect our Privacy: Pass Community Control over Police Surveillance in Atlanta

Atlanta is the most surveilled U.S. city in the world, with only cities in China having more cameras per capita. The city of Atlanta’s decisions to acquire and use surveillance technologies have often occurred with little transparency or opportunities for community input.

Surveillance tools can be used to track and record a person’s every step without their knowledge or any protection for how the data is used or shared. The increasing use of these tools disproportionally impacts Black people and other marginalized communities, placing them at higher risk of being unjustly placed on government watch lists, logged into criminal databases, and arrested and charged for minor violations.

It’s critical that the public and elected officials have a say in if and how surveillance technology is being used. Community Control over Police Surveillance (CCOPS) laws have been passed in communities across the nation to empower the public and elected officials to decide if and how surveillance technology is used. The city of Atlanta should pass such a law.

• It requires that city agencies:
  • • - Obtain approval from City Council before obtaining new surveillance technology.
    • - Submit and publicly release a Surveillance Impact Report and a Surveillance Use Policy for each new technology proposal
    • - Submit an Annual Surveillance Report and hold a community meeting to review the report
• Carry out an approval process for all existing surveillance technology.
• Establish a Community Advisory Committee to advise City Council on surveillance issues.
• Protect community members against violations of the ordinance.

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures.” As surveillance technologies become more widespread, so do the risks of intrusive, overbroad, and unchecked monitoring of our most private spaces and personal activities. Communities need safeguards against surveillance that threaten privacy and the right to live free of targeting and discrimination.