The ACLU of Georgia works to expand the right to privacy, increase the control individuals have over their personal information, and ensure civil liberties are enhanced rather than compromised by technological innovation.

Georgia's Biometric Information Protection Act

The Biometric Information Protection Act (BIPA) is a common sense, well-crafted, and time-tested measure to protect biometric privacy. Georgia has no protections in place for the collection and use of Georgians’ biometric info, the unique physical traits that make each of us unique – fingerprints, retinas, and facial structures, to name a few. Such a law would ensure that individuals are in control of their own biometric data and how it is used.

 Learn more about BIPA

Community Control Over Police Surveillance (CCOPS) Model Bill

Local governments in Georgia are adding various tools to their arsenal for warrantless and suspicionless surveillance, almost always without the knowledge or consent of the communities they serve. As such, the ACLU of Georgia supports local governments passing Community Control Over Police Surveillance (CCOPS) laws. CCOPS promotes transparency, the public’s welfare, civil rights, and civil liberties by requiring police to seek community involvement for all decisions regarding the funding, acquisition, and deployment of surveillance equipment by police.

VIEW THE MODEL BILL

 

  • 24,800Cameras in Atlanta available to law enforcement
  • 4th AmendmentThe government argues that the Fourth Amendment protects information that you keep in your desk, but not information that you keep online, like old emails or pictures.
  • NSAIn order to carry out mass surveillance, the NSA has weakened the security of the communications systems that we all rely on.

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Did You Know Atlanta the Most Surveilled City in America?

WHY DO WE SAY THIS?

Atlanta spies on its residents and visitors more than any other city in the United States. While the ACLU of Georgia supports reasonable efforts to ensure public safety, we do not support warrantless, mass surveillance of people who have not been accused of any crimes. Atlanta’s leaders owe people in the city more transparency, checks and balances such as warrants for surveillance, and communication explaining how data is being stored and shared.

  • Atlanta has 24,800 cameras available to law enforcement. Based on Atlanta’s population, this means there are nearly 50 cameras for every 1,000 persons in the city. The next five most surveilled cities in America only average 16.53 cameras per 1,000 residents.
  • Compared to cities across the world, only London and four cities in China surveil their residents more than Atlanta.
  • Living in Atlanta subjects a person to nearly three times the levels of surveillance than any other city in America.

BUT DOES IT INCREASE PUBLIC SAFETY?

  • Surveillance does not increase public safety. More cameras mean law enforcement can spend more time spying on everyone instead of investigating suspects. Long term studies of increased surveillance have shown minimal to no actual reductions in crime to balance out the massive invasion of privacy that constant warrantless and suspicionless surveillance creates.
  • The peril of too much data. Time spent surveilling hundreds of thousands of people does not bring more safety, especially when that time could have been spent on more traditional police work focused on truly dangerous individuals.

WHO’S HURT BY THIS THE MOST?

Atlanta law enforcement’s unfettered use of thousands of surveillance cameras unfairly and disproportionately targets Black and Brown people, Muslims, individuals with low-income, and people labeled as political dissidents. Consequently, members of these communities may experience persistent anxiety, and other negative impacts of constant police scrutiny such as frequent and unnecessary law enforcement encounters.

OUR SOLUTION

Community Control over Police Surveillance (CCOPS) Police have largely taken to acquiring and using surveillance technologies in secret. When law enforcement acts in secret, there is little opportunity to monitor abuses. As such, the ACLU of Georgia recommends Atlanta joining cities across the country in passing a CCOPS ordinance that would require seeking community buy-in for existing or future surveillance technology. Such an ordinance would also give the public substantial, detailed information on the technology will be used.

SOURCES:
Chad Marlow, Let There Be Light: Cities Across America Are Pushing Back Against Secret Surveillance by Police, 2016, www.aclu.org
Jurgita Lapienyte, This is the Most Heavily Surveilled City in the US: 50 CCTV Cameras per 1,000 Citizens, 2021, www.cybernews.com
Security Cameras Make Us Feel Safe, but Are They Worth the Invasion? 2022, www.nytimes.com
Too Much Surveillance makes us Less Free. It also Makes us Less Safe, 2017, www.WashingtonPost.com

 

 

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