Oakland Committee Clears Surveillance Transparency Proposal
A surveillance transparency ordinance proposed in Oakland, California, passed unanimously Tuesday at a hearing of the City Council Public Safety Committee. The measure, which moves to the full council, requires public notice and comment before using surveillance technologies, with the…
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council deciding whether to allow adoption of the technologies (see 1705080044). Oakland supports the proposed ordinance, said Joe Devries, assistant to the city administrator. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and community groups also supported the proposal at the streamed hearing. No one testified against it, though public safety groups opposed a similar measure at the California legislature (see 1703140017). "The Public Safety Committee's unanimous support for a citizen drafted surveillance ordinance demonstrates their belief that transparency and citizen input around complicated subjects are necessary, that whistleblowers are to be protected, and that nondisclosure agreements subvert good government," Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission Chairman Brian Hofer emailed Wednesday.