In the wake of our resolution condemning the improper police raid on journalist Bryan Carmody, I think it would be appropriate to also recognize a very positive step that SF authorities just took yesterday, namely the Board of Supervisors enacting a ban on local use of a disturbing new form of surveillance technology. (Two supervisors, Hillary Ronen (D9) and Shamann Walton (D10) were absent from the meeting but were co-sponsors of the legislation, while one supervisor, Catherine Stefani (D2) voted against it. Stefani was challenged by LPSF-endorsed candidate John Dennis in the last election.)
I've drafted some proposed wording, below – please respond soon with any thoughts or suggested modifications. I hope we can likewise turn this around quickly while it is a fresh news item being discussed in the media.
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
"Even if the technology (were) perfect, this is a genie we as a society should want to put back in the bottle, because this is the kind of technology that will inadvertently be used to make every city and state and every country a police state."
– Aaron Peskin
Whereas San Francisco residents and visitors, like all other persons, have the right to be free from unwarranted mass surveillance and spying at the hands of government or other institutions; and
Whereas a survey of San Franciscans has found that a strong majority oppose the use of such technology; and
Whereas the new technology known as "facial recognition" has documented shortcomings including being more prone to error when it comes to accurately recognizing the faces of members of certain minority groups, which could lead to members of those groups being falsely labeled as suspects on a disproportionate basis; and
Whereas even if technological advances eliminate these problems, the technology itself is invasive and poses an unacceptable threat to freedom; and
Whereas facial recognition technology is already being used as a tool of oppression by authoritarian regimes around the world in places such as China; and
Whereas other methods of surveillance such as "Stingray" devices that pretend to act as cellphone towers in order to capture phone users' conversations, biometric finger scans of homeless people using shelters, Automated License Plate Readers that capture information from vehicles driven in public places without any probable cause, and the mass interception and harvesting of phone call and email content, are already being abused by police and other government agencies in the United States,
Therefore be it resolved that the Libertarian Party of San Francisco commends the members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors who supported the ban police and other local government agencies from using facial recognition technology, namely Supervisors Sandra Lee Fewer, Gordon Mar, Vallie Brown, Matt Haney, Norman Yee, Rafael Mandelman, Hillary Ronen, and Shamann Walton, and in particular Supervisor Aaron Peskin for introducing and championing this important and precedent-setting legislation; and
Be it further resolved that the LPSF urges the Board members and the mayor to strictly monitor and enforce compliance with this measure by the SFPD and other city departments, including its provisions requiring them to submit annual reports on their use of surveillance technology, and requiring public notice and approval of any new surveillance technology equipment before it is purchased, and to impose severe consequences on any officials who violate the policy.