New Surveillance Programs in Major Cities Raise Privacy Concerns

The city of Oakland, Calif. was awarded $7 million in federal grants to help deter terror attacks at its busy airport. Instead, the money has been funneled into a police initiative to collect and analyze surveillance data. 

The new system, which will begin next summer, is an example of how a number of big cities are gathering and processing large amounts of information, a.k.a "big data," for law enforcement purposes. Oakland is using the money for gunshot-detection sensors, license plate readers mounted on police cars and for patrolling the city's more upscale hills, The New York Times reports.

The prevalence of using technology for surveillance purposes highlights the recent surge in using technology for tracking people. The police can now monitor social media posts to look for evidence of criminal activity and transportation agencies can track commuters' toll payments when drivers use an electronic easy pass. And then there's the biggest surveillance news as of late: the National Security Agency's collection of telephone records of millions of U.S. cellphone customers. 

Other cities are following Oakland's lead and using federal dollars to support the use of surveillance tools. New York City's police department has a big data system, supported by federal dollars, that links 3,000 surveillance cameras with license plate readers, criminal databases, radiation sensors and terror suspect lists. Massachusetts police have also used federal funds to purchase automated license plate scanners. In Texas, police bought a drone with homeland security money. Alameda County in California, which Oakland is a part of, also tried to purchase a drone, but it was abandoned after strong public opposition. 

Supporters of Oakland's big data initiative, which is formally known as the Domain Awareness Center, say that the data mining program will help police reduce the city's high crime rate. Yet, critics assert that the program will also garner data about the daily lives of law-abiding Oakland residents, which raises legal and ethical questions. 

Libby Schaaf, an Oakland City Council member, told the Times that because of Oakland's high crime rate, "it's our responsibility to take advantage of new tools that become available." But, she added that the center could also "paint a pretty detailed picture of someone's personal life, someone who may be innocent."

The New York Times gave the example that if two men are caught stealing and drive off in a black Honda sedan, the police can look up where the car was in the past couple weeks, including stoplights it drove past. 

The program is a big step forward in intelligence gathering for law enforcement. While the police have traditionally made arrests based off small tidbits of data, i.e., eye witness testimony and logs of license plate readers, the new system will compile and sift through a great deal of information, which gives authorities a much larger view of the suspects they are investigating. 

Large companies are making the big data tools. Microsoft built the technology for New York City's big data program, and I.B.M sold tools for Memphis and Las Vegas. Oakland has a contract with the Science Applications International Corporation, or SAIC, to build its system. SAIC has earned most of its $12 billion in annual revenue from military contracts, but due to budgetary issues, SAIC has diversified to other government agency projects. 

Before the initiative, Oakland spent millions on license plate readers, traffic cameras, and sound sensors to pick up gunshots. Yet, the city continues to have one of the highest violent crime rates in the U.S. In August 2012, an audit found that the police spent $1.87 million on technology tools that did not work properly or were unused because the vendors had gone out of business.

The new Domain Awareness Center will electronically gather data 24/7 from many different databases and senors, analyze the data and display the info on giant monitors. The database will also allow police to tap into 911 calls. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California described the program as "warrantless surveillance" and said "the city would be able to collect and stockpile comprehensive information about Oakland residents who have engaged in no wrongdoing."

Michael O'Brien, the chief security officer of Oakland's port--where cameras will collect feeds-- tried to assuage concerns by saying that the center was meant to improve law-enforcement response time to crimes and emergencies. "It's not to spy on people," O'Brien said.