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SACRAMENTO – New polling released today shows that Californians from all walks of life and all parts of the state support legislation to strengthen consumer privacy protections. Across race, gender, party, and regional lines, 90% of likely California voters want to require companies to do more to protect their personal information. (Read the polling results.) “California voters clearly want inc... Read More

NEW YORK — A historic civil rights settlement was announced with Facebook today following a variety of anti-discrimination legal actions. The settlement encompasses sweeping changes that the tech giant will make to its paid advertising platform to prevent discrimination in employment, housing, and credit advertising. Since late 2016, Facebook has faced legal pressure from the American Civil Lib... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California today released records revealing that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has gained access to an expansive surveillance database to target immigrants. The documents also reveal that local law enforcement agencies are aiding ICE in the surveillance efforts by sharing residents’ location information with ICE agents, some... Read More

SACRAMENTO - Today the ACLU of California joined a diverse coalition of privacy, civil rights, economic equity, and children’s advocacy organizations to announce support for AB 1760, Privacy for All, a bill introduced by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland). Privacy for All puts Californians in control of the personal information that companies collect and share about them. As the technology ind... Read More

SEATTLE — A group of Amazon shareholders announced today that they have filed a shareholder resolution echoing widespread calls for Amazon to stop sales of facial recognition to the government. The shareholder resolution, which asks Amazon’s board of directors to prohibit sales of facial recognition technology to government agencies unless the board concludes that the technology does not pose actu... Read More

NEW YORK — A coalition of over 85 racial justice, faith, and civil, human, and immigrants’ rights groups today sent letters to Microsoft, Amazon, and Google demanding the companies commit not to sell face surveillance technology to the government.  The coalition makes it clear to each company that a decision to provide face surveillance technology to the government threatens the safety of commu... Read More

BANGKOK — Google today made it clear that it has not, and will not, sell a facial recognition surveillance product until the technology’s dangers are addressed, citing its susceptibility to abuse. Nicole Ozer, technology and civil liberties director for the American Civil Liberties Union of California, issued the following comment in response: “This is a strong first step. Google today demon... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO —  Today, the BART Board of Directors passed a surveillance oversight ordinance that requires public notice and debate prior to seeking funding, acquiring equipment, or otherwise moving forward with surveillance technology proposals. BART joins Palo Alto, Davis, Oakland, Berkeley, and Santa Clara County by passing legislation that puts communities in control of police surveillance. ... Read More

Tomorrow, ACLU of Northern California staff and members will attend the BART Board of Directors meeting to urge the passage of a comprehensive surveillance oversight ordinance. The surveillance technology ordinance, long advocated for by the ACLU and community partners such as Oakland Privacy, would require surveillance proposals to undergo public scrutiny prior to approval. For technologies th... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO — Amazon today issued an additional statement in response to the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California test of Rekognition, the company's face recognition technology. The test revealed that Rekognition falsely matched 28 current members of Congress with images in an arrest photo database. Congressional members of color were disproportionately identified inc... Read More

SAN FRANCISCO – Reps. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) and John Lewis (D-Ga.) today wrote to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos demanding a meeting to discuss Amazon’s face surveillance product Rekognition. The letter comes after the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California released results of a test this morning revealing that Rekognition falsely matched 28 current members of Congress with image... Read More

Today the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Northern California released the results of a test revealing that Amazon’s facial surveillance product Rekognition falsely matched 28 current members of Congress with images in an arrest photo database. In the ACLU’s test, legislators from both parties, from states across the country, were falsely matched. Congressional members of color we... Read More