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For three years, a state law prohibiting body camera face surveillance helped prevent the misidentification and wrongful imprisonment of Californians, safeguarded our freedom of speech, impeded creation of dangerous biometric databases, and protected our privacy. But that law expired in January and police departments are ready to pounce.
Dragnet surveillance demands – so-called “reverse warrants”, “geofence warrants,” or “keyword warrants” – are a form of unconstitutional digital surveillance that put people at grave risk in a Post-Roe America. They can compel tech companies to search their records and reveal the identities of all people who looked up a particular keyword online or drove down a certain street.
Pauly Pagenhart is the grant and development writer at the ACLU of Northern California, creating and curating materials which convey the organization’s work and supporting the Development team’s engagement with donors and funders who partner with the ACLU to advance justice.
Paul Schaack is an individual giving officer at the ACLU of Northern California, where he supports the development team to build the capacity of the organization to continue our important work in the community.