PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Michael Sisitzky, Assistant Policy Director of New York Civil Liberties Union, on NYPD Surveillance Technology Oversight
4:01:24
ยท
3 min
Michael Sisitzky from the New York Civil Liberties Union testified on the importance of strengthening the POST Act and improving oversight of NYPD's surveillance technologies. He expressed strong support for Intros 480 and 168, emphasizing the need for more detailed disclosures and safeguards regarding data sharing practices.
- Criticized NYPD's compliance with POST Act, particularly the grouping of technologies that circumvents public notice and comment processes
- Highlighted concerns about data sharing with other government agencies and the lack of specific safeguards in current policies
- Emphasized the need for transparency as a starting point for broader reforms, including potential restrictions on controversial technologies like facial recognition
Michael Sisitzky
4:01:24
Thank you.
4:01:25
Good afternoon, chairs.
4:01:26
My name is Michael Ciszinski, assistant policy director with the New York Civil Liberties Union.
4:01:30
So the post act was passed in 2020 in response to the NYPD's long documented and troubling history of engaging in surveillance tactics that target political dissent, criminalized communities of color, and jeopardize all New Yorkers' privacy.
4:01:43
It was a recognition of the simple fact that the NYPD could not be trusted to monitor its own use of surveillance technologies or be allowed to keep the full extent of its surveillance infrastructure seeker from the public and from policymakers.
4:01:55
And those are the same reasons that underlie our strong support now for intros four eighty and one sixty eight to make sure that the post act is living up to its original purpose.
4:02:04
And it's clear that there is further action that is needed by the city council in order to address the issues that we've heard today raised by advocates as well as the recommendations from the inspector general and their audits and their reports on post act compliance.
4:02:16
Without city council action, New Yorkers are going to continue to be left in the dark when it comes to the details that we need to identify and challenge harmful practices.
4:02:25
Among those, we've heard discussion of some of the most problematic practices with respect to post op compliance, the grouping together of technologies, that has the potential to circumvent one of the core purposes of the post act was this notice and comment process.
4:02:39
As we've heard, the NYPD is only required to go through that process for new technologies, and the the point there is that when there is something new that is being contemplated, it should be approached cautiously, deliberatively, and in the full light of day with meaningful community engagement and input.
4:02:56
The overly broad policies that we've seen allow the NYPD to introduce brand new and distinct tools by updating existing policies that they can shoehorn those new tools into.
Yusef Salaam
4:03:05
It's been
Michael Sisitzky
4:03:06
an end run around oversight and public engagement, and it's one that we're hopeful that intro four eighty and the dialogue referenced earlier with the NYPD about potential amendments can help to remedy, going forward.
4:03:18
Also wanna note, you know, one of the other core areas of concern addressed by Intro four eighty is the fact that we really need more detailed information on data sharing and safeguards as it relates to the NYPD surveillance practices.
4:03:31
The policies that we've seen so far simply suggest that other government agencies may have access to NYPD data without naming those agencies.
4:03:39
There's not enough descriptions on the type of information on what data is being actually disclosed, what safeguards or rules, restrictions are put in place on uses of those data.
4:03:50
And there's just boilerplate language with throughout those policies as they relate to retention, data sharing practices, not enough to really give us confidence that that data is being, safeguard in any meaningful way.
4:04:04
So it's really urgent that the city council take action on these pieces given what we've seen in recent years.
4:04:10
We've seen the Adams administration and their very intense focus on expanding the NYPD's technological capabilities, and we have real justified concerns about the ways in which the Trump administration may seek to acquire and weaponize sensitive data, either directly obtained from the NYPD or indirectly testimony.
4:04:30
Your time has expired.
4:04:31
Thank you.
4:04:32
So I just wanna reiterate very quickly, strong support for the, two pieces, intro of four eighty and one sixty eight.
4:04:39
I just do wanna note that these are starting points.
4:04:41
We wanna emphasize that transparency and oversight are important, but they're important, starting points.
4:04:47
They need to inform broader conversations around what types of tools are used and are permitted to be used in the first place and use that as a basis for real reforms to cut off the use of, unaccountable discriminatory technologies, things like facial recognition, imposing further restrictions that is based on the kind of information that we get out of laws like the post act.
4:05:08
Thank you.