ACLU Senior Policy Analyst Jay Stanley joins the Plutopia podcast this time. Jay works with the ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, where he researches, writes, and speaks about technology-related privacy and civil liberties issues.
The ACLU is very involved in legislative advocacy. We have a team here in Washington of lobbyists who work with Capitol Hill and federal agencies to try to stop bad things and encourage good things. And also a lot of times just educate staffers. As everybody knows Capitol Hill is run by 20-somethings. And members of Congress who have to deal with every issue under the sun, A to Z, often aren’t very educated on particular abstruse tech issues like what we were talking about. And so just having people who can pick up the phone, people on Capitol Hill who call and help educate them about the realities of things.
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The ACLU, a multi-issue nonprofit, has a team of lobbyists in Washington working to influence legislation, educate Capitol Hill staff, and address privacy and civil liberties concerns. Jay, as part of the Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, focuses on issues like digital identity and drones, which have significant implications for privacy and power dynamics. He highlights the risks posed by surveillance technologies and the importance of protecting individual rights against misuse by both government and private entities. The conversation also covers the challenges of combating mass surveillance and ensuring technologies serve the public rather than expanding the power of corporations and government.
Relevant Links
Ross McNutt and his Baltimore aerial surveillance:
https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/baltimore-police-secretly-running-aerial-mass
Flock:
https://www.aclu.org/wp-content/uploads/publications/flock_1.pdf
Google and Project Maven:
https://www.wired.com/story/3-years-maven-uproar-google-warms-pentagon/
The Dawn of Robot Surveillance:
https://www.aclu.org/publications/dawn-robot-surveillance
Point and shoot chemical detection:
https://www.aclu.org/news/privacy-technology/new-point-and-shoot-chemical-detectors-raise-privacy-and-constitutional-issues
Justice Dept report on Ferguson:
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/press-releases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf
More on airport security and facial recognition:
https://papersplease.org
