Boston's Use of Surveillance Technology
Technology underpins everything that the City does. Clear surveillance policies can improve core services, protect Boston residents’ privacy, and advance civil rights, civil liberties, and racial and immigrant justice.
What is surveillance?
We’ve probably all had the experience of walking down a street, noticing a camera on a light pole overhead, and wondering what exactly it’s doing there.
Our background and life experiences may determine our reaction to seeing the camera – it might cause a feeling of safety, concern, or something in between. The City of Boston is committed to advancing clear policies around the use of surveillance technology. Policies should enhance public safety, improve City services, and protect privacy & civil rights.
Surveillance is the process of conducting close observations of an individual or group. In practice, the City uses a variety of technologies: devices, hardware, or software capable of collecting a wide variety of information and data.
Technologies are used to observe identifiable individuals or groups throughout Boston to help deliver City services. Thoughtful policies around the use of surveillance ensure that we’re using these technologies in safe, just ways, without compromising the civil rights, privacy, or dignity of our residents.
Ordinance and surveillance oversight information
In 2021, the Boston City Council unanimously passed an ordinance to build accountability, transparency, and democratic oversight into the City’s use of surveillance technology and data. This ordinance creates a new public process to document and review the different surveillance technologies used by various City departments.
Current Surveillance Use Policies
In August 2022, the Mayor’s office submitted 26 different Surveillance Use Policies to the Boston City Council, covering the 7 departments or agencies included in the ordinance.
Policies by Department or Agency
- Audio and video devices - non-recording
- Audio and video devices - recording (general)
- Automated license plate recognition system
- Body worn cameras
- Cameras and video management systems (recording)
- Cell-site simulators (stingray)
- Covert audio and video devices
- Crime laboratory unit
- Electronic intercept and analysis system ("Wire Room")
- Firearms analysis unit
- Forensic examination hardware and software
- Gang assessment database
- GPS tracking devices
- Gunshot detection technology (ShotSpotter)
- Latent print unit
- Software and databases
- Specialty cameras (Night Vision, Thermal, Infrared, and X-ray)
- Unmanned aerial systems (Drones)
- Vehicles equipped with surveillance technology
Surveillance, Data, and Privacy Working Group
The ordinance formed a Surveillance, Data, and Privacy Working Group, bringing together people from advocacy organizations and across City departments to discuss how City surveillance and data practices can become more transparent and open.
The Working Group – including representatives from the ACLU of Massachusetts, the Student Immigrant Movement, the Department of Innovation and Technology, the Mayor’s Office, and the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics – was established to focused on three key areas:
- growing transparency around City data collection in public spaces,
- building channels for the City to listen and communicate with residents about data collection, privacy, and surveillance; and
- increasing accountability for the City to be more responsive to residents' concerns.
The Working Group formed after the ordinance was passed and continued meeting biweekly through October 2022. Meetings were open to the public and publicly noticed on boston.gov, which enabled anyone who was interested to attend. Along the way, the Working Group met with local community-based organizations focused on immigrant rights and counter-surveillance advocacy, spoke with academics about issues surrounding technology communication, and reached out to local artists to explore ideas for creative collaborations.
The Working Group produced recommendations for the Mayor and the City Council. These recommendations include:
- Forming a first-of-its-kind Privacy Advisory Committee, which would serve as an expert body for City employees across departments to consult on privacy aspects of day-to-day work and special projects, as well as communicate with residents and community organizations to incorporate public feedback to improve City practices.
- Embedding an ethos of data privacy for City employees by offering clear and relevant training on privacy principles, beginning in the employee onboarding stage and proceeding through their tenure.
- Partnering with trusted community-based organizations for ongoing listening sessions, event planning, and community-led engagement around City surveillance and data collection practices.
You can read the full recommendations at https://bit.ly/3NBtCBr. If you have questions about the Working Group, or questions or concerns about surveillance technology, we encourage you to reach out - we want to hear your ideas! Please email surveillance@boston.gov or the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics at newurbanmechanics@boston.gov.
What’s next?
We’re excited for the opportunity to center our residents and our communities as we shape the future of the City’s use of surveillance technology.
We encourage you to read through the policies, attend hearings held by the Council concerning the policies that matter to you, make your voice heard to your City Councilor, and stay engaged throughout the process.
We look forward to hearing from you!
