“By evading public accountability, the STWG has enabled the expansion of these technologies in Syracuse,” S.T.O.P.'s Will Owen wrote. “More than ever, New Yorkers need local leadership to stand up for civil rights, not make reckless decisions in secret.” centralcurrent.org/advocacy-gro...

"In a moment of rising censorship nationwide, hostilities toward free speech, and federal efforts to silence the LGBTQ+ community, a bill like this has the potential to further threaten constitutional rights and undermine access to online resources."

‼️It’s day 4 of our week of action against Flock ALPR’s & we’re whipping up a social media storm! Repost this message + tag @lowes-official.bsky.social demanding they drop Flock contracts ASAP & prioritize customer safety over ICE collaboration 🙅🏽‍♀️ toolkit: www.fightforthefuture.org/actions/defl...

ICE is expanding its use of AI, data analytics, facial recognition, and surveillance tools far beyond the border -- embedding monitoring and tracking into everyday life across the U.S. Read more:

Government surveillance of our digital lives is exploding: up 770% in a decade, with millions of accounts swept into federal data requests. We need stronger technology oversight and accountability to meet this moment. Read more here:

"[Clarifai's] access violated OkCupid’s own privacy policy, the FTC alleged, since it didn’t give users a chance to opt out of their data being shared."

"The findings draw a clearer line between Reuters’ data business," involving "selling names, addresses, car registration information, SSNs, and details on someone’s ethnicity under the brand name CLEAR—and the specific tools ICE is ingesting data into."

Palantir's contract with NYC's public hospitals will not be renewed: though the latter's CEO defends the use of Palantir software, termination is a vital step to prevent potential data-sharing with ICE and protect immigrant New Yorkers seeking healthcare.

”There's not accountability for who they are targeting...I’m definitely concerned that they’re going to use this incident as an excuse to ramp up their social media monitoring, particularly of Muslim Americans." - S.T.O.P. Executive Director Michelle Dahl

Lawmakers in California voted to audit the operation of joint intelligence centers, citing S.T.O.P.'s "Deportation Data Centers" report on data-sharing practices between ICE and fusion centers. Read more.

Lawmakers in California voted to audit the operation of joint intelligence centers, citing S.T.O.P.'s "Deportation Data Centers" report on data-sharing practices between ICE and fusion centers. Read more.

"The Trump administration is now using America’s airports as a space for authoritarian training and conditioning." Read more. www.salon.com/2026/03/26/i...

Sensitive information, from passwords to personal documents, can be extracted from your phone while you're traveling––in the midst of ICE's deployment to airports around the country, read more about how to keep your data safe. theintercept.com/2026/03/25/i...

This is just creepy. At school, students' only concern should be about learning — not who’s tracking them going to the bathroom.

New NPR reporting reveals ICE’s growing use of data brokers to access sensitive personal data, often evading traditional safeguards. As surveillance expands, our current oversight is falling behind. Read more:

Digital hall passes are monitoring students in NYC schools, raising concerns about privacy violations and record-keeping practices that erode students’ freedoms.

“ICE is really in this moment where it’s pooling as much data together as it can to create a broad surveillance network," said S.T.O.P. Communications Director Will Owen. "And it’s increasing exponentially, because they have the resources to invest in broader surveillance.”

"Civil rights authorities like surveillance technology expert Albert Fox Cahn have long warned about the use of location data by government officials looking to track people’s movements and crack down on civil rights." Read more. www.ms.now/news/the-fbi...

🎉 Great news today - FOIL Reporting bill passed the Assembly! 🎉 🔆We celebrated Sunshine Week yesterday with key legislators @jamesskoufis.bsky.social @liunewyork.bsky.social @johnmcdonald108.bsky.social @lindabrosenthal.bsky.social @philsteckny.bsky.social AM Raga and transparency advocates 🔆

Happening today at 2pm EST! Join us to learn more about how ICE uses surveillance technology to monitor and target immigrant communities. #PowerDownSurveillance

New York state has a chance to strengthen its Freedom of Information Law and be a bright spot amid rising authoritarianism and secrecy. That's why we're calling on the Legislature to pass four key transparency bills for Sunshine Week 2026. Read more: reinventalbany.org/2026/03/grou...

Tomorrow: ICE Surveillance 101 ⚡ We’re kicking off our Power Down Surveillance series with a breakdown of the tech ICE uses—from facial recognition to social media monitoring—and how it impacts immigrant communities. 🗓️ March 19, 2 PM ET

☀️ Sunshine Week is here and NY can lead ☀️ Our groups to the Legislature: pass 4 key bills to strengthen NY's Freedom of Information Law. Let’s make NY a bright spot against rising secrecy buff.ly/qjkIK9x

Leqaa Kordia was released today after a year in federal immigration detention. As S.T.O.P.’s Eleni Manis and Michelle Dahl write, her detention was enabled by data-sharing between the NYPD and ICE: "It's the predictable consequence of New York City’s out-of-control surveillance infrastructure."

"There are so many emerging firms that sell new, unproven, invasive technologies that police departments and other agencies are really willing to shell out money on,” said S.T.O.P. Communications Director Will Owen.

BREAKING: S.T.O.P. Condemns False Arrest, Nearly 6-Month Imprisonment of Innocent TN Grandmother After Facial Recognition Mismatch "Facial recognition upends lives and separates innocent individuals from their families." - STOP Exec. Dir. Michelle Dahl www.stopspying.org/latest-news/...

New from me today - DHS hack shows funding for AI surveillance including automated surveillance in airports; adapters allowing agents to use phones for biometric scanning; and an AI platform that ingests all 911 call data nationally www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Our groups to NYC Council: Small Investment in OpenRecords FOIL Site Equals Big Transparency Gains @beta.nyc @citizensunionny.bsky.social @freedom.press @lwvnyc.bsky.social @legalaidnyc.bsky.social @stopspyingny.bsky.social buff.ly/BzboqX4

“Surveillance data gets around. That’s what it’s designed to do.” In a new op-ed, S.T.O.P. Research Director Eleni Manis and Executive Director Michelle Dahl call on Mayor Mamdani to end NYC's vast apparatus of surveillance and data sharing that endangers New Yorkers. Read more in amNY.

ICE heavily relies on agencies of all kinds to fuel the deportation machine, but over the past decade they've increasingly relied on the police-to-deportation pipeline to do so. Read the growing list of reported cases of law enforcement collusion with #ICE in NY state: bit.ly/NY-ICEwatch

“If [Mount Sinai is] logging your appointment and location and identity with Clear, it can reveal extremely sensitive facts,” said S.T.O.P. Executive Director Michelle Dahl. “You are, just by going to a doctor’s appointment, essentially becoming an advertising target.”

“Surveillance technologies are increasingly being deployed against the public to undermine our First Amendment rights and our right to call out the injustices of our government,” said S.T.O.P. Communications Director Will Owen.

“A new report released Thursday by the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project lays out eight steps the mayor, a longtime critic of police surveillance, could take without waiting for the City Council or state lawmakers.” Read more about S.T.O.P.’s latest report, “Dear Mamdani.”

Last week, we filed a complaint on behalf of the family of Alexis Cardenas, a 32yo husband and father of 4 who died after multiple jail officers assaulted and restrained him while he was being released from the Harris County Jail. HCSO's culture of violence has prompted 2 federal investigations.

One of New York's largest hospital networks will use biometric tech to verify patient and employee identity: “New Yorkers should not have to hand over their faces to receive healthcare,” said S.T.O.P. Communications Director Will Owen. Read more. www.biometricupdate.com/202603/clear...

"This is a moment where the failure of the whole surveillance solutionism market is coming into the foreground," said S.T.O.P. Founder-in-Residence Albert Fox Cahn. Read more in an interview about "Move Slow and Upgrade," out now! www.techpolicy.press/in-age-of-di...

"Intelligence sharing between various levels of government," said S.T.O.P. Communications Director Will Owen, has "allowed ICE to sidestep sanctuary laws and co-opt local police databases and surveillance tools." Read more. www.baltimorebrew.com/2026/03/04/e...

"Meta is willing to share data with law enforcement...to continue chipping away at Americans’ privacy and civil rights,” said S.T.O.P Communications Director Will Owen. Read more about how sharing your camera roll with apps puts your privacy in danger. www.huffpost.com/entry/phone-...

S.T.O.P.'s Power Down Surveillance campaign is bringing you a new event series to break down the tech behind mass surveillance—and how communities can push back. First session: ICE Surveillance 101 🗓️March 19 | 2 PM ET Register: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

S.T.O.P.'s Power Down Surveillance campaign is bringing you a new event series to break down the tech behind mass surveillance—and how communities can push back. First session: ICE Surveillance 101 🗓️March 19 | 2 PM ET Register: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Join the fight to stop surveillance! You can support S.T.O.P. as a charity runner in upcoming races, including the NYC United Half Marathon on March 15th. Visit stopspying.org/marathons to learn more. #Marathon #UnitedHalf #NYCHalf

S.T.O.P. joined @cdt.org, the @brennancenter.org, and @rightsdissent.bsky.social in signing an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to reject an overbroad geofence warrant. cdt.org/insights/cdt... www.law360.com/articles/244...

Yesterday, March 2nd, S.T.O.P. held a press conference and rally alongside civil rights groups and Council Members urge the New York City Council to ban facial recognition and other forms of biometric surveillance. Read more. #NYC #Surveillance #BanTheScan www.fox5ny.com/news/nyc-bio...

BREAKING: Council Members, Advocates Rally Against Facial Recognition Before City Council Considers Bans @cmshahanahanif.bsky.social @cmalexaaviles.bsky.social #BanTheScan #FacialRecognition #surveillance www.stopspying.org/latest-news/...

Tell Sen. Chuck Schumer to stand firm against ICE's rogue terrorism. Not one more penny for violence and abuse in our communities! 🙅🧊💵 Call his NYC office at (212) 486-4430 and use the script below. You can also reach him using our email tool at nyic.me/dhs-shutdown

MEDIA ADVISORY: Council Member Shahana Hanif Will Rally to Ban Biometric Recognition Technology Alongside Advocates Monday, March 2nd, 9 AM. Details here: www.stopspying.org/latest-news/...

“Dear Mamdani,” today’s report from S.T.O.P., gives Mayor Mamdani a roadmap to ending NYC’s surveillance state. Read more at the link below, and read the full report at stopspying.org/dear-mamdani. #NYC #Surveillance #NYPD #Mamdani

Columbia student Ellie Aghayeva was reportedly detained by DHS agents at her university-owned apartment after they used ‘misrepresentations’ to gain access to the building.

BREAKING: S.T.O.P. Report Demands Mamdani Dismantle NYC Surveillance State, Details Policy Recommendations @mayor.nyc.gov #NYPD #Mamdani #surveillance www.stopspying.org/latest-news/...

A former NYPD inspector was indicted for allegedly taking cash bribes to steer an $11M public safety tech contract, awarded with almost no public oversight. This is what happens when surveillance tech is built in the dark. Read more here: