Balancing Public Safety and Privacy Rights in the Digital Age Benjamin Feist, Legislative Director ACLU of Minnesota Because Freedom Can’t Protect Itself

2 About the ACLU-MN  Nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the civil liberties of all Minnesotans under the United States and Minnesota constitutions.  Promote our mission through litigation, public education and lobbying efforts  Affiliate of the national ACLU organization, which has over 500,000 members

3 About the ACLU-MN  Not opposed to the use of new technologies in policing, but safety should not come at the expense of civil liberties  Ally and resource on privacy issues  Example: Recent cell phone tracking bill in MN

4 New Technologies  Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR)  Drone Surveillance  Police Body Cameras  Cellular Exploitation Devices

5 New Technologies  Powerful new tools allow law enforcement agents to monitor and record individuals’ movements in unprecedented way  Technology is becoming cheaper  Digital data is easier to store, access, and manipulate

6 Privacy Issues Overview  Most new technologies used at state and local level  Courts and legislatures have not been able to keep up with rapidly advancing technology  Data retention and classification issues  Public awareness and concern

7 Privacy Issues Overview  Feb. 2014: Minneapolis Star Tribune poll found that 63% of those surveyed were “somewhat” or “very concerned” about the amount of personal information that the State of Minnesota and law enforcement collect on individuals

8 Mosaic Theory of the 4 th Amendment  Cumulative approach to the evaluation of data collection  Long-term surveillance on individuals provides a much richer picture than the discrete data points  More protective of privacy because obtaining and analyzing the full “mosaic” may constitute a Fourth Amendment search even if none of the individual “tiles” trigger constitutional scrutiny

9 Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR)

10 Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR)  Cameras mounted on patrol cars or stationary objects (telephone poles, underside of brides, etc…)  Take a photo of every license plate that passes by, digitizes them and checks plates against databases  Provides an alert to a patrol officer whenever a match or “hit” appears.

11 Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPR)  Can help police to recover stolen cars and arrest people with outstanding warrants  Also, routinely stores location information on a vast number of innocent people  Core principle that the government does not invade privacy and collect info on innocent activities just in case citizens do something wrong in the future

12 ALPR Controversy in Minnesota  August 2012 media reports on ALPR data retention and classification  Then-Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak’s car was recorded 41 times in the preceding year  Plate data was “public” under MN’s public records law  Now under “temporary classification” until August 2015

13 ALPR Legislation  Continuing divide between privacy advocates and law enforcement over retention period for “non-hit” data  ACLU-MN position: limited retention, judicial oversight  Other potential issues:  Sharing and selling of data  Classification of data (privacy vs. transparency)  Use as evidence

14 Drone Surveillance

15 Drone Surveillance  Unmanned aerial systems (UAS), a/k/a unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a/k/a “drones”  Used for scientific research and agriculture to military and law enforcement operations  Regulated by the FAA, but mounting pressure to expand use

16 Drone Surveillance  Who uses (or plans to use) drones?  Federal government  Some law enforcement  Aerial photography  Hobbyists  Commercial delivery (proposed)  University research  Other governmental entities

17 Drone Use by Law Enforcement  Unlike helicopters or other police vehicles because not subject to practical limitations of manned vehicles:  Helicopters are costly and require trained pilots, launch pad, and flight and ground crews  Rather, drones are cheap, small and quiet  Able to track precise movements  View evidence inside private areas

18 Drone Use by Law Enforcement  At least 14 states have already passed laws regulating domestic drone use  ACLU-MN position:  Warrant requirement for surveillance in private areas, with emergency exceptions  Data on bystanders should be deleted promptly  Government body approval before acquisition  Annual reporting on use

19 Police Body Cameras  Replacing dashboard cameras in many departments  Technology is getting cheaper  Can increase officer accountability and reduce “he said, she said” arguments

20 Police Body Cameras  Need policies on when the cameras are turned on and off  Privacy concerns:  Individual victims recorded  Potential to invade privacy in homes  Recordings may become public

21 Resources  ACLU National Reports:  You Are Being Tracked: How License Plate Readers Are Being Used to Record Americans’ Movements (July 2013),  Protecting Privacy from Aerial Surveillance: Recommendations for Government Use of Drone Aircraft (December 2011), ce.pdf ce.pdf

Because Freedom Can’t Protect Itself