10 Calls to Action to Protect & Promote DemocracyWhile the last year has provided many cautionary trends, it has also begun to outline paths forward to prevent these harms, and more importantly, ways to think differently about how technology influences and affects our broader political goals. To protect and promote democracy, I believe we must issue regulations that immediately blunt the ability to execute these cautionary trend harms but also build capacity for evaluating how technology affects society, and fortify our democratic spaces with technology in mind.Below I outline 10 calls to action to protect and promote democracy based on current intervention strategies being deployed and leading theory in this space. While the cautionary trends included global examples, these calls to action are outlined with the current U.S. legal framework and regulations in mind. In addition to current intervention examples to build from, I have included resources and communities to build with. My hope is like the cautionary trends section of this report, is that these calls to action serve as a time capsule of the current policy options in 2020-21, but that these options expand and change through these communities and further global examples. Technology and Public Purpose ProjectTPPP_f636a524-fee0-11eb-8a57-c2922c83ea00Harvard Kennedy SchoolBelfer Center for Science and International AffairsRebecca WilliamsAuthor ~ This report culminates my research on “smart city” technology risks to civil liberties as part of Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science andInternational Affairs’ Technology and Public Purpose (TAPP) Project. TheTAPP Project works to ensure that emerging technologies are developedand managed in ways that serve the overall public good. ContributorsI am grateful to the following individuals for their inspiration, guidance,and support:Liz BarryAsh CarterKade CrockfordSusan CrawfordKaren EjioforNiva Elkin-KorenClare Garvieand The Perpetual Line-Up team for inspiring this researchKelsey FinchBen GreenGretchen GreeneLeah HorganAmritha JayantiStephen LarrickGreg LindsayBeryl LiptonJeff MakiLaura ManleyDave MaassDominic MauroHunter OwensKathy PettitBruce SchneierMadeline Smithwho helped so much wrangling all of these examplesAudrey TangJames WaldoSarah WilliamsKevin WebbBianca WylieJonathan ZittrainTAPP Fellowsmy fellow TAPP fellows, and many others.JournalistsLastly, I am especially grateful to all of the journalists and scholars cited throughout this report; without your incredible dedication and insights, this report would not be possible.ScholarsRene MagritteAll images included in this report are paintings by Rene Magritte, who once said, “If one looks at a thing with the intention of trying to discover what it means, one ends up no longer seeing the thing itself, but of thinking of the question that is raised.” To which I say, Whose Streets?CommunitiesDigital Advocateswe will need digital advocates to integrate into more substantive political advocacy movements that relate to the material needs of communities, Legislatureslegislatures to move beyond oversight and restore eroding rights and create new rights, and Technology Companiestechnology companies to rely on business models that do not create these harmful data markets and risks.Our democratic spaces are fortified_f636a84e-fee0-11eb-8a57-c2922c83ea00To protect and promote democracy_f636a952-fee0-11eb-8a57-c2922c83ea00DemocracySmart CitiesStop Harmful “Smart City” Technology, Data, and Uses_f636aa38-fee0-11eb-8a57-c2922c83ea00Smart CitiesLAW ENFORCEMENTStrictly Limit Law Enforcement Access to Identifying Data_f636ab0a-fee0-11eb-8a57-c2922c83ea001CommunitiesTo support interventions like these in your community, discuss the examples listed above with your local community groups and local representatives.Community GroupsLocal RepresentativesAction Center on Race and the EconomyTo consider more deeply about how surveillance technology and capitalism enable wholesale criminalization, check out Action Center on Race and the Economy’s 21st Century Policing: The RISE and REACH of Surveillance Technology and ...STOP LAPD Spying CoalitionSTOP LAPD Spying Coalition’s The Algorithmic Ecology: An Abolitionist Tool for Organizing Against Algorithms.To stop harmful “smart city” technology, data, and uses, we must prohibit thecurrent mission creep of “smart city” technologies being available for dragnetsearches by police without strict limits.Policies & PracticesInstitute policies and practices to address these new risks._51b17384-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea001.1To do this, we must examine how our current legal frameworks can be reinforced to consider these new risks, and where those frameworks are insufficient how we can fill those gaps with policies and practices that properly address these new risks.IdentificationLimit law enforcement access to identifying data._51b1758c-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea001.2Legal ScholarsCurrent interventions that should be expanded to limit law enforcementaccess to identifying data include Fourth Amendment litigation and scholarship, regulation, whistle-blowing, audits by third parties, and corporatetransparency reports.PrivacyPreserve the privacy protections._51b176e0-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea001.3AdvocatesTo meaningfully preserve the privacy protections formerly available under the Fourth Amendment, advocates and legal scholars must continue to articulate how tracking technologies create the ability to conduct dragnet searches akin to cell-phones in Carpenter and, with the degree of government and private-sector entanglement currently present in society, narrow the third-party doctrine exception to meet that reality.Legal ScholarsLeaders of Beautiful StruggleOutcomes like the recent Leaders of Beautiful Struggle v. Baltimore Police Department holding are encouraging examples of how new data collection technology capabilities have changed what is acceptable under past tactics.Baltimore Police DepartmentTrackingLitigate the unwarranted tracking of individuals._51b17852-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea001.4AdvocatesAdvocates should bring all cases in violation of unreasonable searches with a warrant, but be especially mindful of opportunities to litigate the unwarranted tracking of individuals via cameras, location trackers (from phones to vehicles), and sensors because of their widespread application. Invasive ToolsRegulate the use of the privacy invasive tools by law enforcement._51b179ba-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea001.5LegislaturesBeyond Fourth Amendment litigation, legislatures must begin regulating the use of the privacy invasive tools by law enforcement, such as surveillance technology oversight laws and data sharing regulations Massachusetts’ recent law that prevents transit authorities from disclosing personal information related to individuals’ transit system use for non-transit purposes.MassachusettsLaw EnforcementData BrokersRequire the government to get a court order to compel data brokers to disclose data._51b17b40-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea001.6Data BrokersCourtsThe recent introduction of the Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act, which requires the government to get a court order to compel data brokers to disclose data, and ...Cell-Site SimulatorsRequire probable cause warrants for law enforcement agencies to use a cell-site simulator._51b17cb2-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea001.7Law Enforcement Agenciesthe Cell-Site Simulator Warrant Act, which establishes a probable cause warrant requirement for federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to use a cell-site simulator are also encouraging.Identifying DataInvestigate how law enforcement is obtaining identifying data from companies and using surveillance technology._51b17e24-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea001.8Digital AdvocatesInvestigative JournalistsLaw EnforcementBuzzFeed NewsProjects like BuzzFeed News’ Surveillance Nation that showcase which law enforcement agencies have used ClearviewAI and ...The Policing ProjectThe Policing Project’s evaluation of the Baltimore spy plane are critical facts needed to effectively develop policy that will prevent these harms.BaltimoreDigital advocates and investigative journalists must continue to investigate how law enforcement is obtaining identifying data from companies and using surveillance technology unbeknownst to the public and legislative representatives.Transparency ReportsProduce transparency reports of when law enforcement have requested identifying data._51b17faa-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea001.9Technology CompaniesSimilarly, technology companies should produce transparency reports of when law enforcement have requested identifying data from them as Amazon Ring has begun to do.Law EnforcementAmazon RingPROFILINGEnd High-tech Profiling_51b180f4-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea002Tracking, Sorting & EndangermentEnsure that identifying data is not used to track, sort, or otherwise endanger certain groups of people._e3b64ac2-ff7f-11eb-b5a3-53202783ea002.1Uyghur Population in XinjiangThis includes explicit tracking of individuals of certain groups, such as being done with the Uyghur population in Xinjiang for their “correction” or with women in Lucknow for their “protection” and the implicit tracking of certain types of individuals by tracking Muslim regions or self-reinforcing predictive-policing searches.Women in LucknowMuslim RegionsDemographic GroupsTo be clear, there are many scenarios where the collection of demographic information can be in service to justice, such as when it proves unequal treatment, but unconsented continual tracking in our public streets without people’s consent is not one of them given the documented risks.GovernmentsFurther, governments should be obligated to continually evaluate whether these technologies have a discriminatory effect.To stop harmful “smart city” technology, data, and uses, we must alsoensure that identifying data is not used to track, sort, or otherwise endanger certain groups of people.InterventionsExpand interventions to end high-tech profiling._e3b64fd6-ff7f-11eb-b5a3-53202783ea002.2Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International has articulated facial recognition technology’s human rights violations and called for it to be banned.Paris Judicial CourtThe Paris Judicial Court’s Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes unit has indicted senior executives at Nexa Technology for the company’s sale of surveillance software over the last decade led to authoritarian regimes in Libya and Egypt that resulted in the torture and disappearance of dissidents and other human rights abuses and ...Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes UnitNexa TechnologyLibyaEgyptU.S. Department of Commercethe U.S. Department of Commerce sanctioned 14 Chinese technology companies over links to human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, including DeepGlin who is backed by a top Silicon Valley investment firm.Chinese Technology CompaniesUyghur Muslims in XinjiangDeepGlinLegislaturesLegislatures like Washington’s have included anti-discriminatory measures in their proposed People’s Privacy Act protecting those who fail to opt-in and Seattle’s surveillance technology law requires Equity Impact Assessments be conducted for all surveillance technologies as part of their oversight requirements.SeattleWashingtonEUThe calls for the EU to ban the use of AI in facial recognition technology that detects gender or sexuality or credit scores have also been encouraging.Civil Rights OrganizationsPublic scrutiny and campaigns by civil rights organizations have successfully influenced companies like Amazon, IBM, and Microsoft to put a moratorium on facial recognition technology to governments, Huawei to backtrack a patent application they filed for a facial recognition system meant to identify Uyghur people and technology companies like Alibaba to disavow the use of their technology for targeting of ethnic groups.AmazonIBMMicrosoftHuaweiAlibabaCommunitiesTo support interventions like these in your community, discuss theexamples listed above with your local community groups and local representatives.Community GroupsLocal RepresentativesCivil Rights, Privacy and Technology TableTo consider more deeply how these tools can be expanded, check out the Civil Rights, Privacy and Technology Table, led by a coalition of civil and digital rights advocacy groups, Laura MoyLaura Moy’s A Taxonomy of Police Technology’s Racial Inequity Problems article that features equity impact assessment application strategies,Data 4 Black LivesData 4 Black Lives’ call for #NoMoreDataWeapons and ... Urban Institutethe Urban Institute’s Five Ethical Risks to Consider before Filling Missing Race and Ethnicity Data and Creating Equitable Technology Programs A Guide for Cities.Current interventions that should be expanded to end high-tech profilinginclude indictments and sanctions for human rights violations, regulation,equity impact assessments, responsible data practices, audits, and corporaterefusal to sell to governments for these purposes.IDENTIFICATIONMinimize the Collection & Use of Identifying Data Everywhere_51b18220-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea003To stop harmful “smart city” technology, data, and uses, we must specifically protect people from being monitored and targeted, which means we must collectively think more carefully about how to minimize the creationof identifying data that can be abused. In addition to strictly limiting accessto identifying data by law enforcement and ending high-tech profiling,we must also reduce the attack surface of potential abuses by law enforcement, corporations, and nefarious actors, by minimizing the collection ofidentifying data everywhere, full stop. To address this, we must explorepolicies that consider minimizing the creation, storage, and standardization of identifying data and regulate its use. Given the entanglement of private-sector and government surveillance, including governments growing dependence on data brokers, to be successful, these policies must consider both the public and private sectors’ roles in creating, managing, and using identifying data.Current interventions that should be expanded to minimize the collectionand use of identifying data everywhere include data privacy regulations,audits of misuses, demonstrations of security and other risks, and the useof methods that collect less harmful identifying data. In terms of dataregulation, legislatures have begun regulating identifying technology, identifying data, and specific uses of the data, including:Facial Recognition TechnologyRegulate the government’s use of facial recognition technology._51b183b0-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea003.1LegislaturesTechnology: Legislatures have begun to regulate the government’suse of facial recognition technology in 20 cities and counties,including Boston, Cambridge, Easthampton, Jackson, KingCounty, WA, Madison, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Portland,ME, and Portland OR, Santa Cruz, and Teaneck, during this pastyear.CitiesCountiesBostonCambridgeEasthamptonJacksonKing County, WAMadisonMinneapolisNew OrleansPortland, MEPortland ORSanta CruzTeaneckGrassroots GroupsThe calls for the banning of government use of facial recognition technology have steadily increased with a more significant push by 70 grassroots groups in June 2021 for Congress to pass a nationwide prohibition on biometric surveillance.CongressCongress has recently introduced the Facial Recognition and Biometric Technology Moratorium Act of 2021, and House Judicial Committeethe House Judicial Committee recently held a hearing on Facial Recognition Technology: Examining Its Use by Law Enforcement.Private EntitiesFurther, New York City and Oregon have regulated the use of facial recognitiontechnology by private entities.New York City OregonLocal LegislaturesLocal legislatures have also begun to regulate ALPRs, and surveillance technology broadly. Congress has introduced legislation to require a warrant with the Cell Site Simulator Warrant Act.Third PartiesSome highlights of these regulations that should be expanded includethe requirement of third-party review in their surveillance technology regulations, and ...Governmentsgovernments expanding their commitment to evaluate data rights issues with full-time staff and governance bodies dedicated to these issues such as Privacy Officials, Commissions, and Advisory Bodies.Consumer Protection LitigantsAbsent new regulation, there has been consumer protection litigationrelated to the use of facial recognition technology, such as when ...Federal Trade Commissionthe Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint that Everalbum had deceivedconsumers about the use of facial recognition technology and their retention of images of users who had deactivated their accounts, EveralbumJohns Hopkinsprotective privacy policies and standard contractual clauses related to data rights, such as those offered by Johns Hopkins’ Center for Government Excellence to ensure data is retained by governments as open data and ...Center for Government ExcellenceEUthose adopted by the EU to govern exchanges and international transfersof personal data.Government AgenciesThere have also been calls for minimizing data-sharing agreements across government agencies, such as ...Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC)when the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) urged a comprehensive review of DHS’s Information Sharing Access Agreements.DHSTechnology CompaniesIn addition to refusing to sell identifying tools to police, technology companies are developing new methods and strategies to reduce the amount ofidentifying data that is created. Technology companies are creating toolsto minimize the identifying capacity of images such as image altering tools(like ...FawkesFawkes, which image cloaks by subtly changing pixels, or ...Everest PipkinEverest Pipkin, which strips images of identifying metadata, or ...AnonymizerAnonymizer, CycleGAN, and Deep Privacy, which use GAN escape detection to create fake derivative images that look similar to the naked eye), camera applications (like Anonymous Camera, which blurs and pixelates imagesand strips images of identifying metadata), and video anonymization software (like Brighter.ai or FaceBlur).CycleGANDeep PrivacyAppleTechnology companies such as Apple are using the power of their App store approval to provide a new AppTrackingTransparency feature that allows users to opt-out of tracking by applications on their phone. While technology tools can aid in data minimization, technology companies are still beholden to profit incentives, as exhibited by Apple’s decision to abandon encryption technology, digital keys, and data maintenance to Chinese state employees.Chinese State EmployeesAdvocatesAdvocates have also minimized data collection through obfuscation techniques such as computer vision dazzle makeup techniques that confound facialrecognition technology, disabled phone tracking, concealed messages throughstenography, disappearing messages, and encrypted messaging applications.These obfuscation techniques should be used as demonstrative campaigns–notlong-term policy solutions–and used with caution as they may be penetrableand cause more suspicion and surveillance by police.CommunitiesTo support interventions like this in your community, you can join campaigns to regulate identifying technologies and data, like facial recognitiontechnology, organized by your local ACLU chapter or EFF’s ElectronicFrontier Alliance or join global campaigns hosted by Amnesty International and Access Now.Local ACLU ChaptersElectronic Frontier AllianceAmnesty InternationalAccess NowJD SupraTo track recent data privacy regulations can check out JD Supra’s U.S. Biometric Laws & Pending Legislation Tracker, National Conference of State LegislatureNational Conference of State Legislature’s 2020 Consumer Data Privacy Legislation round up.EFFTo protect your identifying data, you can check out resources like EFF’s Surveillance Self-Defense Playlist: Getting to Know Your Phone.BiometricsRegulate the collection of biometrics data._51b185a4-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea003.2LegislaturesData: In terms of regulating the collection of certain types of identifying data, legislatures have begun regulating the collection of biometrics data, such as Portland, OR and New York City, and consumer data privacy, such as Virginia, and Colorado this year. Portland, ORNew York CityVirginiaColoradoCongressCongress has proposed regulation of data brokers with The Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act, data privacy broadly with the Data Protection Act and passed legislation that calls for the development of security standards for all IoT devices with the IoT Cybersecurity Improvement Act.Facial Recognition DatabasesProhibit the use of facial recognition databases._51b189aa-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea003.3LegislaturesUses: Lastly, legislatures have regulated the use of identifying data byprohibiting the use of facial recognition databases or the secondary use of identifying data as with Massachusetts’ transit data.MassachusettsREDRESSProvide Meaningful Redress for Those Harmed_51b18b3a-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea004LegislaturesLegislatures should be mindful of scoping what constitutes a misuse ofidentifying data and penalize it appropriately (for example, Van Buren v. theUnited States, recently found that misuse of databases that one was otherwise authorized to use would not violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, which comes with steep criminal penalties).CommunitiesTo support interventions like these in your community, discuss the examples listed above with your local community groups and local representatives.Community GroupsLocal RepresentativesBerkeley LawTo think more deeply about how regulation can provide those harmed with justice, check out analyses of local privacy laws like Berkeley Law’s Samuelson Law, Technology, and Policy Clinic’s Local Surveillance Oversight Ordinances that analyze available remedies and their implementation track record.Samuelson Law, Technology, and Policy ClinicFinally, To stop harmful “smart city” technology, data, and uses, we mustensure there are consequences for using identifying data beyond our politically negotiated standards and that those consequences provide proportionalredress for those harmed. It is not enough to pass data regulations if they arenot enforced. Further, and especially important at this time, with many dataregulation gaps, we must ensure that those who are harmed have swift andproportional channels of justice. The status quo of providing limited causesof action for those misidentified, no redress for those overly surveilled, andnominal damages to victims of data breaches is not enough.Human RightsExpand interventions for data regulation enforcement to include human rights injunctions and sanctions._e3b6522e-ff7f-11eb-b5a3-53202783ea004.1Current interventions for data regulation enforcement that should be expanded include the human rights injunctions and sanctions mentioned above, fines for violations (like the GDPR235), and ...ContractsCancel contracts with violating companies._e3b65756-ff7f-11eb-b5a3-53202783ea004.2the cancelation of contracts with violating companies, Discipline & PenaltiesApply discipline and criminal penalties to public sector employees._e3b65a9e-ff7f-11eb-b5a3-53202783ea004.3Public Sector Employeespublic sector employee discipline and criminal penalties, Rights of ActionEnable private rights of action for those harmed._e3b65d00-ff7f-11eb-b5a3-53202783ea004.4IndividualsIn addition to penalties for misuse, individuals must have recourse when their identifying data has been misused against them.Local JurisdictionsPrivate rights of action under surveillance technology laws are available in Berkeley, Cambridge, Davis, Grand Rapids, Lawrence, Oakland, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Seattle, and Somerville, and ...BerkeleyCambridgeDavisGrand RapidsLawrenceOaklandSan FranciscoSanta ClaraSeattleSomervilleFacebookAnd the IL Biometric Information Privacy Act, which has provoked a series of lawsuits, including a recent $650 million Facebook settlement, is an encouragingexample of redress.private rights of action for those harmed, and ...EvidenceSuppress evidence inappropriately obtained._e3b66386-ff7f-11eb-b5a3-53202783ea004.5Lawrencesuppression remedies are available in Lawrence and Somerville.Somervillesuppression of evidence inappropriately obtained that are available under someregulations.WhistleblowersProtect whistleblowers._e3b666d8-ff7f-11eb-b5a3-53202783ea004.6WhistleblowersThese enforcement provisions are bolstered by whistleblower protections to encourage folks to come forward with knowledge of such misuses. Technology EvaluationBuild Our Collective Capacity to Evaluate How Technology Impacts Democracy_f636abe6-fee0-11eb-8a57-c2922c83ea00TRANSPARENCY & LEGIBILITYMandate Transparency & Legibility for Public Technology & Data_f636acd6-fee0-11eb-8a57-c2922c83ea005LegislaturesLegislatures have called for transparency-related “smart city” technology with surveillance technology laws and practices such as ...Open Contracting Partnershipproviding discoverable documentation the procurement via the Open Contracting Partnership and by documenting the call for such tools, such as ...BostonBoston’s New Urban Mechanics’ Beta Blocks program, which posted a broad “Smart City” Request for Information (RFI) in 2017 and publicly posted the100+ responses online.New Urban MechanicsGovernmentsBeyond broadcasting proposal responses and procurement activity, governments should provide context and facilitate feedback loops related to novel technologies as Amsterdam, and Helsinki have done for AI; and Seattle has done for “surveillance technologies.”AmsterdamHelsinkiSeattleAdvocatesAdvocates have issued campaigns to inventory surveillance technology, such as ...Amnesty InternationalAmnesty International’s Decode Surveillance, which crowdsources the location of cameras in New York City, or ...EFFEFF’s Atlas of Surveillance, which aggregates where many types of surveillance technology are located throughout the US through a variety of datasets.Buzzfeed NewsBeyond knowing what is being used, we must collectively understandthe consequences of its use through third-party testing, evaluation, andhypotheticals. Examples of testing and evaluation include highlightingthe unregulated use of facial recognition technology by Buzzfeed News’ClearviewAI audits (mentioned above) and ...Privacy Engineersprivacy engineers demonstrating with publicly available datasets how easy it is to re-identify commuters, such as Morgan Herlocker’s project that combined Mobility Data Specification data with other public datasets to identify sensitive scooter trips, including a midday trip from a high school in a conservative area of a city to a Planned Parenthood clinic.Amazon RingLastly, technology companies like Amazon’s Ring, have begun to disclosewhen governments request their data publicly for transparency purposesand ...Biometrics and Forensic Ethicsthird-party commissions like Biometrics and Forensic Ethics havecalled for a publicly accessible record on the collaborative uses of live facialrecognition (LFR) to reduce the secrecy around public-private partnerships.Technology CompaniesTechnology companies should go further in their transparency reports and include information about all data collection, storage, subcontractor data linkage, secondary uses, and provide city officials with safety options and options community residents can add into individually if they desire more insights.CommunitiesTo support interventions like these in your community, discuss theexamples listed above with your local community groups and localrepresentatives.Community GroupsLocal RepresentativesTechnology AuditorsTo become an active auditor of the technology in your community, check out my Your Guide to Watching the Watchers blog post, which also includes “smart city” contract documentation from 15 jurisdictions and a public records request template to get you started.Advocacy GroupsYou can also join or follow advocacy groups and investigative journalists suchas ...Access NowACLUAction Center on Race and the EconomyAmnesty InternationalCenter for Democracy and TechnologyData 4 Black LivesEFFEPICHiljade.Kamera.rsLucy Parson LabsReclaimyourface.euSTOP LAPD Spying CoalitionSTOP Spying NYJournalistsArs TechnicaGizmodoThe MarkupMIT Tech ReviewOneZeroProPublicaThe InterceptLogic MagazineTechdirtThe VergeVICETo build our collective capacity to evaluate how technology impactsdemocracy, it is imperative we understand what our governments aredoing in the first place. It is crucial to democracy to hold our governmentrepresentatives accountable. This means to not only be aware of what“smart city” technologies are augmenting our neighborhoods but to firmlyunderstand what data they are collecting and what the implications of thatcollection are.Current interventions for mandating transparency and legibility forpublic technology and data that should be expanded include governmenttransparency regulations and practices, campaigns to watch the watchers, third-party audits, and corporate transparency reports.Regulations & PracticesInstitute government transparency regulations and practices._e3b6694e-ff7f-11eb-b5a3-53202783ea005.1CampaignsInitiate campaigns to watch the watchers._e3b66e80-ff7f-11eb-b5a3-53202783ea005.2AuditsConduct third-party audits._e3b671fa-ff7f-11eb-b5a3-53202783ea005.3ReportsRequire corporate transparency reports._e3b67560-ff7f-11eb-b5a3-53202783ea005.4CorporationsPROBLEMSQuestion Technology’s Role in Wicked Problems_51b18d1a-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea006Evgeny MorozovEvgeny Morozov penned an op-ed this May, suggesting that by focusing on privacy advocacy that we may have missed some of the more extensive ways technology companies are reconstructing power. In it, he writes:"I suspect we’ve been looking in the wrong places for potentcritiques of this industry. We have assumed that surveillanceand fake news are what economists would call ‘externalities’attached to what are otherwise good, progressive, and innovative business practices.But does that assumption hold? It’s time that we see throughthe tech industry’s lip service to innovation and ask, instead,just who is allowed to innovate – and under what conditions– in the current system. For all the creative disruption that itsleaders promise us, the tech industry delivers an extremelyunappetizing dish that invariably features the same set ofingredients: users, platforms, advertisers, and app developers.The institutional imagination of the tech industry simply doesnot admit other actors who can play a role in shaping thesocially beneficial uses of digital infrastructures…The tech giants’ recent respect for privacy should not misleadus. After all, it’s their monopolistic hold on our imagination –making us unable to see technology not as applied science butas a potent political institution for transforming other institutions – that constitutes the greatest problem for democracy.And it’s only by reclaiming that imagination – rather than byoverdosing on feel-good solutionism – that we can aspire totame them."GovernmentsGovernments have demanded more rigor from technical support to broader solutions with practices such as ...New Urban MechanicsBoston’s New Urban Mechanics Smart City Playbook,253 which includes plays such as, “Solve real problems for real people, “Don’t worship efficiency,” “Better decisions, not (just) better data,” and “Platforms make us go ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.”Action Center on Race & the EconomyAs mentioned, advocates like Action Center on Race & the Economy have included explicit calls to end surveillance data collection and end all funding of surveillance technology in their recommendations for 21st Century Policingcoupled with broader calls to defund the police and invest in community safety.Technology CompaniesTechnology companies have provided vetted “smart city” technology case studies on platforms such as Marketplace.city that demonstrate where and how they have been used.CommunitiesTo support interventions like these in your community, discuss theexamples listed above with your local community groups and local representatives. To think more deeply about technology ideology check outMorozov’s work, as well as technology critiques by scholars and thinkersfeatured on the Tech Won’t Save Us podcast and newsletter. Community GroupsLocal RepresentativesPowerConsider how power is redistributed by technology companies._9b34fdea-ffb9-11eb-a2c3-3a661f83ea006.1Technology CompaniesTo build our collective capacity to evaluate how technology impacts democracy, we must also all take a step back and consider how power is redistributed by technology companies beyond data rights...Needs & ChallengesReframe social challenges around the material needs of community members._9b350862-ffb9-11eb-a2c3-3a661f83ea006.2Community MembersWe must change our thinking beyond technology efficiency solutions andreframe social challenges around the material needs of community members. To the extent data plays a role in these goals, it should be secondaryand thoroughly tested, understood, and desired by community membersbefore deploying.InterventionsExpand current interventions._9b350ba0-ffb9-11eb-a2c3-3a661f83ea006.3Current interventions for questioning technology’s role in wicked problemsthat should be expanded include government-led efforts to incrementallytest how technology can support broader programming, advocates calls tostop the use of certain technologies, and third-party audits of technology’sefficacy.TestingTest how technology can support broader programming._9b351910-ffb9-11eb-a2c3-3a661f83ea006.3.1ProhibitionsStop the use of certain technologies._9b351dca-ffb9-11eb-a2c3-3a661f83ea006.3.2AdvocatesAuditsConduct third-party audits of technology’s efficacy._9b3520b8-ffb9-11eb-a2c3-3a661f83ea006.3.3NARRATIVESChallenge Data Narratives_51b18e96-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea007GovernmentsGovernments have explored more ways to facilitate data collection bythe community rather than dictate it, such as ...St. Louis Movement LabSt. Louis’ Movement Lab, where community members mapped monuments in their community to tell a bottom-up history, or ...BarcelonaBarcelona’s commitment “to solve city challenges by fostering innovation through open government, towards pluralist social transformation” as part of their Digital Plan.AdvocatesAdvocates have altered the way dominant datasets are created about them by generating “data noise” by wearing adversarial fashion that features images such as fake license plates, and other techniques.Much like the limits of obfuscation techniques to minimize identifying data collection, these techniques are best used as demonstrations, with the long-term goals being formal processes to challenge and change data collection processes.Paolo CirioBeyond demonstrating capabilities of technology, applying these tools to the powerful can be an effective advocacy tool as when Italian artist Paolo Cirio created a database with 4000 faces of French police officers to crowdsource their identification amongst protests and provoking changes in the law.PoliceAdvocates have also called to record the police to create evidence and counter data narratives against those who evade accountability.CommunitiesTo support interventions like these in your community, discuss the examples listed above with your local community groups and local representatives.Community GroupsLocal RepresentativesFinn BurtonTo think more deeply about challenging data narratives, check out Obfuscation: A User’s Guide for Privacy and Protest by Finn Burton and Helen Nissenbaum, community participation organizations like Public Lab,Helen NissenbaumResearch Organizationsresearch organizations such as Data & Society, and ...Data & SocietyData Journalistsleading investigative data journalism work feature at the Investigative Reporter’s and Editor’s annual National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting conferenceInvestigative Reporters and EditorsTesting & VettingEnsure that community members can test and vet government data collection and narratives._9b352874-ffb9-11eb-a2c3-3a661f83ea007.1Community MembersGovernmentsFinally, to build our collective capacity to evaluate how technology impactsdemocracy we must ensure that community members can test and vetgovernment data collection and the narratives they reinforce.Data CollectionChallenge what data is collected._9b353012-ffb9-11eb-a2c3-3a661f83ea007.1.1This includes challenging what data is collected, identifying what data is not collected, whom it serves, and creating missing data.Uncollected DataIdentifying what data is not collected._9b3532f6-ffb9-11eb-a2c3-3a661f83ea007.1.2BeneficiariesDetermine whom data serves._9b353986-ffb9-11eb-a2c3-3a661f83ea007.1.3Missing DataCreate missing data._9b353d64-ffb9-11eb-a2c3-3a661f83ea007.1.4InterventionsExpand existing interventions._9b354066-ffb9-11eb-a2c3-3a661f83ea007.2Current interventions to challenge data narratives that should be expandedinclude governments providing bottom-up tools for communities to collect their own data and community members challenging top-down datacollection through obfuscation, art, and the creation of alternative datasets.ToolsProvide bottom-up tools for communities to collect their own data._9b3546ec-ffb9-11eb-a2c3-3a661f83ea007.2.1GovernmentsCommunitiesTop-Down DataChallenge top-down data collection through obfuscation, art, and the creation of alternative datasets._9b354ab6-ffb9-11eb-a2c3-3a661f83ea007.2.2Community MembersDemocratic SpacesFortify Old and Build New Democratic Spaces_f636adda-fee0-11eb-8a57-c2922c83ea00DECISION-MAKINGBuild Up Spaces for Community Decision-making_f636aed4-fee0-11eb-8a57-c2922c83ea008CommunitiesTo fortify old and new democratic spaces we must create spaces for discussions about our community goals and how technology or data collection may serve those goals.ReinforcementReinforce spaces for discussion._51b1901c-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea008.1We must reinforce these spaces for discussion through community organizing, legal protections, and tools that make it easier to do so.LiteracyDevelop technology and data literacy._51b19242-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea008.2CommunitiesTrusted IntermediariesFurther, to be able to meaningfully discuss community issues and applicable technology, communities need the support of trusted intermediaries, bodies of knowledge and resources to develop technology and data literacy.InterventionsExpand interventions to build spaces for community decision-making._51b1942c-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea008.3Current interventions to build spaces for community decision-making that should be expanded include mandated community advisory bodies, advocacy resources and organizing, and tools that facilitate discussion of social problems rather than dictate their solution.Advisory BodiesInclude mandated community advisory bodies._51b19616-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea008.3.1AdvocacyProvide advocacy resources and organizing._51b19850-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea008.3.2ToolsProvide tools to facilitate discussion of social problems._51b19a3a-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea008.3.3Legislative DialogueEngage in ongoing dialogue with community members._51b19c4c-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea008.4LegislaturesLegislatures must have an ongoing dialogue with their community members, and advisory bodies are one tool to help facilitate this.Community MembersAdvisory BodiesLocal GovernmentsLocal governments have created hyperlocal community-led advisory bodies such as New York City’s community boards or Washington D.C.’s advisory neighborhood commissions for broad policy advice.New York CityWashington D.C.Surveillance Technology OverseersBerkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, and Seattle require independent review as part of their surveillance technology oversight.BerkeleyOaklandSan FranciscoSeattleDigital Advocacy OrganizationsDigital advocacy organizations like the ACLU, EFF, and the Future for Privacy Forum have provided digital literacy guides related to surveillance and “smart city” issues, as well as communities for advocates and practitioners to join and discuss recent technology issues.ACLUEFFFuture for Privacy ForumTorontoIn Toronto, community members gathered to host Some Thoughts an impromptu call to discuss issues central to the Sidewalk Toronto proposal.Public-Private Member AssociationsPublic-private member associations, like the Minnesota Connected and Automated Vehicle Alliance, are working to collectively create a privacy and security framework to guide local “smart” transportation infrastructure and vehicle projects.Minnesota ConnectedAutomated Vehicle AllianceCommunitiesTo support interventions like these in your community, discuss the examples listed above with your local community groups and local representatives. To think more deeply about the process behind designing community solutions, check out the Design Justice Network Principles.Community GroupsLocal RepresentativesTECHNOLOGY & DATAExplore How Technology and Data Can Serve Democratic Goals_f636afba-fee0-11eb-8a57-c2922c83ea009To fortify old and new democratic spaces we must also work together to consider how technology can bolster new ways to be in democratic dialogue with our fellow community members and build consensus toward our collective goals.Rights & DecisionsConsider collective rights and decision-making._51b19e54-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea009.1AdvocatesAdvocates and scholars have begun to articulate how new approaches to data governance can serve collective decision-making, ScholarsJonathan van Geunssuch as Jonathan van Geuns and Ana Brandusescu’s Shifting Power Through Data Governance, which explores a taxonomy of data governance approaches,Ana BrandusescuSalome ViljoenSalome Viljoen’s Democratic Data: A Relational Theory For Data Governance, which considers data’s collective purposes, and Bennett CyphersBennett Cyphers and Cory Doctorow’s Privacy Without Monopoly: Data Protection and Interoperability, which calls for open standards to minimize the corporate concentration of data control.Cory DoctorowGovernmentsGovernments such as Taiwan have provided tools such as Pol.is to facilitate consensus building among community members to inform policy.TaiwanTechnology companiesTechnology companies, like Remix, which creates editable streets, facilitatecommunity collaboration on imagining changes to their neighborhood.RemixNeighborhoodsCommunitiesTo support interventions like these in your community, discuss the examples listed above with your local community groups and local representatives.Rinaldo WalcottTo think more deeply about how we might reconceptualize data to serve collective goals, check out On Property by Rinaldo WalcottMaggie WalterIndigenous Data Sovereignty and Policy by Maggie Walter and TahuKukutai, and Tahu KukutaiJulie E. CohenConfiguring the Networked Self: Law, Code, and the Play of Everyday Practice by Julie E. Cohen.Current interventions to explore how technology and data can serve democratic goals that should be expanded include calls for data practices andpolicies that consider collective rights and decision-making and the building of technology tools that facilitate consensus-building.Consensus-BuildingDevelop technology tools that facilitate consensus-building._51b1a020-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea009.2RIGHTSImagine New Democratic Rights in the Wake of New Technologies_f636b1f4-fee0-11eb-8a57-c2922c83ea0010Finally, to fortify old and new democratic spaces, we must imagine newways of governing by the will of the people and develop new rights thatserve those ends.FrameworksRethink long-held frameworks._51b1a1ec-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea0010.1Rashida RichardsonIn Suspect Development Systems: Databasing Marginality and Enforcing Discipline, Rashida Richardson and Amba Kak create a definitional and analytical framework for understanding an ever-evolving ecosystem of technologies that consider the technical, legal, political economy, organizational, and social outcomes based on examples from around the world.Amba KakShoshana ZuboffIn The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Shoshana Zuboff articulates the potential behavioral futures economy being created by an unprecedented amount of personal behavior data collection by the private sector aimed at increasing sales that she argues will not be addressed by current privacy or antitrust legal frameworks.Rediet AbebeIn Roles for Computing in Social Change, the authors identify ways technology can serve to “rethink” social issues by acting as a diagnostic, a formalizer, a rebuttal, or a synecdoche.Solon BarocasJon KleinbergKaren LevyManish RaghavanDavid G. RobinsonScience Fiction WritersFinally, as we think about potential outcomes of current “smart city” trajectories, the science fiction work of Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ted Chiang, N.K. Jemisin and many others serve as ways for us to stretch our imagination of how society may rearrange itself as new technologies present themselves.Aldous HuxleyGeorge OrwellUrsula K. Le GuinTed ChiangN.K. JemisinCommunitiesTo support interventions like these in your community, discuss the examples listed above with your local community groups and local representatives and let the world know what has stretched your imagination. Community GroupsLocal RepresentativesTo do this, we may need to rethink long-held frameworks (such as, but not limited to Fourth Amendment doctrine, anti-trust law, conceptions of personally identifiable information, property, and individual rights, and capitalism itself) that do not translate to the modern world.Dialogue & ThinkingEngage in robust and continuous dialogue and creative thinking._51b1a3e0-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea0010.2This will require robust and continuous dialogue and creative thinking about how technology relates to supporting the many and not the few.InterventionsDevelop new democratic rights._51b1a5c0-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea0010.3Current interventions to develop new democratic rights in the wake of technological capabilities that should be expanded include interdisciplinary evaluations, articulating new risks, challenging old paradigms, and science fiction.EvaluationsConduct interdisciplinary evaluations._51b1a7be-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea0010.3.1RisksArticulate new risks._51b1a9d0-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea0010.3.2ParadigmsChallenge old paradigms._51b1ac00-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea0010.3.3Science FictionConsider science fiction._51b1ae08-ff0e-11eb-8200-765e0783ea0010.3.42021-08-17https://www.belfercenter.org/sites/default/files/2021-08/WhoseStreets.pdfOwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net