The San Francisco Bay Area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-SFBA), today condemned the Oakland City Council\u2019s approval of a contract authorizing the Oakland Police Department (OPD) to deploy technology from Cellebrite, an Israeli digital intelligence company whose tools have been used to harvest data from Palestinian detainees in Gaza and track immigrants across the United States. \u00a0<\/p>\n
On May 5, the council voted 6-2 to approve a $140,000 contract for OPD to deploy Cellebrite\u2019s phone extraction technology, which unlocks devices and retrieves deleted messages, calls, and location data. Councilmembers Carrol Fife and Janani Ramachandran voted against the contract, while Councilmembers Rowena Brown, Noel Gallo, Ken Houston, Kevin Jenkins, Zac Unger, and Charlene Wang voted in favor. All 23 public comments submitted opposed it. \u00a0<\/p>\n
Based in Israel,\u00a0Cellebrite\u00a0provides\u00a0services to the Israeli police and intelligence agencies. During the\u00a0ongoing\u00a0genocide\u00a0in Gaza, Israel used Cellebrite\u00a0to harvest data<\/a>\u00a0from the phones of\u00a0thousands of\u00a0Palestinian\u00a0detainees,\u00a0most of\u00a0them\u00a0civilians.\u00a0Civil\u00a0liberties advocates have also raised concerns about\u00a0governments worldwide<\/a>\u00a0using\u00a0the company\u2019s\u00a0tools\u00a0to\u00a0surveil activists, journalists, immigrants, and marginalized communities.\u00a0In\u00a0the U.S.,\u00a0ICE contracts with\u00a0Cellebrite<\/a>\u00a0to\u00a0support immigration enforcement operations tied to detention and deportation.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company itself has acknowledged the risk,\u00a0openly\u00a0stating<\/a>\u00a0its products \u201cmay be used by customers in a way that is, or that is perceived to be, incompatible with human rights.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In a statement,\u00a0CAIR-SFBA Executive Director Zahra Billoo\u00a0said:\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cBy approving this contract, Oakland has chosen to bring in technology tied directly to Israeli occupation\u00a0forces, the surveillance of Palestinians, and immigration enforcement here in the U.S. That decision should never have been made without meaningful engagement with the communities most likely to be\u00a0impacted\u00a0by expanded surveillance and discriminatory policing, including Muslim, Palestinian, Middle Eastern, immigrant, and activist communities. International affairs and policing are not separate issues.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n CAIR-SFBA also raised\u00a0concerns\u00a0about\u00a0Cellebrite\u2019s\u00a0use\u00a0of generative artificial\u00a0intelligence in\u00a0criminal investigations, citing\u00a0growing evidence<\/a>\u00a0that AI-driven systems can reinforce racial and gender bias and produce discriminatory outcomes in Oakland\u00a0communities.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The organization also\u00a0expressed concern about the city\u2019s procurement process, noting that OPD waived competitive bidding requirements and advanced Cellebrite as the sole vendor without publicly\u00a0demonstrating\u00a0it was the most effective or least harmful\u00a0option.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you combine powerful surveillance tools with limited oversight and documented risks of bias, the potential for harm increases\u2014especially for communities already subject to disproportionate policing,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Musa Tariq, CAIR-SFBA\u00a0policy\u00a0coordinator.\u00a0\u201cThat makes this the wrong choice for Oakland.\u00a0The city\u00a0can invest in public safety without adopting technology that undermines civil liberties.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n CAIR-SFBA urged\u00a0the\u00a0city\u00a0council to\u00a0rescind\u00a0the Cellebrite contract\u00a0and\u00a0direct\u00a0OPD to\u00a0conduct a transparent,\u00a0competitive\u00a0bidding process that centers community\u00a0trust, accountability,\u00a0and human rights.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n CAIR-SFBA is an office of CAIR, America\u2019s largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization. Its mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n END\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n