While the 2019 ordinance doesn\u2019t apply to private businesses, it\u2019s clear that the once solidified support for regulated surveillance has dissipated. San Francisco has become a proving ground for new surveillance technologies like AI-equipped license-plate reader cameras and drones as first responders, all coordinated through a state-of-the-art $10 million Real Time Information Center. The RTIC was supported by a donation from crypto-billionaire Chris Larsen, who was also a financial supporter of Prop E.<\/p>\n
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EFF image by Hugh D\u2019Andrade via Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n
\u201cThe power dynamic some of these companies can leverage now is significant,\u201d Brian Hofer, executive director of Secure Justice, said in a statement to 48Hills. \u201cSan Francisco has a unique concern. Ripple\u2019s Chris Larson is SFPD\u2019s funder for surveillance technology, and his offices host their real time crime center.<\/p>\n
Hofer said that Ripple \u201cwas under serious SEC investigation<\/a>, which was dismissed after Ripple made a $5 million donation to Trump\u2019s inauguration fund.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0That type of cozy relationship should have been a major red flag to City Hall. The fact that it wasn\u2019t is further evidence of how far San Francisco has strayed from the facial recognition ban era.<\/p>\n Compiling lists of gay and trans patrons sets a disturbing precedent, one that would\u2019ve been unthinkable in San Francisco just a few years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cAs we speak, the federal government and anti-LGBTQ actors across the country are putting together databases of trans people and attacking our community in every way imaginable,\u201d Sarah Philips, campaigns director at Fight for the Future, said.<\/p>\n Fight for the Future, a nonprofit based out of Massachusetts focusing on privacy rights and technology, is pushing back on the use of facial recognition and issued a safety advisory<\/a> to all bargoers ahead of pride weekend. In the statement, the organization noted the proliferation of facial recognition technology at private venues, highlighting a story<\/a> from early June revealing that security at Madison Square Garden tracked a transwoman minute by minute in its panopticon of high-tech surveillance.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are calling for these bars to immediately stop use of this technology, apologize to our community, and commit publicly to never exposing us to harm with surveillance technology ever again,\u201d Philips said.<\/p>\n (Patronscan says its devices do not use facial recognition data<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Given the high-profile nature of San Francisco\u2019s stance against intrusive technology, one would expect city officials to come out against the use of the technology on its citizens. Thus far, no supervisors have offered even a qualified rejection.<\/p>\n The politics of the pandemic in San Francisco, especially regarding policing and crime, quickly became reactionary, with regional and national media running with a \u201cDoomloop\u201d narrative that exacerbated existing fears of the city\u2019s wealthier tech workers.<\/p>\n Six years after the pandemic, both property and violent crime are down<\/a> significantly but, looking at the city\u2019s politics, you wouldn\u2019t be able to tell. Mayor Danel Lurie and the majority of the supervisors have rolled over any and all opposition to surveillance technology in service of so-called public safety.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSan Francisco has moved far away from its 2018 Privacy First policy and 2019 facial recognition ban,\u201d Hofer said. \u201cWe\u2019re presently litigating against the city for violating that ban. The voter-approved Prop E removed critical guardrails pertaining to both public and private camera networks, and drones.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s alarming that City Hall isn\u2019t more concerned that Trump is targeting specific demographics like the LGBTQ community and immigrants, and private facial recognition data could easily be obtained to harm those individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n The result is an ever-expanding and unaccountable surveillance state that makes all San Franciscans less safe. A routine SFPD compliance audit<\/a> this May revealed nearly 300 \u201cimproper inquiries\u201d of the city\u2019s license plate reader database over the past year. This comes after The Standard reported last September that out-of-state agencies had performed more than 1.6 million similar searches with at least 19 related to ICE, in violation of California state law.<\/p>\n