{"id":94981,"date":"2026-01-09T18:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T18:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/94981\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T18:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T18:12:07","slug":"civil-rights-group-condemns-nyc-transit-authoritys-pursuit-of-ai-video-analytics-systems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/94981\/","title":{"rendered":"Civil rights group ‘condemns’ NYC transit authority’s pursuit of AI video analytics systems"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York privacy and civil rights group Surveillance Technology Oversight Project on Thursday condemned<\/a> the New York City transportation authority for issuing a request for information on artificial intelligence video analytics tools, claiming the inquiry will lead to the expansion of surveillance technologies across the city.<\/p>\n

The Metropolitan Transit Authority\u2019s request for information<\/a>, which was published Dec. 5, targets AI and computer vision tools that can perform video analyses, including detection of forbidden objects, like weapons or hazardous materials, recognition and monitoring of unattended items like luggage or packages, and anticipation, detection and analysis of unusual or unsafe behaviors, such as foot traffic surges or stampede risks.<\/p>\n

Critical response to the RFI comes after MTA Chief Security Officer Michael Kemper told the MTA\u2019s board<\/a>\u00a0last April that he was \u201cexploring\u201d the use of cameras to detect \u201cproblematic behavior on our subway platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

The RFI seeks information from \u201cqualified vendors, technology providers, and system integrators for the development of Proof of Value for a scalable technology solution\u201d that can perform real-time analysis of video feeds from the cameras installed on the MTA\u2019s public transit vehicles, like subway cars and buses. The MTA said the information will help it assess the \u201cfeasibility, scalability and cost effectiveness\u201d of the technologies, and it may be used to shape a procurement.<\/p>\n

The MTA said an \u201cunspecified number of tech providers and systems integrators\u201d responded to the RFI by its Dec. 30 deadline.<\/p>\n

STOP on Thursday cited past failures of the city to use AI video analytics to bolster public safety, and claimed that its more than 15,000 cameras deployed across 472 subway stations will be used to invasively surveil the public.<\/p>\n

Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams last March announced the city\u2019s police department would test AI-powered gun-detection scanners made by the company Evolv in\u00a0the city\u2019s subway system<\/a>. In October, following the conclusion of the pilot program, the Legal Aid Society said the program was \u201cobjectively a failure<\/a>,\u201d citing its high false positive rate. The following month, the Federal Trade Commission said in a\u00a0settlement<\/a> in its case against\u00a0Evolv that it had found the company \u201cdeceptively\u201d advertised its weapons scanner to schools and other venues.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe MTA has no right to treat New Yorkers like guinea pigs for their endless AI experiments,\u201d Will Owens, STOP\u2019s communications director, said in a news release.\u00a0\u201cAny AI software that claims to flag so-called unusual behavior is pure pseudoscience, disproportionately targeting [Black, indigenous and people of color] and disabled transit riders. New Yorkers should never have to worry they\u2019ll be flagged by law enforcement simply for the way they talk or walk. We already saw the resounding failure of Eric Adams\u2019 AI weapon detector rollout, so MTA should stop exploring more of these surveillance boondoggles. New Yorkers need safe, reliable transit, not magical thinking from Silicon Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n

In April, the organization condemned the MTA\u2019s admission last year it had been testing behavioral surveillance AI to score how rationally riders were behaving. In 2023, the group discovered through a public records request that the MTA had contracted the AI firm Awaait to monitor subway fare evasion<\/a>. The tech used the MTA\u2019s sprawling network of cameras and Awaait\u2019s AI software.<\/p>\n

While the MTA claims the RFI is for \u201cinformational purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation or a commitment to issue formal implementation agreement,\u201d STOP claims that the request will lead to an expansion of the city\u2019s surveillance capabilities.<\/p>\n

The RFI goes on to state that the transit authority is seeking \u201csolutions that are not only technologically robust but also designed in collaboration with behavioral experts to ensure that the system reflects a nuanced, ethical, and human-centered approach to safety.\u201d <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Keely<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWritten by Keely Quinlan
\n\t\t\tKeely Quinlan reports on privacy and digital government for StateScoop. She was an investigative news reporter with Clarksville Now in Tennessee, where she resides, and her coverage included local crimes, courts, public education and public health. Her work has appeared in Teen Vogue, Stereogum and other outlets. She earned her bachelor\u2019s in journalism and master\u2019s in social and cultural analysis from New York University.\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The New York privacy and civil rights group Surveillance Technology Oversight Project on Thursday condemned the New York…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":94982,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[44434,44435,5071,44436,141,9,24,56,63,65,64,5065],"class_list":{"0":"post-94981","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-ai-video-analytics","9":"tag-ai-weapons-detection","10":"tag-artificial-intelligence-ai","11":"tag-data-analytics","12":"tag-mta","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-ny","16":"tag-nyc","17":"tag-nyc-headlines","18":"tag-nyc-news","19":"tag-state-local-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94981"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94981\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}