Comment on New Orleans debates real-time facial recognition legislation
KindnessIsPunk@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
TLDR: New Orleans is poised to become the first U.S. city to legalize real-time police facial recognition surveillance, despite a 2022 ban. The push follows revelations that NOPD secretly used Project NOLA’s 200+ AI cameras for two years, making 34+ arrests without oversight. Proponents argue it’s vital for crime-fighting, citing Bourbon Street shootings and jailbreaks, while critics warn of dystopian privacy erosion and racial bias, referencing wrongful arrests like Randal Reid’s. With 70% public approval but fierce ACLU opposition, the vote could set a dangerous precedent: privatized mass surveillance with zero accountability.
AcidicBasicGlitch@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
~2012ish: Palantir receives contract with city of New Orleans
2015: Privately owned Project Nola surveillance cam program created
2018: City cancels very shady contract with Palantir that helped them create and test their predictive policing tech
2020: Peter Thiel becomes major investor in Clearview AI facial recognition technology. Free trials are given to ICE and multiple local law enforcement agencies across the U.S.
Late 2020: Ban on facial recognition tech and predictive policing in New Orleans
2022: ~18 months later, Cantrell requests City Council lift the ban, and it is replaced with shady surveillance ordinance giving the city some very concerning privileges in certain circumstances
2024: Cantrell says she won’t fight Landry establishing Troop Nola as a permanent police presence in the city, despite concerns from civil rights advocacy groups
Feb 2025: Forbes reports that Clearview AI remains unprofitable due to multiple ongoing lawsuits and previous inability to secure federal contracts. The company says future focus will be large federal contracts.
May 2025: Washington Post reveals NOPD has been ignoring the fairly lax laws regarding facial recognition tech in the 2022 surveillance ordinance while working with Project Nola. NOPD pauses use of tech, but Troop Nola and federal agencies continue use bc they’re not under city jurisdiction
KindnessIsPunk@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
oh I know they’re not the first ones to get it but I do believe they’re the first ones to put the legal precedent in their actual, laws.
AcidicBasicGlitch@lemm.ee 5 weeks ago
I wasn’t arguing with you, everything you said is correct.
Just adding more details and the timeline of events that makes this all even more “what the actual fuck is happening?”
KindnessIsPunk@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
ahh very good, sorry for the misunderstanding.