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The New York State Police have ramped up their surveillance capabilities, and are able to keep a close watch on virtually every New Yorker. New York Focus is keeping a close watch on them.
![House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrats of New York, smile in front of american flags](https://imgproxy.gridwork.co/pxQE87cL4p4z2xVmBKLaEXX2CjZBHuCyNB4Fw99kETM/w:600/h:400/rt:fill/g:fp:0.5:0.5/q:90/f:jpg/el:1/aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy51cy1lYXN0LTIuYW1hem9uYXdzLmNvbS9ueXNmb2N1cy9qZWZmcmllcy1zY2h1bWVyLmpwZw.jpg)
Local regulations haven’t kept up with the rollout of new surveillance tech. Some reformers see Washington as their best hope.
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Legislators are taking aim at a host of police surveillance tools, from undercover social media accounts to facial recognition to aerial drones.
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The New York State Police bought social media monitoring programs that have violated platforms’ policies and been used to surveil Black Lives Matter protesters.
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The Israeli firm Cellebrite offers tools that unlock data, trawl search histories, and perform facial recognition. The New York State Police are in the market.
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Twice this year, Kathy Hochul has ordered a State Police-run fusion center to beef up its social media monitoring. Documents show that analysts create fake accounts to do that work.
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New York state legislators have just days to question phone hacking, forensics, and fusion centers before the budget passes.