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.
Local regulations haven’t kept up with the rollout of new surveillance tech. Some reformers see Washington as their best hope.
Legislators are taking aim at a host of police surveillance tools, from undercover social media accounts to facial recognition to aerial drones.
The New York State Police bought social media monitoring programs that have violated platforms’ policies and been used to surveil Black Lives Matter protesters.
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.
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.
New York state legislators have just days to question phone hacking, forensics, and fusion centers before the budget passes.