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March 18, 2021
Ryan Mason published her essay from New Models of Policy Change's essay contest on redefining national security in Inkstick.
Few areas of technological evolution have a greater potential to erode democratic norms and values than those in the security and criminal justice arenas. Security technologies ranging from tasers, to opaque algorithms that are being used to help determine individual and collective risk, to a constellation of surveillance systems that are being implemented, are all deployed without a proper understanding of their impact on the communities in which they are unleashed.
The current system under which such technologies are reviewed consists mainly of the procurement arms of organizations seeking to purchase them — and then only verifying that they meet the bid specifications. For example, city councils are rarely aware of the fact they are approving facial recognition technologies, surveillance drones, and integrating data for their local law enforcement agencies. Similarly, state and local legislatures have been kept in the dark regarding technology acquisitions through non-disclosure agreements and programs, such as the Department of Defense’s 1030 program where law enforcement agencies can acquire surplus military equipment without having to seek appropriated funds.
What is needed to create more transparency when it comes to purchasing and using security and criminal justice technology? And how can the acquisition of these technologies be done in a way that is compatible with the right to privacy?