Video Surveillance Data Sharing in Boston
Background
In 2019, we filed a public records request with the City of Boston seeking information about the City’s agreements with external entities to share video surveillance data.
| Request Submitted To | City of Boston |
| Category | Surveillance |
| Year Filed | 2019 |
| Number of Documents Received | 1 |
Boston Security Camera Strategy Meetings
Background
In 2019, we filed a public records request with the City of Boston seeking information related to the development and planning of the City’s Critical Infrastructure Monitoring System (CIMS), the regional surveillance camera network.
| Request Submitted To | City of Boston |
| Category | Surveillance |
| Year Filed | 2019 |
| Number of Documents Received | 1 |
Responsive Documents
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Security Camera Strategy Status Meeting 2016-2019_Redacted | 9.9 MB |
Facial Recognition at the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
Background
In 2019, the ACLU of Massachusetts and the National ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project filed a federal FOIA request with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seeking information about how these agencies use facial recognition and other remote biometric monitoring technologies.
| Request Submitted To | Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) |
| Category | Surveillance |
| Year Filed | 2019 |
| Number of Documents Received | 0 |
We said…
They said…
- No formal written acknowledgement or response was received.
Responsive Documents
No responsive documents returned.
Face Recognition at the Executive Office of Health and Human Services
Background
In 2019, we filed a public records request with the Executive Office of Health and Human Services seeking information related to facial recognition technology.
| Request Submitted To | Executive Office of Health and Human Services |
| Category | Surveillance |
| Year Filed | 2019 |
| Number of Documents Received | 0 |
Responsive Documents
No responsive documents returned.
Massachusetts State Police Access to Fusion Center Booking Database
Background
In 2017, we filed a public records request with the Massachusetts State Police seeking information about MSP’s access to a ‘booking photo database’ via the Commonwealth Fusion Center. The database was reported on in the Boston Globe, and allegedly contains over 2.6 million individuals’ photos and accessible by thousands of analysts at hundreds of law enforcement agenices.
| Request Submitted To | Massachusetts State Police (MSP) |
| Category | Surveillance |
| Year Filed | 2017 |
| Number of Documents Received | 4 |
Responsive Documents
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | RMV MOU (redacted) | 2.7 MB | |
| 2 | CopLink Overview 2017 (redacted) | 1.9 MB | |
| 3 | Training Roster (redacted) | 893.2 KB | |
| 4 | CopLink Overview 2017 (FULL) copy | 2.0 MB |
MA Police Departments with No Records on Face Recognition (2018-2019)
Background
In the July 2018 and March 2019, we filed numerous public records requests with over 40 police departments and law enforcment agencies throughout Massachusetts seeking information about facial recognition technology. The following Departments told us they had no responsive records.
- Barnstable County
- Berkshire County
- Boston
- Bristol County (no response received)
- Brockton
- Brookline
- Chicopee
- Dukes County (no response received)
- Essex County
- Fall River
- Framingham
- Franklin County
- Hampden County (no response received)
- Hampshire County
- Haverhill
- Lawrence (no response received)
- Lowell
- Lynn (no response received)
- Malden
- Medford (no response received)
- Middlesex County
- Nantucket County (no response received)
- Newton
- Norfolk County
- Peabody
- Plymouth (no response received)
- Plymouth County (no response received)
- Quincy (no response received)
- Somerville
- Springfield (no response received)
- Suffolk County
- Taunton (no response received)
- Waltham
- Weymouth
- Worcester City
- Worcester County
| Request Submitted To | Various Police Departments |
| Category | Surveillance |
| Year Filed | 2018-2019 |
| Number of Documents Received | 26 |
We said…
- All departments received an appropriately addressed version of our template request seeking records on face recognition technology in law enforcement
Responsive Documents
Download all 26 documents from Google DriveBarnstable County
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Barnstable County | 55.5 KB |
Berkshire County
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Berkshire County | 162.8 KB |
Boston
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Boston | 259.1 KB |
Brockton
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Brockton | 27.7 KB |
Brookline
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Brookline | 43.9 KB |
Chicopee
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Chicopee | 44.0 KB |
Essex County
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Essex County | 72.3 KB |
Fall River
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Fall River | 25.6 KB |
Framingham
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Framingham | 55.6 KB |
Franklin County
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Franklin County | 107.7 KB |
Hampshire County
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Hampshire County | 25.2 KB |
Haverhill
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Haverhill | 425.7 KB |
Lowell
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Lowell | 35.0 KB |
Malden
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Malden | 40.5 KB |
Middlesex County
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Middlesex County | 269.3 KB |
Newton
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Newton | 71.9 KB |
Norfolk County
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Norfolk County Appeal | 235.3 KB | |
| 2 | Norfolk County | 1.3 MB |
Peabody
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Peabody | 79.7 KB | |
| 2 | Peabody 2 | 67.1 KB |
Somerville
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Somerville | 51.8 KB |
Suffolk County
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Suffolk County | 119.3 KB |
Waltham
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Waltham | 51.9 KB |
Weymouth
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Weymouth | 197.4 KB |
Worcester City
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Worcester City | 66.0 KB |
Worcester County
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Worcester County | 27.4 KB |
Facial Recognition at the Cambridge PD
Background
In 2018, we filed a public records request with the Cambridge Police Department seeking information related to facial recognition technology.
| Request Submitted To | Cambridge PD |
| Category | Surveillance |
| Year Filed | 2018 |
| Number of Documents Received | 1 |
Facial Recognition at the Medford PD
Background
In 2019, we filed a public records request with the Medford Police Department seeking information related to facial recognition technology.
| Request Submitted To | Medford PD |
| Category | Surveillance |
| Year Filed | 2019 |
| Number of Documents Received | 2 |
Responsive Documents
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Medford Answer Appeal 5-9_emails | 225.9 KB | |
| 2 | FacialRecogRequest | 7.1 MB |
Facial Recognition at the New Bedford PD
Background
In 2018, we filed a public records request with the New Bedford Police Department seeking information related to facial recognition technology.
| Request Submitted To | New Bedford PD |
| Category | Surveillance |
| Year Filed | 2018 |
| Number of Documents Received | 1 |
Face Recognition at the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS)
Background
In 2019, we filed a public records request with the Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS) seeking information about facial recognition and the use of facial images under the state’s control.
| Request Submitted To | Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS) |
| Category | Surveillance |
| Year Filed | 2019 |
| Number of Documents Received | 4 |
Responsive Documents
| # | File Name | File Type | File Size |
| 1 | Information letter 19 1 (004) | 278.2 KB | |
| 2 | FW_ CJIS Information Letter | 302.4 KB | |
| 3 | RE_ UFW_BIP | 109.6 KB | |
| 4 | RE_ FBI arrest photos submission and usage | 110.5 KB |