Deadline to Evaluate San Diego’s Surveillance Technologies Extended by 3 Years

By Lyndsay Winkley / San Diego Union-Tribune / July 18, 2023

San Diego on Tuesday gave itself another three years to review its many surveillance technologies, an extension that should prevent the city’s tools — some of which serve vital, day-to-day functions, city officials say — from being put on pause.

At least for now.

At a morning City Council meeting, some members questioned whether the extra time would be enough to get through the city’s vast inventory. More than 300 surveillance tools need to be evaluated.

The review process was established last year when the council unanimously approved a new surveillance ordinance. The law stemmed from public outcry over San Diego’s handling of a network of thousands of smart streetlights. The public learned years after the high-tech lights were installed that police could access video and other data they captured.

Under the ordinance, city departments were required to disclose their surveillance technologies — everything from drones to car trackers to fingerprint scanners — and put together reports outlining how those tools are used and how they impact communities. That information would then make its way to the newly created Privacy Advisory Board — a volunteer panel tasked with vetting the city’s technologies — and then to the City Council, which would decide whether a tool should stay in use.

Some of those technologies support daily functions across San Diego. The emergency dispatch systems that first responders rely on, body-worn cameras worn by police officers and the GPS devices trash collectors use all fall under the purview of the ordinance. City officials said Tuesday that every city department has identified technologies that fall under the ordinance.

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