STOP - Surveillance Technology Oversight Project

10/05/2026

Last week, S.T.O.P. convened “Privacy For Profit: The New Surveillance Economy,” a conversation joined by 50 leading activists, journalists, and researchers to discuss how consumer privacy is traded for profit through surveillance and AI in NYC.

On behalf of the whole S.T.O.P. team, we want to thank for sponsoring this event and our amazing panel participants for sharing their expertise, including award-winning investigative journalist and author Julie Angwin; Samuel A.A. Levine, NYC Commissioner for Consumer and Worker Protection ; Darío Maestro, STOP Special Counsel; and Olivier Sylvain, Professor of Law at and former special advisor to the FTC Chair. We also want to thank the Information Law Institute for co-hosting the event at .

We left the panel feeling energized for the work to be done and hopeful that a more privacy-preserving New York City is possible. Together, we have the tools, organizing, expertise, and momentum to win the fight against mass surveillance.

09/28/2026

After reading our report with LatinoJustice PRLDEF, reporter Maria Cramer investigated and found officers used after the firm approached them with a free trial—without approval from NYPD executive leadership.

Read the full story:

Public records show police officers used Flock Safety’s technology to make more than 1,700 searches. The department did not have a contract with the company.

09/24/2026

“The outstanding question is, was the NYPD knowingly using Flock?... It’s just completely unclear what the NYPD relationship with Flock is and we had assumed, until we saw this data, that it simply wasn’t using Flock.”

- STOP Research Director Eleni Manis

Questions arise about whether the NYPD properly disclosed Flock camera database access to New Yorkers.

09/17/2026

BREAKING: NYPD Ran 1,710 Flock Searches Despite Publicly Denying Contract

Read the full press release here:

https://www.stopspying.org/content-input/nypd-ran-1710-flock-searches-despite-publicly-denying-contract

09/15/2026

“ Sept. 11 really accelerated the infrastructure development and kind of opened that Pandora's box that we no longer can go back to what things were like before," -Michelle Dahl, executive director of STOP.

Read more in the Gothamist's recent article.

A centralized surveillance network constructed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks relies on private building owners citywide.

09/14/2026

Protect your rights on and off campus with STOP’s Power Down Surveillance webinar on September 16, 3–4 PM.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TLx8xk2gQxCYaI7s1r3N3A #/registration

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TLx8xk2gQxCYaI7s1r3N3A #/registration

09/14/2026

S.T.O.P.'s latest blog post explains how new legislation threatens Fourth Amendment rights and privacy protections more than ever before in America's 250 years.

https://www.stopspying.org/content-input/at-250-america-is-more-surveilled-than-ever

08/31/2026

S.T.O.P. is fighting to through litigation, advocacy, research, and public education. We filed a federal lawsuit to shut down the DAS, and you can help make a difference.

Support the fight: bit.ly/powerdownsurveillance

08/31/2026

We want to take a moment to thank everyone who attended and supported our Power Down Surveillance: Full Court Press event in Brooklyn this past Thursday, August 27th. Our supporters are an incredibly important part of S.T.O.P.'s fight to end mass surveillance.

A very special thank you to our event sponsors, Cohen&Green, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, and Sami H. Rashid for supporting S.T.O.P. in such a critical way.

If you weren't able to give at the event and would still like to contribute, you can do so at bit.ly/powerdownsurveillance

08/28/2026

Thank you to our incredible Power Down Surveillance: Full Court Press New York sponsors whose support helps us continue to fight for community freedom!