Battle Over Facial Recognition in New Orleans Will Shape Future of Surveillance

[cbabe]

https://truthout.org/articles/battle-over-facial-recognition-in-new-orleans-will-shape-future-of-surveillance/

Battle Over Facial Recognition in New Orleans Will Shape Future of Surveillance

Edith Romero, an organizer in New Orleans, discusses the dangers of the growing surveillance state.

By Ed Vogel , TRUTHOUT
Published January 17, 2026

While New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago have all received significant attention when it comes to police use of surveillance technologies, the small city of New Orleans has for years been the laboratory for a sophisticated surveillance apparatus deployed by the city’s police department and other policing bodies.

Just last year, New Orleans was in the news as the city considered setting a new surveillance precedent in the United States. First, a privately run camera network, Project N.O.L.A., was exposed for deploying facial recognition technology, including “live use” (meaning Project N.O.L.A. was identifying people in real time as they walked through the city). All of this was done in close collaboration with the local police, despite these uses violating a 2022 ordinance that placed narrow limits on the use of facial recognition.

Then the city flirted with formally approving the use of live facial recognition technology, which would have been a first in the United States. If enacted, live facial recognition technology would allow police to identify individuals as they move about New Orleans in real time. All of this occurred in the months before the Trump administration deployed Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents, wielding an array of surveillance technologies, to terrorize and kidnap New Orleans residents. Of course, New Orleans residents have organized and actively fought back against the police and their spying, offering lessons for organizers across the country.

Edith Romero, an organizer with Eye on Surveillance (EOS), spoke with Truthout about the history of Eye on Surveillance, Project NOLA, the use of facial recognition technology in New Orleans and why we should all be watching what’s happening there if we’re concerned about the growing surveillance state.

Ed Vogel: Who is Eye on Surveillance and what do you do?

… interview … more …

https://mynorthwest.com/kiro-opinion/seahawks-cameras-lumen-field/4188981

‘It freaks me out’: KIRO hosts on Lumen Field’s new camera system

Jan 17, 2026, 5:00 AM
BY JAKE SKORHEIM AND SPIKE O'NEILL SHOW
The Jake and Spike Show, weekdays from 12 p.m. - 3 p.m.

If you’re attending the Seattle Seahawks game this Saturday, or any game at Lumen Field going forward, be aware that there’s a 16-camera system in place that can photograph any of the more than 68,000 fans in attendance.

KIRO host Spike O’Neill and KIRO guest host Angela Poe Russell were torn over whether the new camera system would be an invasion of privacy for fans.

… more …

[gulliver]

1. It may not be enough, but it may help

I'm not sure stochastic terrorism and internet-powered "poor lost nuts" can be defused by facial recognition. But I'm all for communities using it to protect the events on which their culture (and economy) depend.

It should definitely not be limited to wealthy communities.

[cbabe]

2. Feels like 'papers please' but with faces.

[gulliver]

4. It's a little chilling

You're not wrong, imo. It has to be strictly regulated and transparent. Not easy to do. Democrats need to be involved, and they need to understand technology well, not just be magnetic personalities and "fighters" (which are a dime a dozen).

[cbabe]

5. Liberal towns backtrack on license plate trackers amid concerns about privacy -- and Trump

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/30/license-plate-trackers-pushback-00670550

Liberal towns backtrack on license plate trackers amid concerns about privacy — and Trump

By FAITH WARDWELL
11/30/2025 11:00 AM EST
Updated: 12/01/2025 11:05 AM EST

A nationwide license plate recognition system tasked with reducing crime is being ousted from communities across the country — forcing local officials to reckon with mounting fears of federal surveillance during President Donald Trump’s second term.
Public safety company Flock Safety has billed its surveillance systems as a program to root out criminal activity on local streets, with its cameras already installed in more than 6,000 municipalities nationally. But as Trump’s deportation campaign brought an increased, forceful presence of federal agents to states across the country, some local officials in predominantly liberal cities and towns now argue the cameras themselves pose the bigger danger for their cities, offering federal law enforcement a back door for tracking residents’ movements.

… more … not regulated … not just immigrants… abortion seekers… blackmail targets … stalkers …

[gulliver]

6. It needs to be regulated

It could be similar to the tracking of phone locations and communications. Ring doorbell cameras and CCTV are in the mix. AI too, because it would be possible to have, in effect, virtual safety sentinels on every corner.

Properly regulated, that could be a very good thing. Not regulated, it could be nightmarish. By default, not regulated will be the answer, because that option happens if the topic is neglected politically.

[snot]

3. New Orleans: textbook "Disaster Capitalism."

GW Bush & other PTB did little to minimize the damage from Katrina, then took full advantage of the opportunity to take control of the city, replacing public schools with private ones, etc. and generally Disney-fying the city, all in a manner somewhat similar to what they'd done in Iraq – e.g., failing to try to protect or restore people or things they didn't much care about (e.g., the official N.O. death toll of some 1,400 excludes hundreds of prisoners abandoned in their locked cells and still labelled "unaccounted for" ) and exploiting the opportunity to hand re-development off to cronies, who were no doubt paid well for their services.

Imho, surveillance of citizens without reasonable cause to suspect that those to be surveilled are or were involved in the commission of a crime is an invasion of privacy and should be outlawed.

As things are, TPTB already know far too much about what we care about and do, and we know far too little about what they're up to.

Knowledge is power, and (1) a balance of power requires a balance of knowledge; and (2) those with significant power over the rest of us, especially those within our government, should be subject to greater disclosure and transparency requirements, while our privacy should be more protected.