Seattle expands video surveillance despite public concerns about potential abuse

[cbabe]

https://www.kuow.org/stories/seattle-expands-video-surveillance-despite-public-concerns-about-potential-abuse

Seattle expands video surveillance despite public concerns about potential abuse

Stephen Howie
September 09, 2025 / 7:37 pm

The Seattle City Council voted 7-2 Tuesday to expand its use of video cameras by police, despite concerns that the footage could be used by the Trump administration against immigrants, protesters, and vulnerable communities.

…

A second ordinance, also approved by a 7-2 vote, allows police to access data from 145 traffic cameras in Seattle.
The votes followed a three-hour public comment session that included more than 100 people, the vast majority of whom urged council members to vote no. Speaker after speaker said the expansion of video surveillance across the city was premature and not backed by adequate data or research. They also worried that the increased surveillance could be used by the federal government to identify and detain immigrants and potentially to retaliate against nonviolent protesters.

…

These are the tools the Trump administration needs to enact their cruel agenda," Rinck said. "And we've seen that the federal government can access city surveillance data with or without their permission, and it can do so with ours."

During the public comment session, Tee Sannon, technology policy program director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington, said similar technology was already being used in other U.S. cities to enforce immigration policies. “These technologies will not make our communities safer and they will create real harm,” Sannon said.

… more … But in a joint statement with two nonprofits, the ACLU Washington said it was "notoriously challenging" to prevent the use of surveillance data by federal agencies once the data was collected.…

[multigraincracker]

1. New technology needs new rules.

Years ago, 60 to 40 years ago, I would have been against it. Now, not so much. We do need rules against abuse, like getting a warrant by law enforcement and compensation for financial gain of business to view and use it. It's complicated.