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City Council passes law to regulate use of Seattle spy cams

Police and other departments wanting to use surveillance cameras and drones in the future must first get the Seattle City Council’s approval.

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The council voted unanimously Monday to require approval and review of equipment and operation protocol, after debates arose from numerous spy cam incidents, including the 2010 use of surveillance cameras in Cal Anderson Park, Seattle Police Department drones and recent installation of 30 waterfront cameras.

The council hopes the prior approval required by Council Bill 117730 will prevent those debates on protocol and privacy from happening in the future.

“With this inclusive legislation, the Council is proactively setting up a framework to ensure the public is involved regarding the use of surveillance equipment,” said Council member Bruce Harrell, chair of the Public Safety, Civil Rights, and Technology committee and a candidate for mayor.  “The City establishes public trust by earning it through openness and transparency in its decision making.”

The department must also propose operational protocols that address how the equipment will be used and protocols that address logistics around data retention, storage, and access.  If the Council approves a department’s request to obtain the surveillance equipment, the department cannot use the equipment until Council adopts operational protocols by ordinance.

Departments that currently have surveillance equipment in place must also propose operational and data management protocols for Council review and approval no later than 30 days after the effective date of Council Bill 117730.

Police, however, would still be able to bypass the new law to use surveillance technology under a search warrant.

According to the city, the information required for the operational and data management protocols include:

  1. A clear statement describing the purpose and use of the proposed surveillance equipment.
  2. The type of surveillance equipment to be acquired and used.
  3. The intended specific location of such surveillance equipment if affixed to a building or other structure.
  4. How and when a department proposes to use the surveillance equipment, such as whether the equipment will be operated continuously or used only under specific circumstances.
  5. How the department’s use of the equipment will be regulated to protect privacy and limit the risk of potential abuse.
  6. A description of how and when data will be collected and retained and who will have access to any data captured by the surveillance equipment.
  7. The extent to which activity will be monitored in real time as data is being captured and the extent to which monitoring of historically recorded information will occur.
  8.  A description of the nature and extent of public outreach conducted in each community in which the department intends to use the surveillance equipment.
  9. The time period for which any data collected by surveillance equipment will be retained.
  10. The methods for storing recorded information, including how the data is to be labeled or indexed.  Such methods must allow for the department personnel and the City Auditor’s Office to readily search and locate specific data that is collected and determine with certainty that data was properly deleted, consistent with applicable law.
  11. How the data may be accessed, including who will be responsible for authorizing access, who will be allowed to request access, and acceptable reasons for requesting access.
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