Empowerment Through Information

All communities are entitled to a transparent and accountable government, and those lacking political power are especially in need of access to accurate government information. Our research, tools, and training empower vulnerable communities with access to information about issues that disproportionately impact communities of color, religious minorities, and activists, including immigration, surveillance, and criminal justice policies and practices.

Our coalition works to ensure that vital federal government records are available to those who need them the most because there is often a disparate and deleterious impact on communities of color and low-income communities.

Impact

• Uncovered police use of facial recognition technology app with access to more than three billion photos scraped from Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Venmo that led to New Jersey barring the use of the technology.
• Exposed evidence of an overwhelming racial disparity in arrests by the D.C. Metropolitan police department.
• Supported Congressional requests for greater transparency for private prisons and detention centers that receive government contracts.
• Helped defeat harmful amendments that would further militarize law enforcement.
• Fought for reforms to the surveillance law that allows the FBI and law enforcement agencies to circumvent Fourth Amendment protections and access data collected by the NSA. Transparency provisions in the reauthorization of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) include reporting requirements to enhance public knowledge about the FBI’s use of warrantless data.
• More here.