0:00:00.643,0:00:02.691
How many of you[br]have ever heard someone say

0:00:02.715,0:00:03.881
privacy is dead?

0:00:03.905,0:00:05.055
Raise your hand.

0:00:05.849,0:00:08.309
How many of you have heard someone say

0:00:08.333,0:00:12.267
they don't care about their privacy[br]because they don't have anything to hide?

0:00:12.665,0:00:13.815
Go on.

0:00:14.244,0:00:17.323
Now, how many of you

0:00:17.347,0:00:19.977
use any kind of encryption software?

0:00:20.283,0:00:21.434
Raise your hand.

0:00:21.458,0:00:24.805
Or a password to protect[br]an online account?

0:00:25.529,0:00:29.449
Or curtains or blinds[br]on your windows at home?

0:00:29.473,0:00:31.029
(Laughter)

0:00:31.053,0:00:33.086
OK, so that's everyone, I think.

0:00:33.110,0:00:34.260
(Laughter)

0:00:34.752,0:00:36.752
So why do you do these things?

0:00:37.165,0:00:38.316
My guess is,

0:00:38.340,0:00:40.728
it's because you care about your privacy.

0:00:40.752,0:00:43.751
The idea that privacy is dead is a myth.

0:00:43.775,0:00:46.513
The idea that people[br]don't care about their privacy

0:00:46.537,0:00:48.237
because "they have nothing to hide"

0:00:48.261,0:00:49.903
or they've done nothing wrong,

0:00:49.927,0:00:51.170
is also a myth.

0:00:52.433,0:00:56.496
I'm guessing that you would not want[br]to publicly share on the internet

0:00:56.520,0:00:57.932
for the world to see

0:00:57.956,0:00:59.758
all of your medical records.

0:00:59.782,0:01:03.218
Or your search histories[br]from your phone or your computer.

0:01:04.289,0:01:05.495
And I bet

0:01:05.519,0:01:08.193
that if the government[br]wanted to put a chip in your brain

0:01:08.217,0:01:10.471
to transmit every one of your thoughts

0:01:10.495,0:01:12.855
to a centralized government computer,

0:01:12.879,0:01:14.364
you would [unclear] at that ?

0:01:14.388,0:01:15.680
(Laughter)

0:01:16.847,0:01:18.855
That's because you care[br]about your privacy,

0:01:18.879,0:01:20.412
like every human being.

0:01:21.347,0:01:24.091
So, our world has changed fast.

0:01:24.395,0:01:28.228
And today, there is understandably[br]a lot of confusion

0:01:28.252,0:01:31.394
about what privacy is and why it matters.

0:01:32.260,0:01:34.124
Privacy is not secrecy.

0:01:34.490,0:01:35.656
It's control.

0:01:36.817,0:01:40.737
I share information with my doctor[br]about my body and my health,

0:01:40.761,0:01:43.237
expecting that she is not[br]going to turn around

0:01:43.261,0:01:46.371
and share that information[br]with my parents,

0:01:46.395,0:01:48.521
or my boss or my kids.

0:01:49.585,0:01:52.124
That information is private, not secret.

0:01:53.085,0:01:56.342
I'm in control over how[br]that information is shared.

0:01:57.686,0:02:00.845
You've probably heard people say[br]that there's a fundamental tension

0:02:00.869,0:02:02.631
between privacy on the one hand,

0:02:02.655,0:02:04.678
and safety on the other.

0:02:05.963,0:02:08.495
But the technologies[br]that advance our privacy,

0:02:08.519,0:02:10.098
also advance our safety.

0:02:10.122,0:02:12.543
Think about fences, door locks,

0:02:12.567,0:02:15.320
curtains on our windows, passwords,

0:02:15.344,0:02:16.677
encryption software.

0:02:17.522,0:02:19.013
All of these technologies

0:02:19.037,0:02:23.362
simultaneously protect[br]our privacy and our safety.

0:02:24.910,0:02:28.403
Dragnet surveillance[br]on the other hand protects neither.

0:02:29.486,0:02:30.652
In recent years,

0:02:30.676,0:02:33.597
the federal government[br]tasked a group of experts,

0:02:33.621,0:02:36.557
called The Privacy and Civil Liberties[br]Oversight Board,

0:02:36.581,0:02:39.903
with examining post-9/11[br]government surveillance programs,

0:02:39.927,0:02:41.883
dragnet surveillance programs.

0:02:42.307,0:02:45.442
Those experts could not find[br]a single example

0:02:45.466,0:02:49.250
of that dragnet surveillance[br]advancing any safety --

0:02:49.274,0:02:52.141
didn't identify or stop[br]a single terrorist attack.

0:02:53.369,0:02:56.250
You know what that information[br]was useful for, though?

0:02:56.274,0:02:59.431
Helping NSA employees spy[br]on their romantic interests.

0:02:59.455,0:03:00.605
(Laughter)

0:03:02.892,0:03:04.582
Another example is closer to home.

0:03:04.606,0:03:07.464
So millions of people[br]across the United States and the world

0:03:07.488,0:03:09.776
are adopting "smart home" devices,

0:03:09.800,0:03:12.363
like internet-connected[br]surveillance cameras.

0:03:12.712,0:03:15.974
But we know that any technology[br]connected to the internet

0:03:15.998,0:03:17.148
can be hacked.

0:03:18.514,0:03:20.228
And so if a hacker

0:03:20.252,0:03:23.554
gets into your internet-connected[br]surveillance camera at home,

0:03:23.578,0:03:26.276
they can watch you[br]and your family coming and going,

0:03:26.300,0:03:28.748
finding just the right time to strike.

0:03:29.553,0:03:31.862
You know what can't be hacked remotely?

0:03:32.418,0:03:33.574
Curtains.

0:03:33.598,0:03:34.599
(Laughter)

0:03:34.623,0:03:36.037
Fences.

0:03:36.061,0:03:37.211
Door locks.

0:03:38.410,0:03:40.756
Privacy is not the enemy of safety.

0:03:41.113,0:03:42.565
It is its guarantor.

0:03:44.129,0:03:48.114
Nonetheless, we daily face[br]a propaganda onslaught

0:03:48.138,0:03:52.228
telling us that we have to give up[br]some privacy in exchange for safety

0:03:52.252,0:03:54.252
through surveillance programs.

0:03:55.085,0:03:59.084
Face surveillance is the most dangerous[br]of these technologies.

0:03:59.966,0:04:02.426
There are two primary ways today

0:04:02.450,0:04:05.133
governments use technologies like this.

0:04:05.157,0:04:06.910
One is face recognition.

0:04:07.243,0:04:09.514
That's to identify someone in an image.

0:04:09.538,0:04:12.371
The second is face surveillance,

0:04:12.395,0:04:14.450
which can be used in concert

0:04:14.474,0:04:17.330
with surveillance camera[br]networks and data bases

0:04:17.354,0:04:20.831
to create records of all[br]people's public movements,

0:04:20.855,0:04:23.260
habits and associations,

0:04:23.284,0:04:26.196
effectively creating a digital panopticon.

0:04:26.903,0:04:28.760
This is a panopticon.

0:04:28.784,0:04:33.006
It's a prison designed to allow[br]a few guards in the center

0:04:33.030,0:04:36.974
to monitor everything happening[br]in the cells around the perimeter.

0:04:37.482,0:04:42.149
The people in those prison cells[br]can’t see inside the guard tower,

0:04:42.173,0:04:45.839
but the guards can see[br]into every inch of those cells.

0:04:47.268,0:04:49.323
The idea here

0:04:49.347,0:04:51.942
is that if the people[br]in those prison cells

0:04:51.966,0:04:53.895
know they're being watched all the time,

0:04:53.919,0:04:55.379
or could be,

0:04:55.403,0:04:57.371
they'll behave accordingly.

0:04:57.395,0:05:01.169
Similarly, face surveillance enables[br]a centralized authority,

0:05:01.193,0:05:03.077
in this case the state,

0:05:03.101,0:05:06.458
to monitor the totality of human[br]movement and association

0:05:06.482,0:05:07.632
in public space.

0:05:08.053,0:05:09.450
And here's what it looks like

0:05:09.474,0:05:10.846
in real life.

0:05:10.870,0:05:13.672
In this case, it's not a guard in a tower,

0:05:13.696,0:05:16.974
but rather a police analyst[br]in a spy center.

0:05:17.506,0:05:20.656
The prison expands beyond its walls,

0:05:20.680,0:05:22.562
encompassing everyone,

0:05:22.586,0:05:25.077
everywhere, all the time.

0:05:26.189,0:05:27.498
In a free society,

0:05:27.522,0:05:29.926
this should terrify us all.

0:05:31.927,0:05:34.317
For decades now, we've watched cop shows

0:05:34.341,0:05:36.063
that push a narrative that says

0:05:36.087,0:05:39.827
technologies like face surveillance[br]ultimately serve the public good.

0:05:40.419,0:05:42.619
But real life is not a cop drama.

0:05:44.149,0:05:46.117
The bad guy didn't always do it,

0:05:46.141,0:05:49.410
the cops definitely[br]aren't always the good guys,

0:05:49.434,0:05:52.034
and the technology doesn't always work.

0:05:52.602,0:05:54.498
Take the case of Steve Talley,

0:05:54.522,0:05:57.014
a financial analyst from Colorado.

0:05:57.038,0:06:00.943
In 2015, Talley was arrested[br]and he was charged with bank robbery

0:06:00.967,0:06:04.255
on the basis of an error[br]in a facial recognition system.

0:06:04.985,0:06:06.168
Talley fought that case

0:06:06.192,0:06:08.414
and he eventually was cleared[br]of those charges,

0:06:08.438,0:06:11.032
but while he was being[br]persecuted by the state,

0:06:11.056,0:06:14.567
he lost his house, his job and his kids.

0:06:15.941,0:06:18.386
Steve Talley's case is an example[br]of what can happen

0:06:18.410,0:06:20.143
when the technology fails.

0:06:21.219,0:06:23.576
But face surveillance is just as dangerous

0:06:23.600,0:06:25.467
when it works as advertized.

0:06:26.875,0:06:29.693
Just consider how trivial it would be

0:06:29.717,0:06:32.160
for a government agency[br]to put a surveillance camera

0:06:32.184,0:06:36.128
outside a building where people meet[br]for Alcoholics Anonymous meeting.

0:06:37.194,0:06:40.217
They could connect that camera[br]to a face surveillance algorithm

0:06:40.241,0:06:41.392
and a data base,

0:06:41.416,0:06:42.728
press a button and sit back

0:06:42.752,0:06:46.836
and collect a record of every person[br]receiving treatment for alcoholism.

0:06:48.204,0:06:50.511
It would be just as easy[br]for a government agency

0:06:50.535,0:06:53.164
to use this technology[br]to automatically identify

0:06:53.188,0:06:55.569
every person who attended[br]the Women's March,

0:06:55.593,0:06:57.726
or a Black Lives Matter protest.

0:06:59.163,0:07:03.044
Even the technology industry[br]is aware of the gravity of this problem.

0:07:03.910,0:07:08.300
Microsoft's president Brad Smith[br]has called on Congress to intervene.

0:07:09.188,0:07:12.029
Google for its part has publicly declined

0:07:12.053,0:07:14.196
to ship a face surveillance product

0:07:14.220,0:07:17.767
in part because of these grave[br]human and civil rights concerns.

0:07:18.514,0:07:20.114
And that's a good thing.

0:07:20.840,0:07:22.451
Because ultimately,

0:07:22.475,0:07:25.976
protecting our open society[br]is much more important

0:07:26.000,0:07:27.467
than corporate profit.

0:07:29.078,0:07:31.420
The ACLU's nationwide campaign

0:07:31.444,0:07:33.372
to get the government to pump the brakes

0:07:33.396,0:07:35.727
on the adoption on this[br]dangerous technology

0:07:35.751,0:07:38.680
has prompted reasonable questions[br]from thoughtful people.

0:07:39.807,0:07:43.473
What makes this technology[br]in particular so dangerous?

0:07:43.791,0:07:46.028
Why can't we just regulate it?

0:07:46.052,0:07:48.220
In short, why the alarm?

0:07:49.236,0:07:51.656
Face surveillance is uniquely dangerous

0:07:51.680,0:07:53.648
for two related reasons.

0:07:54.133,0:07:57.307
One is the nature[br]of the technology itself.

0:07:57.331,0:07:59.603
And the second is that our system

0:07:59.627,0:08:04.037
fundamentally lacks the oversight[br]and accountability mechanisms

0:08:04.061,0:08:05.467
that would be necessary

0:08:05.491,0:08:09.093
to ensure it would not be abused[br]in the government's hands.

0:08:10.562,0:08:15.474
First, face surveillance enables[br]a totalizing form of surveillance

0:08:15.498,0:08:16.965
never before possible.

0:08:18.006,0:08:21.966
Every single person's every visit[br]to a friend's house,

0:08:21.990,0:08:23.553
a government office,

0:08:23.577,0:08:25.664
a house of worship,

0:08:25.688,0:08:27.101
a planned parenthood,

0:08:27.125,0:08:28.625
a cannabis shop,

0:08:28.649,0:08:30.116
a strip club;

0:08:30.958,0:08:35.275
every single person's public movements,[br]habits and associations,

0:08:35.299,0:08:36.934
documented and catalogued,

0:08:36.958,0:08:39.323
not on one day, but on every day,

0:08:39.347,0:08:41.292
merely with the push of a button.

0:08:42.276,0:08:45.418
This kind of totalizing mass surveillance

0:08:45.442,0:08:48.474
fundamentally threatens[br]what it means to live in a free society.

0:08:48.498,0:08:51.227
Our freedom of speech,[br]freedom of association,

0:08:51.251,0:08:52.586
freedom of religion,

0:08:52.610,0:08:53.863
freedom of the press,

0:08:53.887,0:08:55.101
our privacy,

0:08:55.125,0:08:56.925
our right to be left alone.

0:08:58.467,0:08:59.927
You may be thinking,

0:08:59.951,0:09:03.286
"OK, come on, but there are tons[br]of ways the government can spy on us."

0:09:03.310,0:09:04.507
And yes, it's true,

0:09:04.531,0:09:06.984
the government can track us[br]through our cell phones,

0:09:07.008,0:09:10.640
but if I want to go to get an abortion,

0:09:10.664,0:09:12.450
or attend a political meeting,

0:09:12.474,0:09:14.926
or even just call in sick,

0:09:14.950,0:09:16.752
and play hooky and go to the beach,

0:09:16.776,0:09:18.117
(Laughter)

0:09:18.141,0:09:20.074
I can leave my phone at home.

0:09:21.101,0:09:23.355
I cannot leave my face at home.

0:09:25.165,0:09:27.704
And that brings me[br]to my second primary concern.

0:09:27.728,0:09:31.055
How we might meaningfully[br]regulate this technology.

0:09:32.315,0:09:36.029
Today, if the government wants to know[br]where I was last week,

0:09:36.053,0:09:40.577
they can't just hop into a time machine[br]and go back in time and follow me.

0:09:41.585,0:09:44.321
And they also, the local police right now,

0:09:44.345,0:09:47.638
don't maintain any centralized[br]system of tracking,

0:09:47.662,0:09:51.028
where they're cataloging every person's[br]public movements all the time,

0:09:51.052,0:09:54.435
just in case that information[br]some day becomes useful.

0:09:54.783,0:09:57.885
Today, if the government[br]wants to know where I was last week,

0:09:57.909,0:09:59.514
or last month or last year,

0:09:59.538,0:10:01.898
they have to go to a judge, get a warrant,

0:10:01.922,0:10:04.212
and then serve that warrant[br]on my phone company,

0:10:04.236,0:10:07.848
which by the way, has a financial interest[br]in protecting my privacy.

0:10:09.027,0:10:10.654
With face surveillance,

0:10:10.678,0:10:12.733
no such limitations exist.

0:10:13.226,0:10:15.868
This is technology that is 100 percent

0:10:15.892,0:10:18.292
controlled by the government itself.

0:10:19.363,0:10:23.330
So how would a warrant requirement[br]work in this context?

0:10:24.307,0:10:26.307
Is the government going to go to a judge,

0:10:26.331,0:10:27.497
and get a warrant

0:10:27.521,0:10:29.536
and then serve the warrant on themselves?

0:10:30.109,0:10:32.125
That would be like me giving you my dairy,

0:10:32.149,0:10:34.744
and saying, "Here,[br]you can hold on to this forever,

0:10:34.768,0:10:37.406
but you can't read it[br]until I say it's OK."

0:10:38.102,0:10:39.302
So what can we do?

0:10:41.221,0:10:44.523
The only answer to the threat posed

0:10:44.547,0:10:46.808
by the government's use[br]of face surveillance

0:10:46.832,0:10:49.497
is to deny the government the capacity

0:10:49.521,0:10:51.790
to violate the public's trust,

0:10:51.814,0:10:53.878
by denying the government the ability

0:10:53.902,0:10:57.137
to build these in-house[br]face-surveillance networks.

0:10:57.711,0:10:59.719
And that's exactly what we're doing.

0:11:00.567,0:11:03.836
The ACLU is part of a nationwide campaign

0:11:03.860,0:11:07.566
to pump the brakes on the government's use[br]of this dangerous technology.

0:11:08.138,0:11:09.583
We've already been successful,

0:11:09.607,0:11:12.721
from San Francisco[br]to Somerville, Massachusetts,

0:11:12.745,0:11:14.872
we have passed municipal bans

0:11:14.896,0:11:17.142
on the government’s[br]use of this technology.

0:11:17.166,0:11:19.714
And plenty of other communities[br]here in Massachusetts

0:11:19.738,0:11:20.927
and across the country

0:11:20.951,0:11:22.396
are debating similar measures.

0:11:22.420,0:11:25.934
Some people have told me[br]that this movement is bound to fail.

0:11:26.625,0:11:28.256
That ultimately,

0:11:28.280,0:11:30.355
merely because the technology exists,

0:11:30.379,0:11:33.466
it will be deployed in every context

0:11:33.490,0:11:35.934
by every government everywhere.

0:11:38.070,0:11:39.603
Privacy is dead, right?

0:11:40.388,0:11:41.854
So the narrative goes.

0:11:43.030,0:11:45.340
Well I refuse to accept that narrative.

0:11:45.364,0:11:46.630
And you should too.

0:11:48.214,0:11:52.007
We can't allow Jeff Bezos or the FBI

0:11:52.031,0:11:56.190
to determine the boundaries[br]of our freedoms in the 21st century.

0:11:57.413,0:11:59.562
If we live in a democracy,

0:11:59.586,0:12:01.585
we are in the driver's seat,

0:12:01.609,0:12:03.609
shaping our collective future.

0:12:04.704,0:12:06.815
We are at a fork in the road right now.

0:12:07.379,0:12:09.823
We can either continue[br]with business as usual,

0:12:09.847,0:12:13.854
allowing governments to adopt and deploy[br]these technologies unchecked,

0:12:13.878,0:12:17.195
in our communities, our streets[br]and our schools,

0:12:17.219,0:12:22.108
or we can take bold action now

0:12:22.132,0:12:26.465
to press pause on the government's use[br]of face surveillance,

0:12:26.489,0:12:28.076
protect our privacy,

0:12:28.100,0:12:31.187
and to build a safer, freer future

0:12:31.211,0:12:32.568
for all of us.

0:12:32.592,0:12:33.743
Thank you.

0:12:33.767,0:12:36.194
(Applause)