In the early hours of the morning of June 3, Oakland’s City Council, nearing the end of a 9 hour marathon meeting, approved unanimously the nation’s first citizen-developed privacy policy.

The policy, which had to be developed before beginning to operate the  Domain Awareness Center (DAC), a fusion center once projected as a citywide blanket surveillance system and rolled back after huge community opposition to only port-owned property , will be enforced through regular audits and citizen watchdogs, including a permanent standing privacy committee for the city. Injunctive relief will allow any citizen to seek relief from the courts from improper utilization of the DAC.

The City plans for the new standing committee to draft a surveillance equipment acquisition ordinance that will create a transparent public process for any new surveillance equipment or capacity acquired by, or deployed in, the City of Oakland.

KPFA News Interview with Privacy Committee Chair, Brian Hofer and Oakland Council Rep Dan Kalb.