Application security, Compliance Management, Privacy

Boston PD ditch $1.4M social media analytic program

Boston Police officials announced they will be scrapping a $1.4 million social media analytic technology program for monitoring potential criminal activity.

The department said that that after careful consideration it found that the available technology exceeded the needs of the department and that it will continue inspecting new technology while ensuring it meets the needs of the department and protects the privacy of the public, according to a Jan. 13 press release.

The decision was made after consumer advocacy groups, including the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Fight For the Future, sent letters and petitions to the mayor and city council calling for them to put a halt to the plans.

“Mass surveillance programs like the one the Boston Police intended to launch don't actually make us safer, but they have a profoundly chilling effect on freedom of speech and our basic civil rights,” Fight for the Future Campaign Director Evan Greer said in a Fight For the Future press release.  

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