Core Principles
Digital privacy and protection from surveillance are fundamental civil rights, particularly in African American communities historically targeted by law enforcement and corporate monitoring. Policy must ensure individuals’ personal data, communications, and online activity are safeguarded from abuse, discrimination, and unauthorized exploitation.
Key Challenges
- Over-surveillance of Black neighborhoods and communities through law enforcement and private technologies.
- Data collection practices that disproportionately impact African Americans, including bias in AI and predictive analytics.
- Lack of awareness and access to digital literacy and privacy tools.
- Weak enforcement of privacy laws in technology and telecommunications sectors.
- Corporate exploitation of personal data for profit, often without consent or transparency.
Policy Positions
1. Privacy Rights & Data Protection
- Guarantee strong protections for personal data under federal and state law.
- Prohibit the unauthorized sale or exploitation of data from African American communities.
- Require transparency in government and corporate data collection practices.
2. Surveillance Reform
- Limit mass surveillance programs and ensure oversight by independent civil rights bodies.
- Ban discriminatory surveillance practices targeting African American neighborhoods.
- Require warrants for all electronic surveillance and tracking, with strict accountability.
3. Digital Literacy & Security Education
- Implement digital literacy programs in schools and community centers.
- Train residents on safe online behavior, secure communication, and data protection.
- Promote tools for encrypted communication and anonymized internet usage.
4. AI & Algorithmic Accountability
- Ensure AI and predictive technologies are audited for bias against African Americans.
- Require transparency and redress mechanisms when algorithms impact employment, housing, or criminal justice.
- Support research into ethical AI and inclusive technology design.
5. Advocacy & Representation
- Include African American leaders and technologists in digital policy boards and regulatory bodies.
- Fund advocacy groups that monitor technology abuses in communities of color.
- Promote public engagement and awareness of privacy rights.