Big Brother in the Big Easy

If we were writing a techno thriller set in modern-day New Orleans, we’d use the catchy title above and include these basic plot points – all of them real:
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• A private nonprofit is selling AI-powered facial recognition technology capable of analyzing faces in real time. It uses powerful hardware and software made by a Chinese company called Dahua, banned by the Federal Communications Commission. More than 200 AI-powered cameras are spread around areas of the city considered high crime. The nonprofit is the brainchild of a former NOPD officer who says he built the database using 30,000 faces from mugshots and other publicly available records. But with no transparency or audits, the true nature of the database and its algorithms remain opaque.

• The cameras are owned by individuals and businesses in addition to the nonprofit, which subsidizes the cost. As a private network, it operates outside the realm of public accountability. The nonprofit operates under the innocuous title “Project NOLA.” It’s funded by donations and other private sources.

• Perhaps sensing an opportunity to bypass legal requirements for reporting and oversight, the New Orleans PD engages Project NOLA. No city contract. No fees. No legal reviews. In theory at least, Project NOLA does all the work, and the police are simply informed (although they can request footage and ask Project NOLA to look for someone).

• The system is fast and sophisticated, even capable of handling low-light conditions and poor camera angles (at up to 700 feet away from a target). It is effectively a real-time general surveillance tool, scanning faces on streets for any matches in its database. If it finds one, officers immediately receive alerts via an app. If someone’s face isn’t already in the database, Project NOLA can upload an image and recorded feeds can be searched for the past 30 days, retracing one’s movements.

• The project runs for two years before the Washington Post exposed the operation through records requests (and the fact that Project NOLA’s owner would sometimes post on Facebook). Police make dozens of arrests in that time, but because Project NOLA is a private operation, there is no way to know what other steps (if any) were taken in pursuit of due process, nor is there any data on potential misidentifications.

• The entire arrangement appears to run deeply afoul of a New Orleans city ordinance limiting use of facial recognition software to cases involving violent crime. It also completely bypassed the required use of the state’s crime investigation “fusion” center (so named because various law enforcement agencies can collaborate), where experts have to agree that an image matches a potential suspect.

The central crisis of our thriller will surely involve innocent citizens caught up in a dragnet of unbridled police authority, the thwarting of civilian oversight, and a complete disregard for constitutional rights.
 
And the dénouement? We hope it involves NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick stepping up and doing what she told the Washington Post: “We’re going to do what the ordinance says and the policies say, and if we find that we’re outside of those things, we’re going to stop it, correct it and get within the boundaries of the ordinance.”
 
Meanwhile, next time you’re on Bourbon Street, wear a Star Wars style cloak that covers your face. And be careful what “establishments” you frequent.

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