Where Is the Surveillance Fight Headed?

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes” (“Who will watch the watchmen?”). The phrase by Roman poet Juvenal was ominously sprayed in graffiti across the walls of cities that filled with protesters during the most recent George Floyd protests.

This past summer’s protests for police reform have engendered increasingly strict calls for restricting the use of facial recognition technology by police, a turn away from escalating surveillance measures under the Trump administration.

In a compound republic, the fight over surveillance technology laws is a fragmented affair, with varying restrictions and freedoms across the states. Few states have imposed restrictions on governmental use and…