Posted on Dec 2nd, 2009

Austin Regional Intelligence Center Must Insure Privacy Protections

ACLU of Texas Recommends Safeguards

Contact: Dotty Griffith, Public Education Director, ACLU Foundation of Texas, (512) 478-7300 x 106 or 923-1909; dgriffith@aclutx.org

AUSTIN – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas today joined with legal scholars and activists calling upon the Austin Police Department to protect residents’ privacy, as well as their security, by building safeguards into operations at the new intelligence gathering facility, the Austin Regional Intelligence Center.

The Hon. Jackie Goodman, former Austin City Council member who lead council opposition to the Patriot Act in 2003; local activist Lisa Fithian; Ranjana Natarajan, director of The University of Texas School of Law National Security Clinic; Rebecca Bernhardt, policy director, ACLU of Texas; and Matt Simpson, policy analyst, ACLU of Texas, conducted in a press briefing at Austin City Hall.

“Central Texans who are not suspected of doing anything wrong should not have to worry about having their private information being collected by local law enforcement in a database to be shared with the FBI,” said Goodman.

Without a privacy policy, persons like Fithian – wrongly investigated without reasonable cause – can find themselves and their private information stored in a criminal database. “The privacy policy must prohibit the Center from opening an investigation on someone who is not a criminal suspect,” said Fithian.

The group requested the following:

• Release of the new version of the privacy policy, responsive to input provided to APD.
• Transparency regarding proposed agreements between local agencies -- including neighboring sheriff, police, fire and emergency departments -- participating in intelligence gathering for the Center.
• Clarification of the role of the Public Safety Commission in overseeing the Center.
• Independent audit of Center operations.

“Without proper protections, private information about Central Texans; for example the name and contact information of crime victims and witnesses, the names of individuals attending political or religious meetings, or the names of individuals who have social contact with someone who is a FBI suspect” could find their way into the intelligence database, warned Bernhardt.

“APD’s draft privacy policy needs to be strengthened to make sure that no one in Austin is subjected to surveillance because of an assumption made about the person based upon the person’s race, place of birth, faith or beliefs,” added Natarajan.

“This Center needs to operate as transparently as possible in order to ensure that the rights of Central Texans are protected,” said Simpson.

Click here for more information and documents related to the ARIC.