S.T.O.P. Condemns MTA Behavioral Surveillance AI

S.T.O.P. warned the error-prone technology was likely to bake in bias and criminalize BIPOC New Yorker’s bodies.

View this email in your browser For Immediate Release S.T.O.P. Condemns MTA Behavioral Surveillance AI (New York, NY, 4/29/2025) – Today, the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.), a New York-based privacy and civil rights group, condemns the MTA’s admission it was testing behavioral surveillance AI to score how rationally riders were behaving. During yesterday’s Safety & Security Meeting, MTA Chief Security Officer Michael Kemper publicly admitted for the first time that the MTA is partnering with private surveillance firms to develop the controversial software, providing private researchers with MTA surveillance data. S.T.O.P. warned the error-prone technology was likely to bake in bias and criminalize BIPOC New Yorker’s bodies. SEE: Gothamist - MTA wants AI to flag 'problematic behavior' in NYC subways https://gothamist.com/news/mta-wants-ai-to-flag-problematic-behavior-in-nyc-subways MTA – Safety & Security Committee Meeting April 2025 https://www.mta.info/document/170941 "This isn't just creepy pseudoscience, it's going to impact New Yorkers for years to come,” said Surveillance Technology Oversight Project Executive Director Albert Fox Cahn. “No one should have to worry that getting a train or bus will mean handing over your biometric data to a secretive surveillance vendor.  The MTA has no right to treat us like guinea pigs for their latest AI experiment. With so many of us already seeing our writing and work product scraped by AI companies, it's unnerving to see the MTA helping companies scrape our vary movements. AI vendors experimented with this sort of technology for years, and they not only make a lot of mistakes, but they often build in bias. I don't want New York policed by some AI model trained to treat BIPOC New Yorkers' bodies as a threat." In 2023, the civil rights group revealed the MTA contracts with the artificial intelligence surveillance firm Awaait to monitor subway fare evasion. The previously unreported contract, which S.T.O.P. obtained under New York’s Freedom of Information Law, uses the MTA’s sprawling network of cameras and Awaait’s AI software to measure alleged fare evasion across the transit system. The year prior, S.T.O.P. condemned New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s plan to install two surveillance cameras in every subway car, warning the measure was wasteful “security theater.” SEE: Press Release - S.T.O.P. Reveals MTA AI Surveillance Contract https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2023/7/20/stop-reveals-mta-ai-surveillance-contract?rq=MTA%20AI Press Release - S.T.O.P. Condemns Hochul’s ‘Big Brother’ Subway Surveillance Plan https://www.stopspying.org/latest-news/2022/9/20/stop-condemns-hochuls-big-brother-subway-surveillance-plan?rq=subway%20cameras   The Surveillance Technology Oversight Project is a non-profit advocacy organization and legal services provider. S.T.O.P. litigates and advocates for privacy, fighting excessive local and state-level surveillance. Our work highlights the discriminatory impact of surveillance on Muslim Americans, immigrants, and communities of color.   - END – Copyright © 2025 Surveillance Technology Oversight Project, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.