The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) has urged New York City officials to reject the expansion of artificial intelligence-powered surveillance and policing in public schools. In written testimony submitted for a joint oversight hearing held by the New York City Council Committees on Education and Technology, the organisation stated that such technology threatens students' civil rights, privacy, and constitutional protections. LDF warned that these surveillance systems disproportionately harm Black, brown, immigrant, and other vulnerable student populations among the nearly one million pupils enrolled in the city's public school system. Addressing city council leaders, including Speaker Amanda Farías and committee chairs Eric Dinowitz and Jennifer Gutiérrez De La Rosa, the organisation recommended redirecting technology investments towards restorative justice, mental health services, and student support programmes.

Background: Surveillance and Smart Cities

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