Update: Oakland passes strongest community control of surveillance in the nation on May Day.

Davis and Berkeley have adopted the new law that mandates public transparency, vetted use policies, and annual reporting to protect human rights and reins in secret, unfettered surveillance by local law enforcement. The County of Santa Clara unanimously passed a surveillance transparency ordinance in 2016, becoming the first entity in the nation to exert local control over the use of spy tech.

Surveillance transparency legislation, also called CCOPS (community control over police surveillance) laws, require public hearings for the acquisition of spying and surveillance equipment, approval by local government bodies of use polices that describe appropriate uses including data storage and access policies, and regular reporting to maintain oversight.

Oakland is in the final stages of the adoption process. A California surveillance transparency law (SB 1186) passed through its first policy committee on April 5 with a 5-1 vote at the State Senate Public Safety committee.

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