San Diego’s installation of streetlight cameras across the city has sparked a wave of controversy as community voices express grave concerns over privacy and consent. Officials shut down the original surveillance system in 2020, but have since revived a more sophisticated version of it over ongoing objections.
In August 2023, the City Council approved the deployment of new cameras paired with automatic license plate readers and followed up several months later by selecting a contractor. In predominantly marginalized neighborhoods, this has amplified anxieties among residents that sensitive information could be shared without their knowledge or even the city’s. Many fear that the technology, touted to enhance security measures, might intensify monitoring in areas already burdened by disproportionate policing.
But there has been at least one bright spot in the midst of it all.
Through a powerful display of activism and creativity, a group of impassioned youth has spearheaded a counter surveillance fellowship aimed at using art as a means to spotlight the detrimental impacts of streetlight surveillance technology. Their mission: to raise awareness and rally against the deployment of these invasive measures within their communities.
“I am using art to depict the way I feel about my community being violated. Making collages allowed us to show all the different emotions we felt about the surveillance,” said Sumaya Abdullahi.
The Youth Congress was organized by the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA) in collaboration with AjA Project. Together, they advocate for refugee and immigrant communities on behalf of collective liberation through storytelling.
“We created art pieces such as a big banner with the phrase ‘who watches who’ along with shiny pieces to protect our privacy under the streetlights technology” said Fowzia Farah, another participant in PANA’s Youth Congress.
Their efforts are not confined to creative expressions alone. The fellowship has strategically engaged with local city council members, voicing their opposition to the installation of mass surveillance systems. Armed with well-researched arguments and firsthand accounts of community concerns, these impassioned youth are urging policymakers to consider the deployment of technologies that they believe infringe upon their privacy and exacerbate existing inequalities.
“Knowing how black and brown people are disproportionately under surveillance compared to other communities is unfair, and we want to bring awareness and attention to the fact these technologies will be deployed into our communities causing more harm than good and violating our privacy rights,” said Farah.
“My community is something I value a lot and want to protect at all costs, which inspired me to get involved in the counter surveillance fellowship. The topic of surveillance needs to have more attention because so many people who are in lower-income communities like ours are greatly affected by it and being watched isn’t something anyone would want and people of color are being targeted,” added Abdullahi.
Of significant concern is the track record of law enforcement agencies in sharing data acquired through such surveillance mechanisms. In Chula Vista, for example, police shared license plate data — including the location, date and time of photographed vehicles — with federal immigration enforcement authorities for years, raising alarms about potential misuse of collected information. The mayor and Council said they were unaware of the specifics of the program until a reporter at the Union-Tribune asked them about it.
In San Diego, city officials have vowed not to share license plate data with agencies like ICE, but the Youth Congress and other advocates remain skeptical, considering that the voices of dissent have been widely dismissed.
“The city officials on the Public Safety Committee heard our concerns but I don’t feel that they listened. It felt like they brushed off what the people had to say,” said Abdullahi.
Members of the city’s own Privacy Advisory Board (PAB), a group of technical and legal experts and community advocates, appointed by the City Council meticulously reviewed the proposed surveillance plans last summer and voiced reservations about the technology's potential repercussions on privacy. But their recommendation not to revive the streetlight cameras with automatic license plate readers was overruled in the end in the face of lobbying by Mayor Todd Gloria and Police Chief David Nisleit.
“Only the Privacy Advisory Board really truly heard our concerns and recommended against the technology,” said Farah.
Moving forward, the Youth Congress is undeterred.
“We constantly have conversations with our family and friends about these surveillance technologies and we will remain vigilant and active by keeping the fellowship moving forward by having more public engagement events” said Abdullahi.
“Along with having more projects on this topic and bringing awareness because people need to understand the problem of surveillance. We just want to feel safe in our communities without the sense of being watched 24/7,” said Farah. “Can we just live knowing that our moves are not being tracked?”
Lucky Aden is Youth Organizer for the Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA)