On February 13, the executive committee of the Libertarian Party of Georgia voted to issue the following resolution:
A Resolution to Oppose Digital Surveillance
Whereas The Supreme Court of Georgia has determined in Pavesich v. New England Life Insurance Co. that the right of privacy is derived from natural law and embraced within the absolute rights of personal security and personal liberty;
Whereas The Supreme Court of Georgia has determined in Pavesich v. New England Life Insurance Co. that Personal liberty is not only freedom from physical restraint but also includes “the right to be let alone,” determining whether one’s life is a life of publicity or privacy;
Whereas The Supreme Court of Georgia has determined in Pavesich v. New England Life Insurance Co. that one exception to this right is the privacy of those who seek public office, declaring that public officials waive their right to privacy, subjecting themselves at all times to closest scrutiny so that it may be determined whether the rights of the public are safe in their hands;
Whereas Stalking is, by definition, surveillance of individuals in order to establish a record of their comings and goings, extrapolating personal habits and generalizations and deemed to be a violation of privacy and law;
Whereas The establishment of digital surveillance and “smart city” technology in cities, counties, and throughout the state, including but not limited to, surveillance cameras, facial recognition, license plate scanners, and heat sensors, meets the definition of stalking and violates Supreme Court ruling in Pavesich v. New England Life Insurance Co.;
Therefore, be it resolved, that the Libertarian Party of Georgia:
- condemns any and all government use of surveillance technology with capabilities that personally identify individuals; and
- demands that each government body utilizing such technologies provide a public list of all officials, employees, and vendors with access to data generated from such technologies; and
- demands public disclosure of the data of public officials generated from such technologies; and
- requests public disclosure of all information regarding these technologies including capabilities, associated corporations, data retention standards, and rules limiting data usage on easily accessible pages of official government websites for all local government bodies employing these technologies; and
- requests public disclosure of computer code that drives algorithms of said technologies.
