NYPD Built a Surveillance Empire and Put It on the Market

A citywide surveillance system now uses thousands of residential cameras to enable real-time monitoring and data collection.

Christina Maas

The New York City Council held what they generously called an “emergency oversight hearing” recently, which mostly served as a slow-moving reveal party for a surveillance operation nobody invited to begin with.

The subject: how the city’s Big Apple Connect, a program advertised as free internet for public housing residents, quietly became a high-speed pipeline into the NYPD’s surveillance machine.

Become a Member and Keep Reading…

Reclaim your digital freedom. Get the latest on censorship, cancel culture, and surveillance, and learn how to fight back.

Already a supporter? Sign In.

(If you’re already logged in but still seeing this, refresh this page to show the post.)

Having trouble logging in? Get help here.

Read Next

Google Dismisses Privacy Fears Over App ID Policy

Read the story →

More you should know:

Screenshot of a photo gallery app showing a dark left navigation menu and a top search bar, with a four-photo grid featuring monkeys by water, a festive table setting with orange flowers, a couple holding hands, and a flower-lined park path, plus a narrow phone thumbnail column and fireworks at the right edge.

The Easiest Photo Self-Hosting Exit Ramp from Big Cloud

Person with glasses and long hair tied back sits at a desk typing on a keyboard while looking at two large monitors showing maps and a dark application, with a radio, tablet, pen cup and headphones on the desk.

Across Counties and Cities, The Eyes and Ears Are On

Flat-screen television displaying dense vertical columns of red and blue pixelated code with bright red glowing clusters, set against a dark background with a red reflection on the surface below

Big Brother Comes Built Into the Screen

Four smartphone screens of a Ukrainian digital ID app: a citizen passport card with a woman's portrait and personal details, a driving licence card with the same portrait, a large QR-code screen, and a dark verification screen displaying "Document found" and driving licence information.

Inside Ukraine’s Digital Identity Experiment the World Is Watching

DOJ Pushes to Break Up Google’s Ad Tech – The Trial, Week One

Screenshot of a photo gallery app showing a dark left navigation menu and a top search bar, with a four-photo grid featuring monkeys by water, a festive table setting with orange flowers, a couple holding hands, and a flower-lined park path, plus a narrow phone thumbnail column and fireworks at the right edge.

The Easiest Photo Self-Hosting Exit Ramp from Big Cloud

Person with glasses and long hair tied back sits at a desk typing on a keyboard while looking at two large monitors showing maps and a dark application, with a radio, tablet, pen cup and headphones on the desk.

Across Counties and Cities, The Eyes and Ears Are On

Flat-screen television displaying dense vertical columns of red and blue pixelated code with bright red glowing clusters, set against a dark background with a red reflection on the surface below

Big Brother Comes Built Into the Screen

Four smartphone screens of a Ukrainian digital ID app: a citizen passport card with a woman's portrait and personal details, a driving licence card with the same portrait, a large QR-code screen, and a dark verification screen displaying "Document found" and driving licence information.

Inside Ukraine’s Digital Identity Experiment the World Is Watching

DOJ Pushes to Break Up Google’s Ad Tech – The Trial, Week One

Sleek wireframe car racing across a glowing grid of orange and blue light trails toward a bright vanishing point in a futuristic digital cityscape.

Your Car Is Talking Behind Your Back and The Insurance Company Is Listening