NYC Council Members Offer Bill Banning Surveillance of Incarcerated People's Communications

New York City Council Member Gale Brewer (D) introduced legislation Thursday that would prohibit the Department of Correction from "recording voice communications or electronic communications" made to or by individuals in DOC custody except when there is a warrant or express consent. The bill, End Correctional Community Surveillance (ECCos) Act, was co-sponsored by Council Members Shekar Krishnan, Carlina Rivera, Yusef Salaam, Sandy Nurse and Diana Ayala, all Democrats. The bill would also bar the DOC from collecting or buying location data of such calls and establish a "private right of action for anyone whose voice or electronic communications were unlawfully recorded, monitored, or otherwise surveilled."