BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Silicon Valley DSA - ECPv6.16.3//NONSGML v1.0//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-WR-CALNAME:Silicon Valley DSA
X-ORIGINAL-URL:https://siliconvalleydsa.org
X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Silicon Valley DSA
REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H
X-Robots-Tag:noindex
X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/Los_Angeles
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20250309T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20251102T090000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20260308T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20261101T090000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0800
TZOFFSETTO:-0700
TZNAME:PDT
DTSTART:20270314T100000
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0700
TZOFFSETTO:-0800
TZNAME:PST
DTSTART:20271107T090000
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260628T150000
DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20260628T173000
DTSTAMP:20260610T014735
CREATED:20260610T042034Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260610T042034Z
UID:10003579-1782658800-1782667800@siliconvalleydsa.org
SUMMARY:Democracy Forum - Who's Watching? Safeguarding Our Privacy
DESCRIPTION:Silicon Valley DSA is an active participant in opposing automated license plate readers and the expansion of the surveillance state in Santa Clara County. We are members of the Safety Over Surveillance (SOS) coalition that supports evidence-based approaches to promoting public safety and community needs over building a panopticon that erodes our democracy and civil liberties. Join us with Indivisible Palo Alto + and the SOS coalition for a forum on democracy and mass surveillance on Sunday\, June 28 from 3-5:30 pm at the First Presbyterian Church in Palo Alto (1140 Cowper St.). \nRegister for the event here: https://www.mobilize.us/ipaplus/event/961311/ \nEvent description from webpage: \n\nAbout this event\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDemocracy cannot flourish when privacy is under threat. \nRulers have spied on their subjects since time immemorial. The less democratic the government\, the greater the impulse to monitor its population. \nOur founders established safeguards against this behavior—most notably\, the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. However\, two trends are coalescing to fuel a new and dangerous era of American mass surveillance: \n\nThe rise of Big Tech and digital surveillance capacities that reach far beyond anything that James Madison could have imagined\nA federal government that\, instead of upholding the right to privacy\, seeks to weaponize technology to consolidate its power and to marginalize or prosecute political rivals\n\nMass surveillance of American citizens has arrived at federal and local levels. It has the potential to radically alter the lives of every American—and to radically shape the future of our democracy. \nParticipants in this session of Democracy Forum will explore the “brave new world” of mass surveillance\, its impact on our everyday lives\, and its implications for our democracy. They will also learn about ways to counter mass surveillance and to protect their privacy. \nPROGRAM \nNationally recognized experts will discuss these critical developments: \n\nThe latest “advances” in surveillance technology and deployment\nThe actions of the Trump administration to promote mass surveillance\nThe growing alliance of Big Government and Big Tech\nThe spread of surveillance technology in our communities\nThe proliferation of apps on our personal devices (including mobile phones and personal computers) that monitor our actions and speech\, both online and offline\nThe increasing adoption of mass surveillance methods by ICE and other agencies\nThe use of mass surveillance technologies to target\, harass\, and prosecute people of color and vulnerable populations\n\nFollowing a plenary session featuring expert panel\, there will be a series of breakout sessions: \n\nDigital Privacy\nCameras on Our Streets: Automated License Plate Readers and Us\nMass Surveillance and Racial Justice\nMass Surveillance and Dissent\nLegal Protections and Remedies: What Is Working and What Has Failed\n\nParticipants will leave with deepened knowledge and understanding of these topics: \n\nHow mass surveillance affects our lives—on our personal devices and in our local communities\nHow mass surveillance intersects or conflicts with democracy\, privacy\, and civil liberties\nHow the alliance of Big Government and Big Tech threatens constitutional and legal privacy protections\nHow organized citizens can work to protect public safety and civil liberties\n\nSPEAKERS \nA wide range of experts on mass surveillance and civil liberties will lead the plenary and breakout sessions. Here are the speakers confirmed thus far: \nCindy Cohn has led the Electronic Frontier Foundation—an organization that defends civil liberties in the digital age—for the past thirty years. A leading advocate against government overreach\, she has spearheaded landmark legal battles to limit mass surveillance and to protect constitutional rights against threats posed by modern technology. \nCyrus Farivar is an award-winning journalist and author whose work has focused on technology policy\, surveillance law\, and consumer privacy. He has covered tech policy for several media outlets\, including Ars Technica\, Forbes\, and NBC News. In addition\, he has written two books\, The Internet of Elsewhere (2011) and Habeas Data (2018). In 2025\, he joined Fire Aside\, a startup that develops software for fire departments. He is based in Oakland. \nBrian Hofer is the executive director of Secure Justice. He is also the architect of Oakland’s pioneering surveillance technology ordinance and the chair of its privacy advisory commission. A privacy advocate known for his work on local government oversight\, he specializes in turning civil rights advocacy into enforceable policy that limits unwarranted state spying. \nReem Sulaiman is the senior campaigns director at Fight for the Future\, a nonprofit digital rights group that focuses on internet freedom and anti-surveillance advocacy. Previously\, she served as the U.S. advocacy lead for the Mozilla Foundation. Based in Oakland\, she has deep experience in local civic tech policy and served as an original member of the Oakland Privacy Advisory Commission \nCONNECT. LEARN. ACT. \nWho’s Watching? Safeguarding Our Privacy is the third presentation of Democracy Forum\, a series of action-oriented events hosted by Indivisible Palo Alto Plus. Democracy Forum aims to provide a “deep dive” educational experience that will equip participants with the knowledge\, skills\, and tools that they need to preserve and strengthen the American democratic experiment.
URL:https://siliconvalleydsa.org/event/democracy-forum-whos-watching-safeguarding-our-privacy-2/
LOCATION:First Presbyterian Church Palo Alto
CATEGORIES:External,newbie-friendly,Sunday,SV DSA,WG - Community Safety
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR