CDT Files Joint Amicus Brief in U.S. v Hay Warrantless Surveillance Case

This week, the Center for Democracy & Technology filed a joint amicus brief to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals for the case United States v. Hay in partnership with the ACLU, the Brennan Center, and the Electronic Information Privacy Center.

The Hay case involves the government placing a pole camera outside a home and continuously recording weeks of footage of the residence without a warrant. We argue that permitting this type of invasive surveillance absent a warrant gives the government excess power to monitor and stockpile details about the intimate details of individuals’ lives, upending the balance between a government and its citizens in a way that is incompatible with a democratic society.

Our brief highlights how reduced costs and emerging video analytic technology takes the power of this surveillance far beyond what traditional stakeouts could ever accomplish. CDT previously submitted an amicus brief raising objections to warrantless pole camera surveillance in the First Circuit case United States v. Moore-Bush. 

Read the full brief here.