Proposed California Law Would Require Police to Disclose the Use of More Surveillance Devices

New California legislation would expand the list of electronic surveillance devices that the state's law enforcement agencies must disclose to the public.

The bill, introduced last month by state Sen. Jerry Hill (D-San Mateo), would require any local law enforcement agency in California that uses surveillance technology to submit a plan to local officials on how it uses the equipment and the information collected. Surveillance plans would have to be presented at an open hearing and would be required to include any facial recognition software, drones or even social media monitoring used by officers.

Law enforcement officials say the list of surveillance methods is so broad that producing policies for each device could be impractical and would hinder criminal investigations. But privacy advocates argue it doesn’t do enough to shed light on police use of spying equipment, the Los Angeles Times reports.