Saturday, August 8 at 2:00 PM | The Healing Center, 2372 St. Claude Ave | Free — no registration required
New Orleans has quietly become one of the most surveilled cities in America. A private nonprofit operates a network of over 5,000 cameras across the city, running live facial recognition on residents despite a city ordinance banning the practice. NOPD flies drones over our neighborhoods by the hundreds — many flights with no documented reason at all. These systems watch us with little oversight, little transparency, and little regard for the law. They weren’t voted on. Most people don’t even know they exist.
But surveillance thrives on secrecy, and secrecy breaks when neighbors get informed and organized. Across the city, concerned residents are pushing back — demanding records, filing complaints, and forcing accountability. This training is about joining that effort.
Security researcher Matt Wollenweber will break down who is actually watching you: Project NOLA’s camera and facial recognition network, and NOPD’s drone program. Then he’ll walk you through obtaining public records — how to file requests, what to ask for, and how to turn those documents into formal complaints that hold NOPD accountable for unlawful drone flights and facial recognition use.
No technical background required. Come with questions — there’s Q&A throughout. Leave with the tools to fight back. For more information email projectmayhem@insomniac.tech.
