Eyes on Oakland

A project of the Mobile Arts Platform and The Center for Investigative Reporting, taking a community-focused look at surveillance in Oakland. Join the conversation using #eyesonoak and catch us at the Oakland Museum of California for the "Who Is Oakland?" exhibit starting April 11, 2015. Follow us on Twitter: @eyesonoak

[eyesonoakland]

The map in our Eyes on Oakland installation, which closes today at the Oakland Museum of California, is filled with personal perspectives on surveillance. Here's a snapshot of some of the responses that museum visitors contributed to the exhibit. More to come soon!

[eyesonoakland]

Last chance to catch Eyes on Oakland!

People of the Bay Area: This is your last weekend to catch our installation in the “Who Is Oakland?” exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California! The show ends on Sunday, so stop by the museum to explore what residents of Oakland think about surveillance and add your own thoughts. 

[eyesonoakland]

Has your license plate been scanned by Oakland police? 

Stop by the Eyes on Oakland van tomorrow night at the Oakland Museum from 5 to 9pm and Ars Technica reporter Cyrus Farivar will be on hand to look up your license plate in his database of 4.6 million records scanned by the Oakland Police Department. Get background from Farivar here, and read our own Ali Winston’s look at how license-plate readers are expanding in scope. 

You can find us tomorrow among the Off the Grid food trucks on 10th street. See you there! 

[eyesonoakland]

The Off/Page Project – a collab between Youth Speaks and The Center for Investigative Reporting – wants your voice in the mix. We’re hosting an Eyes on Oakland writing workshop for local youth at Sole Space that will explore surveillance practices that are used in Oakland.

Want to lend your voice to our Eyes on Oakland exhibit? Are you between the ages of 16 and 22? Join us for a writing workshop next Tuesday, June 9, as we weave personal experiences, news reports and data points to create poems that explore local perspectives on surveillance and how you can help shape the conversation. Learn more via the link above and RSVP here. 

[eyesonoakland]

Here's a sampling of insights we heard from residents last night during our outing at the Oakland Museum. Thanks to all who stopped by!

[eyesonoakland]

How should Oakland balance privacy with surveillance tools like license-plate readers and cellphone tracking devices called StingRays? Ars Technica’s Cyrus Farivar interviews Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf.

[revealnews]

Police are secretly using cellphone tracking devices called Stingrays without warrants. 

This case is testing whether it’s legal.

[eyesonoakland]

In Oakland, documents show that police have used StingRay technology to track cellphones since at least 2006. Officers claim that they are used exclusively to target high-risk suspects in homicides, shootings and assaults.

The agency confirmed that it has no guidelines governing how cell-site simulators are used or how data from target and nontarget phones are stored.

Read the full story. 

[eyesonoakland]

Here’s a sampling of responses to the prompt “Surveillance is ...” from our outing with the Eyes on Oakland van last Wednesday in Temescal at 49th street and Telegraph Avenue. We’re featuring them all in our installation at the Oakland Museum of California, part of the Who Is Oakland? exhibit that’s currently open to the public. Video coming soon! 

[eyesonoakland]

Get a behind-the-scenes look at Eyes on Oakland and the social practice guiding our work in this short documentary from KQED profiling our own Chris Treggiari. 

[eyesonoakland]

Here’s a sneak peek of our installation in the “Who Is Oakland?” exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California, opening this Saturday, April 11!

[eyesonoakland]

The #EyesOnOak van was out on Telegraph Avenue this weekend for Oakland’s First Friday. Lots of great surveillance-related conversation with Oakland residents and visitors alike. Here are a few scenes from our setup, including two responses from visitors to the van. 

We’ll be posting video, audio and more from our travels soon, so stay tuned. And don’t forget to mark your calendar for our exhibit opening at the Oakland Museum of California this Saturday, April 11!

[eyesonoakland]

If you come and visit the #EyesonOak van when we’re out in Oakland, you can fill out your own response to the prompt “Surveillance is...” and have your photo featured in our exhibit. Here are two responses from our recent test run in Fruitvale.

[eyesonoakland]

Hello, Oakland.

You’ll probably see this van around town during the next three months. We’ll be driving to communities across the city to talk with you about an important topic: surveillance.

We want to be a source of information about the different types of surveillance technology used in Oakland while gathering your input about its role in our lives. 

We'll include your voices and insights in a new exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California, "Who Is Oakland?" opening on April 11. 

Follow us here for photos, video and audio from our travels. You can also find out where to find the van by following us on Twitter: @eyesonoak

Next up: Join us with the van on Telegraph Avenue at Oakland First Fridays this week. See you there.