Digital Fourth / RT4 - Boston

Digital Fourth is an all-volunteer campaign founded in MA in 2012, to oppose mass government surveillance. Updates at

[Rep. Pramila Jayapal @RepJayapal]

Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is a powerful tool the government uses to surveil Americans without a warrant — and it has a troubling history of misuse.

Check out my op-ed on why Congress must not reauthorize it without real reforms and protections. https://t.co/sH3je5qiyy

[Digital Fourth / RT4 - Boston @digital4th]

Join us to protest Rep. Katherine Clark's silence on President Trump's AI-driven warrantless surveillance of Americans, at her office in Malden on Wednesday at 4pm!

https://t.co/bcvxKKi8JV

[James Baratta @jamesjbaratta]

In Westport CT outside Rep. Jim Himes’ closed town hall event.

Police just told privacy activists protesting Himes for pushing a clean FISA Section 702 authorization to vacate the premises because “this is private property.”

[Digital Fourth / RT4 - Boston @digital4th]

Read the comments here, and if you're in Cambridge, email [email protected] to let them know your opinion. Councilor Al-Zubi's Public Safety Committee will hold a standalone hearing on ShotSpotter & review the whole Report before the end of May

https://t.co/gMizPF0Uv9

[Digital Fourth / RT4 - Boston @digital4th]

We filed comments to Cambridge City Council on the 2026 Annual Surveillance Report, that seeks to authorize 75 surveillance techs. We object to 8: ALPR, ShotSpotter, CCTV at Central Sq, BRIC, Magnet Forensics, Covert Cameras, police use of Sprout Social & remote meter readers

[Digital Fourth / RT4 - Boston @digital4th]

Victory for privacy today, as City Manager Yi-an Huang agreed to revoke #CambridgeMA's Flock Safety camera contract. @ACLU_Mass's Gideon Epstein and Digital Fourth co-chair @rebelcinder presented on Flock's flaws and next steps for surveillance oversight

[Digital Fourth / RT4 - Boston @digital4th]

Today, we launch a new initiative to help local elected officials in Massachusetts worrying about the issue of masked or plain-clothes "ICE agents" conducting raids in our communities.

https://t.co/gqHnHtauMi

DM us if you're interested in ordinance text for your city!

[Alex Marthews 🏴 @rebelcinder]

What happened in Worcester today:

https://t.co/ngCjNuXsYd

And yes, they do need a warrant.
And yes, just so we're clear, local police in Massachusetts, if faced with a conflict between what the community wants and what federal law enforcement wants, will side with the latter.

[Digital Fourth / RT4 - Boston @digital4th]

Congratulations to all the @digital4th folks who testified at last week's big privacy hearing on Beacon Hill - Tasha, Karen, Alex T., Alex M., and especially Julie, who has worked so hard to press for strong and broad privacy protections for MA residents!

https://t.co/kZJRiAi2R1

[Digital Fourth / RT4 - Boston @digital4th]

Turn out & Testify: Tonight, @CambMA City Council will be reviewing whether to continue deploying controversial surveillance tech, incl. ShotSpotter, ALPR, CCTV, covert pole cameras, GrayKey, and its partnership with BRIC.

https://t.co/TM2tJnY43K

[Digital Fourth / RT4 - Boston @digital4th]

So:

(a) @CambridgePD is asking City Council to approve drones over protests

(b) @CambridgePD will share footage if "needed for a criminal investigation"

(c) ...so what happens when Kash Patel's FBI calls, asking for drone footage of an "illegal" Gaza protest at Harvard or MIT?

[jeremy scahill @jeremyscahill]

Trump's morning rant on Truth Social includes this threat against allowing "illegal protests" on college campuses in the US. Trump signs off: "Thank you for your attention to this matter."

[Digital Fourth / RT4 - Boston @digital4th]

This reform matters a lot, because voters can't tell right now whether Reps are voting to advance or block important bills; only how they vote on (rare, often omnibus) floor votes. It would be a win for basic transparency and accountability.

[Digital Fourth / RT4 - Boston @digital4th]

Big news from the MA House: "New House rules would require all committee members’ votes be recorded and would eliminate the stipulation that committee votes only happen by request of someone at in-person committee meeting (such meetings almost never happen)." #mapoli