We’re calling on Microsoft to immediately end its partnership with the NYPD on the Domain Awareness System (DAS). In 2008, Microsoft partnered with the NYPD to create the DAS, a dystopian surveillance command center that uses CCTV cameras, license plate readers, and physical sensors to track the every move of New Yorkers. Footage from cameras that are a part of the DAS network is also used in conjunction with the NYPD's invasive and racist facial recognition technology. Both Microsoft and the NYPD profit as cities across the world subject their residents to this dangerous surveillance network.

Why is this important?

The DAS extends police power to surveil nearly all New Yorkers 24/7, bringing together the city's vast surveillance network. The system uses cameras, license plate readers, MTA trip data, and radiological sensors to create a real-time surveillance map of New York City. It also taps into private data feeds ranging from Wall Street banks’ security systems to private data brokers. Once the data is funneled into the DAS, it can be stored indefinitely. Even worse, The DAS heightens the NYPD’s racist policing practices against Black and Indigenous people, other communities of color, and immigrants. Not only can the DAS technology allow location tracking, but it can also provide information for ICE to help deport people, too.

Microsoft must Ditch the DAS today. Earlier this year, three shareholder proposals were filed addressing the contradiction between Microsoft’s supposed "commitment to racial justice" and their actual practices, including their development of the Domain Awareness System. We’re calling on Microsoft to listen to the people and immediately end its partnership with the NYPD on the Domain Awareness System.