Use the courts to enforce transparency and curb abusive surveillance.
Use strategic lawsuits to force disclosure, stop unlawful surveillance practices, and secure court-ordered remedies when policy channels stall. This strategy is reactive by nature, but it can create binding standards through rulings and settlements—especially in cases tied to wrongful arrests and hidden algorithmic systems.
Why this works
- Strategic lawsuits can produce court rulings that set de facto standards.
- Civil rights groups have successfully sued over secret algorithms – for example, challenging risk assessment tools in criminal justice for bias has forced some jurisdictions to reveal and adjust those tools.
- Litigation against police departments for wrongful arrests due to AI has led to settlements that change policies (Detroit, after being sued, now prohibits arrests based solely on a facial recognition match).
- Courts can also suppress evidence obtained via unlawful AI surveillance, incentivizing police to follow stricter procedures.
Electronic Privacy Information Center
Tax-deductibleDefending privacy, transparency, and digital civil liberties
The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) is an independent nonprofit research center established in 1994 to focus public attention on emerging privacy and civil liberties issues in the digital world. EPIC uses litigation, policy analysis, and advocacy to safeguard privacy rights, open government, and algorithmic accountability:. It frequently files lawsuits (including FOIA cases) to expose surveillance practices, challenges unlawful data collection, and advocates for regulations that protect individuals from AI abuses and invasive technologies.
Mechanism
About LitigationHow Electronic Privacy Information Center uses funding
- Identify the strongest fact patterns where AI-driven surveillance caused concrete harm and claims are viable.
- Select plaintiffs with standing and define the remedy sought (stop, require, or correct a practice).
- Build the record through evidence, briefs, motions, and expert support.
- Seek interim relief where ongoing surveillance creates continuing harm.
- Enforce outcomes and defend wins so compliance is real, not just paper.
Milestones
Checkpoints and the expected timing for each step
- 1
Case targets and plaintiffs identified
Near termHigh-impact fact patterns and viable plaintiffs are selected.
- 2
Filing and record-building underway
Early litigationComplaints, motions, and evidence establish a strong record.
- 3
Relief pursued and secured
During key hearingsCourts grant orders or settlements that change practices.
- 4
Compliance monitored
After outcomesPolicy changes are tracked and defended against rollback.