City Councilmembers Rue Landau and Jamie Gauthier at the Finance Committee meeting. Credit: Philadelphia City Council website
On October 15, Philadelphia City Council will hold its first-ever public hearing on how the city uses artificial intelligence and surveillance technologies, and AI’s impact on many other aspects of life and work in the city. Led by Councilmember Rue Landau, the hearing will put on the public record, for the first time, how AI and surveillance systems are being used, their cost to taxpayers, and the impacts on Philadelphians — particularly communities of color who are disproportionately targeted by biased and invasive tech.
Philly Tech Justice is a coalition of Philadelphia organizations ensuring the city's use of technology is transparent, accountable, and serves the needs of Philadelphians, not just the profits of billionaires and corporations.
The hearing follows reporting by the Philadelphia Inquirer which revealed that Philadelphia is using invasive GPS technology to track more children than ever before, sharing sensitive location data with law enforcement without warrants or parental consent. The reporting highlighted the urgent need for transparency and accountability in how the city adopts and deploys all types of technology.
Councilmember Landau is inviting leading local and national experts and practitioners on AI to testify on what AI is, how it impacts everyday people and our environment; and community members to speak at this first-ever hearing, meant to make AI uses transparent in a time of rapid change in Philly and nationally.
Devren Washington, Organizing Director of People’s Tech Project and leader of Philly Tech Justice, said
“As AI explodes, tech companies are aggressively marketing tools to governments that aren’t always equipped to vet them. In Philly, they’ve been adopted with little public input even though they can have serious consequences like recommending a child be removed from their family or sharing sensitive data with the police or ICE. We’re grateful to Councilmember Landau for creating a process that sheds light on Philly’s AI use and involves the Philadelphians affected. This is a rare chance to set a new standard that leads on transparency, accountability and protecting the public from privacy violations, racist and biased outcomes, and overreach before the harm is done.”
The hearing will take place on Wednesday, October 15, 2025 at 10 a.m. at PhillyCAM, 699 Ranstead St. Philadelphia, Pa.
