Brooklyn Defender Services files suit against NYC Department of Correction over phone call surveillance
Brooklyn Defender Services, alongside the Bronx Defenders and New York County Defender Services, has filed a class-action lawsuit against the New York City Department of Correction (DOC), alleging unlawful mass surveillance of phone calls within city jails.
The lawsuit, supported by legal firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, claims that the DOC has been engaging in extensive monitoring and recording of calls made by incarcerated individuals, infringing on their privacy and constitutional rights.
The legal action highlights that the DOC, through its contractor Securus Technologies, has recorded millions of phone conversations without proper consent, capturing sensitive personal, biometric and financial data from both inmates and their contacts outside the jail.