Digital Identity & Domination: The Mayor, the NYPD, and the MyCity Platform 

On March 27, 2024 at 7pm, at NYU Law School’s Lipton Hall, Law and Political Economy NYC and the Surveillance Resistance Lab will co-host an event shining a spotlight on NYC’s MyCity project. Continuing a Bloomberg initiative, Mayor Adams promises public innovation: a one-stop portal for government benefits and access to city services related to childcare, disability, housing, taxation, and more. The project is the hallmark of the Mayor’s broader digital ID, digital wallet, and AI initiatives. 

While Adams’ public promises for MyCity focus on its “efficiency” and “streamlined convenience” for New Yorkers seeking city services, he also seeks centralization of data-sharing across benefits, child care, business, and education agencies. He hopes to apply real-time data collection and analysis to the whole New York City government, along the lines of COMPstat–the controversial crime data program where the NYPD engaged in widespread manipulation of the data. 

This event will explore the laws, power dynamics, and economic motivations surrounding the initiative. The discussion will feature familiar LPE themes, such as the blurring of the public and private sectors, the links between civil and criminal law enforcement, and the tensions between social provision and punishment.

Moderator: 

Mizue Azeiki (Surveillance Resistance Lab, founder and Executive Director)

Panelists:

Raúl Carrillo (Columbia Law School)

Vincent Southerland (NYU Law School)

Cynthia Conti-Cook (Surveillance Resistance Lab)