Axon's FUSUS is a bad idea. Just Ask New Orleans, or Former Council Member O’Connell

2024's Tennessean of the Year said it best in 2021

Neighborhoods Watched: The rise of urban mass surveillance

Mayor O’Connell still supports the Axon corporation’s “FUSUS” system that integrates private cameras in commercial spaces with MNPD surveillance. That’s just weird to me, given his track record of denouncing this exact type of thing for years while on Metro Council, especially in today’s climate of federal encroachment into local law enforcement autonomy.

Axon, formerly called “Taser” (they made their bones as the primary provider to law enforcement of “less than lethal” weapons), has more than a few allegations of concerning behaviors for any company — much less one that will be at the heart of handling sensitive footage of private citizens in non-public spaces.

Their tasers, it turns out, were often not “less than lethal.” Their secure technology has been, by their own disclosure, susceptible to hacking, and a lawsuit has been filed against them over alleged security risks of using Chinese hardware in their equipment sold to American law enforcement working at election sites.

These are all facts and allegations that are easily Googleable by the Mayor’s staff and the City Council Members (who are tasked with evaluating this 3/4 million dollar contract). But perhaps Metro’s concerns have been explained away by the four registered lobbyists hired by Axon to advocate for the firm that has a $49.83B market cap.

Axon Controversies

• Reuters: Second US town sues Taser-maker Axon for antitrust violations

• Reuters: As Taser warns of more and more risks, cities bear a burden in court

• Reuters: Taser’s defense tactics include lawsuits against coroners and experts

• Scottsdale Airpark NewsCorporate Campus Controversy: Planning panel member alleges Axon ‘intimidation’

• Reuters: Taser maker Axon has a moving backstory. It's mostly a myth

• ACLU on Axon’s AI Products: Police reports play a crucial role in our justice system. Law enforcement shouldn't be using AI to help write them.

• TechTarget: Axon still in possession of Police Scotland encryption keys

• Reuters: At Taser maker Axon, ex-staffers say loyalty meant being tased or tattooed

• Wired: Axon's Ethics Board Resigned Over Taser-Armed Drones. Then the Company Bought a Military Drone Maker

• Forbes: Taser-Drone Developer Axon Faces Newly Published Criticism from Ethics Advisors

• Investigate AFSC: A US manufacturer of less-lethal weapons and surveillance technology, which are used by the Israeli military and police against Palestinian civilians and by police, prison, immigration, and military agencies in the US and worldwide.

• The Record: Exclusive: Axon still wants to put Taser drones in your kid’s school

• PublicSource.org: Police commander’s relationship with Axon raises questions about Pittsburgh’s no-bid contract for body cameras

• Politico: Ahead of DNC, suit aims to ban police bodycams with Chinese components from political events

• Washington Post: Taser — now known as Axon — claims part ownership of the footage generated by its police body cameras. That’s a huge problem.

I’ve struggled with how to articulate my concerns and values about public privacy and the dangers of “surveillance state theater”. How should I explain that promises of alleged crime-solving and cost-saving benefits (which are not well evidenced) are no reason to opt into well-documented examples of technology like this exacerbating bias against vulnerable populations?

But someone else already created a body of evidence of why we should be concerned about things like this. Former District 19 Metro Council Member Freddie O’Connell was uniquely fixated on this subject before and during his time on the Council, and his Twitter account preserves this deep-held belief.

I turn the argument over to him.

In reference to Bloomberg article:

Mayor O’Connell, however, seems to have changed his views on privacy and what counts as “instruments of surveillance” that can harm vulnerable populations.

I wish Axon’s lobbyists would bother to spend time with me to assuage my concerns about FUSUS. I’m sure the taser manufacturer’s arguments would be stunning.