TUESDAY, APRIL 21ST 4:00PM

Ale from LPL will be joining some excellent scholars of surveillance, automation, labor, and public records for a panel on so-called AI! It’s open to the public and happening on Northwestern’s campus

No RSVP needed but space may be limited! Hope to chat with you there :)

Images of the pink panther with a magnifying glass with a QR code to the LPL fellowship application. http://short.lucyparsonslabs.com/summer2026

EXTENDED: We are holding the application process open for our 2025 fellowship but time is running out.

Scan the QR code for the full details and get those applications in

TUESDAY, APRIL 21ST 4:00PM

Ale from LPL will be joining some excellent scholars of surveillance, automation, labor, and public records for a panel on so-called AI! It’s open to the public and happening on Northwestern’s campus

No RSVP needed but space may be limited! Hope to chat with you there :)

There is still time to apply to work with us this summer! We are looking for early-career researchers. The application close NEXT MONDAY (4/20) at midnight and we are looking for a fellow for this summer. Full details can be found here —> —> https://short.lucyparsonslabs.com/summer2026

Folks, we are OOO for spring break!

Back in a week or so and see y’all at Take Back Tech after we *recharge*

**UPDATE 2:
We have decided the fellowship stipend will be $15,000, with additional funds available for typical office expenses.

Are you a researcher? Are you looking to gain experience with an organization that works for a better world? Apply for our summer research fellowship today!

“Free” Surveillance Tech Still Comes at a High and Dangerous Cost Surveillance technology vendors, federal agencies, and wealthy private donors have long helped provide local law enforcement “free” access to surveillance equipment that bypasses local oversight. The result is predictable: serious accountability gaps an...

www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/02/free-s...

Did you know @lucyparsonslabs.com is looking for a researcher for this summer? It could be *you*

As I've pointed out, in economics this is "network effects" which is why the incentives will always be for collection and sharing of data regardless of how its abused.

We did a whole talk about it for @chihacknight.org and I uploaded it here -> www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjlk...

We made a short one-pager about all of the problems with ALPRs to hand out at future events / talks.

Feel free to take this one and rip it off for your own events. More resources coming soon! #Flock #ALPR #DeFlock

short.lucyparsonslabs.com/alpronepager

Five characters from Sesame Street including Elmo saying “Eid Mubarak”

#EidMubarak everyone!

We are also planning on reworking some other opportunities this next year but more on that soon.

**UPDATE: Compensation will be shared by or before March 27th (after internal participatory budgeting next week!).

That said, we will give NO LESS than the median hourly rate in the Chicagoland area ($25.73 as of 2024 for Chicago-Naperville-Schaumburg according to IDES). Thank u for ur patience :)

Thank you Adryana! We hope some of your friends and colleagues take a look at it.

Our talk on transparency and policing at #SunshineWeek has been rescheduled for today in room 222 at 3pm ET.

Folks our talk this afternoon is CANCELED due to the weather in Washington DC. Guess I’ll go home and send some FOIAs or something. Idk.

If you support LPL and want to help us, please spread the word! We are looking for some early-career person to join us for a summer of research. Full details >> short.lucyparsonslabs.com/lpl2026apps

Strong technical skills not a requirement but a keen political analysis and ideas about what you want to learn is key.

You do not have to be a student to apply but folks from liberal arts schools, community colleges etc are invited in.

Apply now to join LPL as a 2026 summer fellow. Full link https://lucyparsonslabs.slack.com/archives/C0ALFSMBA3F/p1773445849626319

We @lucyparsonslabs.com are looking for a few good applicants to join us for some summer research.

Do you want to spend your time fighting big tech, the government and police surveillance? Here is your chance. US based, remote first.

Details 👇🏽👇🏽 short.lucyparsonslabs.com/lpl2026apps

A few notes: we take the words "early career" to be extremely expansive so it includes. those leaving prison, changing focus, students at community colleges etc.

Second, the application requires a proposal in your own words (NO GenAI.)

Third, 10 weeks @ ~30 hours per week time commitment.

two graphics of the pink panther that reads "applications open. Apply now to join LPL as a 2026 summer fellow. This paid fellowship is for early-career researchers looking to investigate surveillance technologies. Your work will challenge Big Tech and how racialized capitalism underpins these logics." Link to the full proposal is https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/66045fc0d0be7536b4fb020a/69b1b8b1787cd413337973ba_Fellowship___Call_for_Applications.pdf

EXCITING NEWS: Applications NOW *open* to join LPL as a 2026 summer fellow. This paid fellowship is for *early-career* researchers looking to investigate surveillance technologies. Full details here -> cdn.prod.website-files.com/66045fc0d0be...

Suburban school district uses license plate readers to verify student residency A mom says a suburban school district is erroneously denying her daughter's enrollment because of data from a license plate reader company.

A Chicago-area school district is using ALPRs to … verify residency of its students? www.nbcchicago.com/consumer/sub...

Inside Chicago’s surveillance panopticon For many people, life in and around Chicago means near-constant surveillance in the name of public safety. Meet the city residents engaging with this controversial space.

We are featured in MIT Tech Review's latest issue including a feature article on Chicago's surveillance panopticon. It's a long read but we hope you enjoy it.

www.technologyreview.com/2026/02/23/1...

Op-Ed: End the City’s ShotSpotter Contract Surveillance technologies are destroying lives in Chicago

Real justice for Mr Williams and all those harmed by ShotSpotter—besides compensating them—requires that the City of Chicago canceled the ShotSpotter contract. Organizers won that campaign.

We wrote about our views of justice in this Op-ed a few years ago. southsideweekly.com/end-the-city...

How AI-powered tech landed man in jail with scant evidence CHICAGO (AP) — Michael Williams’ wife pleaded with him to remember their fishing trips with the grandchildren, how he used to braid her hair, anything to jar him back to his world outside the concrete...

You can read more about Mr Williams case and ShotSpotter's role in fabricated evidence and harm for the police in this article. apnews.com/article/arti...

A Chicago Man Was Charged With Murder Based on a ShotSpotter Alert. Now the City Will Pay Him $500K Michael Williams, then 65, spent nearly a year in jail after being charged with murder, only to have the charges dismissed after prosecutors told a judge they did not have enough evidence to proceed t...

The City of Chicago has settled a lawsuit brought by Michael Williams & MacArthur Justice Center after Mr Williams was falsely charged with murder following a ShotSpotter alert. He sat in jail for a year during the height of the COVID pandemic.

news.wttw.com/2026/03/04/c...

For those fasting during Ramadan, we will provide iftar and refreshments and coffee and a prayer space as well.

Films for a Changing World presents: The Spies Among Us - Haymarket House Join us Thursday, February 19th at 6 PM for a screening of Jamie Coughlin Silverman and Gabriel Silverman’s 2025 documentary The Spies Among Us. The film will be followed by […]

TONIGHT: We are at Haymarket House (@haymarketbooks.org) for a screening of the documentary The Spies Among Us, a look at the fall of the Stasi and what surveillance can teach us about our world. There will be a discussion afterwards with the filmmakers!

www.haymarkethouse.org/events/films...

In-person and Online: Lucy Parsons Labs - Chicago's Fight against Automated License Plate Readers - Chi Hack Night Join to hear about Chicago's Fight against Automated License Plate Readers.

Join us in person or online tonight to hear from @lucyparsonslabs.com! Freddy Martinez will discuss insights from investigations into automated license plate readers, ways the tech has been abused, and how we must adapt to a changing regulatory & political landscape.
chihacknight.org/events/2026/...

Thank you!