Powerful technologies like AI and surveillance are transforming how Philadelphia operates, often without transparency or community input. Built on bad data that often reinforce racial bias, this tech erodes public trust—especially for communities of color, immigrants, and young people—and worsens the problems it proclaims to solve.

This budget season, City Council is preparing to spend tens of millions more on new tech for city operations, policing, immigration enforcement, and public surveillance—without full information or community input. 

These tools lack oversight and are often implemented through contracts with private companies (many of which have a documented history of defrauding governments), costing taxpayers big while making shareholders and CEOs richer. 

Without intervention, this tech expansion will waste valuable public dollars, deepen inequities, and put vulnerable communities at risk. 

Read our letter demanding that City Council step in to provide real oversight and transparency on Philly’s use of tech >>

The Philly Tech Justice Collective knows that tech can uplift communities and meet real needs, but only when transparency, accountability, and community control come first. We’re fighting for a future where technology serves the people, not corporate profits. 

Sign on to the letter and demand City Council step up and make tech serve Philly’s people, not big tech’s profits: