How to Report Back
Report Back is a distributed research tool built by EFF with support from University of Nevada, Reno Reynolds School of Journalism. If you have any questions, suggestions or would like a "Group Code" to participate, please email aos@eff.org
1. Get an assignment
To get an assignment you will need to enter two pieces of information: your email address and a “group code” provided by EFF or your instructor. Without these, you will not be able to access an assignment.
You can filter the available assignment by state or technology, depending on whether you have been assigned a particular topic by your instructor.
Once you hit the “Get Task” button, you will be forwarded to a page with the assignment. You will also receive a copy of the assignment via email.
2. Research your assignment
Most research assignments using Report Back require you to find documentation of surveillance technology that already exists on the internet. This may include news articles, press releases, public records, or presentations.
As a general rule, you should not spend more than 20 minutes doing research. The Google form link you've been provided will give guidance on the process.
3. Report back
After you’ve completed your research, come back to the Report Back tool and file the information you have found your online research using the Google form link. Even if you did not find any information after a thorough search, you should still fill out the form.
Once you’re done, just click the button to get the next assignment.
Collecting and Summarizing Your Research
As you conduct your research, you will find that quality of the information varies widely. Sometimes, you will get lucky and there will be one news article or web page that tells you everything you need to know. Other times, you may just find a passing message of the surveillance technology in an article or government document. Sometimes, you will find hundreds of pages of public records and you may feel overwhelmed with information.
Rule of Thumb: One Short Sentence
With Report Back, we're not looking for an essay. We're not even looking for a medium-sized paragraph. For the information to be useful, it should be as concise as possible. You should summarize the basics and avoid the urge of including every piece of interesting information (and a lot will be interesting).
5 Questions to Ask and Answer
When reviewing articles and documents you find online, it's help to think of it as "interrogating" the information. You're asking interviewing the records, demanding information from it. Some questions to ask:
1) Yes/No: Does the agency have the technology? This is the most important question. We're looking for a yes/no: do they have it? However, sometimes you might only find an article that they are "considering" it, or it has "been proposed"? If that's the only information that comes up, we still want to know about it.
2) Time: When did the agency acquire the technology or when did it most recently upgrade the technology? It's good to be able to put a time peg on the research. Sometimes you will be able to say when they started the program, other times you will be able to say when the most recent expansion occured. At the very least, it is help to be able to say, here's what we know "As of [XXXX Year]."
3) Quantity: How many devices did they purchase? Often an article will tell you exactly how many units of the surveillance technologies they purchased. For example, maybe the police department purchased 300 body-worn cameras. Or maybe they bought 20 stationary automated license plate readers and 10 mobile license plate readers? Or maybe they disclose that there are surveillance cameras at 30 intersections around town.
4) Cost: how much did they spend on the technology? Sometimes the document will tell you exactly how much the program costs. Sometimes they will disclose that the money came through a particular grant, such as asset forfeiture or Operation Stonegarden, a controversial program that funds local police to work on border security issues.
5) What brand is the technology or what vendor sold it to them? It can be very useful to know what brand the technology is. For example, Axon has a large portion of the body-worn camera market and Vigilant Solutions is one of the most common sellers of automated license plate readers.
You may not find all of the answers to these questions in your research, but if you can at least answer 1), then you've achieved the goal.
Summary Examples
Case #1: Very little information
Let's say that your research turned up very little. Maybe the technology is mentioned only in passing in a government document or in a news article, but there's no further context. You've tried to find more information, but come up empty handed. Don't worry! You can still write a sentence summarizing your findings. For example, these one-sentence summaries would still be useful.
The Such-and-Such Police Department uses body-worn cameras.
Rando-City Police Department equips its officers with body-worn cameras, according to a job description posted in 2017.
An arrest report posted on the Fictional County Sheriff's Office website indicates deputies use automated license plate readers.
A line item in the Town of Anywhere's 2016 budget indicates that the police department purchased a drone.
Case #2: The perfect amount of documentation
Let's say that you found exactly what you were looking for: 1-3 articles that answer several of the questions above. We do not need five sentences, but rather just the most interesting points.
The Faketown Police Department purchased 50 Axon body-worn cameras in 2020.
The Made-up County Sheriff's Office spent $45,000 to upgrade its body-worn cameras in 2017.
The No-Such-Place Probation Department began using Axon body-worn cameras in 2020.