Pflugerville City Council unanimously approved the Secure, Accountable, Fair and Explainable, or SAFE, Technology policy at its Oct. 27 meeting.
The details
The policy went into effect immediately and established safeguards and oversight for the city’s use of AI, surveillance technology and data sharing.
The policy classifies city technology as low, moderate or high risk based on its intended use and potential impact, according to a city news release. The city manager will continue to oversee routine administrative and operational tools, while high-risk technologies, including those used for law enforcement, surveillance and biometric identification, will require City Council review and approval.
The release describes the safeguards as follows:
Resident oversight: A City Council-appointed resident commission will review proposed technology and provide recommendations to staff and elected leaders.
Human review: AI and automated systems may assist city employees but cannot replace human judgment in significant decisions, such as those involving law and code enforcement, permits, or access to city services.
Data privacy: Vendors and outside parties cannot sell city data or use it for unrelated purposes, including training general-purpose AI models, unless expressly approved by City Council and allowed by law.
Surveillance restrictions: Facial recognition, certain biometric identification systems, generalized tracking of lawful First Amendment activity and social scoring systems that rate people based on their behavior are prohibited without City Council authorization.
Data sharing: Outside organizations seeking ongoing or direct access to city data require written agreements and City Council approval. Limited exceptions allow temporary access for certain emergencies and active public safety needs.
Public transparency: The city will maintain a website and publish an annual report identifying high-risk technology, how it’s being used and the safeguards in place, subject to legal and security restrictions.
The discussion
The policy comes after the city decided to end its contract with Flock Safety when a resident’s review of Flock's records raised questions about who could search data collected by the cameras. Council member Rudy Metayer said the council learned a lot of lessons from the Flock situation.
“Moving forward, lessons learned, we are going to make sure we have more governance and eyes on these things,” Metayer said.
Council members emphasized that this living document serves as a proactive standard rather than a reactive one, incorporating strict regulations against unauthorized facial recognition and establishing a specialized citizen oversight committee.
“I think this is a really great start, and I think that this council will have to continue to get comfortable with changing policies like this on a more regular basis,” council member Jonathan Coffman said. “This still establishes for the public a level of transparency.”
Mayor Doug Weiss said technology helps the city better serve the community, but that it shouldn’t come at the expense of privacy, accountability or public trust.
“Our residents deserve to know how these tools are used and what we're doing to protect their information,” Weiss said. “This policy allows us to embrace new technology while keeping the people we serve at the center of every decision.”
