projects / atlanta-surveillance-atlas
A clockwork owl archivist marks sources and honest blanks on a night map of metropolitan Atlanta.
RESEARCH ·

Atlanta Surveillance Atlas

A source-cited public record of metro Atlanta surveillance procurement, physical deployments, policies, and evidence gaps—starting with the dataset, not the map.

Overview

Atlanta Surveillance Atlas is a new effort to build a document-cited record of surveillance infrastructure across metro Atlanta: procurement records, physical deployments, governing policies, and the places where public evidence stops.

The dataset comes first. A polished map can make a sparse record look comprehensive, so the project begins with source-bearing entries and explicit gaps before it earns a visual atlas.

Evidence contract

Every substantive record is expected to cite a public source. The atlas will distinguish a purchased capability from an observed deployment, and either of those from a policy that merely authorizes use. When location, retention, vendor, scope, or status cannot be established, the field should remain unknown instead of inheriting a plausible value from a neighboring record.

That distinction matters because this subject invites both overstatement and false reassurance. A contract does not prove every device is installed. The absence of a public record does not prove the absence of surveillance. The useful artifact is the boundary of the evidence, not a claim to omniscience.

What exists now

At the time of this project-page update, the repository contains its public mission and publication intent. The cited dataset and static research site have not yet been published. That makes this a started project with a testable method—not a completed atlas.

Status

Active, very early research project. No public live site, deployment census, or comprehensive dataset is claimed yet. The next meaningful milestone is a small cited seed dataset whose unknown fields remain visible all the way through the rendered interface.