Somerville, MA Privacy & Surveillance: Security Camera Rules (2026)

Article III of Chapter 10, adopted by Ordinance No. 2019-20 and amended through 2023, defines 'surveillance technology' in Sec. 10-62 to expressly include closed-circuit television cameras and 'video and audio monitoring and/or recording technology, such as surveillance cameras,' bringing any new city camera program under the article's approval process. Sec. 10-63(b) then carves out narrow camera exemptions: cameras a city department installs solely to monitor entryways and outdoor areas of its own buildings for access control and employee/visitor safety (paragraph 11), cameras watching cashier windows and cash-handling areas (paragraph 12), and cameras protecting the physical integrity of city infrastructure (paragraph 13) are not treated as regulated surveillance technology, as long as they are not modified with added surveillance capabilities.

Any other camera deployment, such as new police or public-space cameras, requires the department to submit a surveillance technology impact report to the mayor's office under Sec. 10-65, covering how the technology works, its purpose, deployment locations, privacy and civil-rights impacts, and costs; the mayor's office then forwards it to the city council, which has 60 days (excluding June, July, and August) to approve or deny the request before it is approved by default. Approved camera programs must also be covered in the annual surveillance report required by Sec.

10-66, disclosing how the cameras were used and whether footage was shared with other agencies. There is no separate ordinance in the code regulating private, residential, or doorbell cameras; this article governs only the city's own acquisition and use of camera technology.