About the Perdido Institute
Our mission
The Perdido Institute protects the privacy of New Orleans residents and holds city government accountable to the law. We document surveillance, enforce transparency through public records, and advocate for public policy grounded in evidence.
What we believe
- Residents have a right to move through their city without being tracked.
- Government surveillance must be authorized by law, disclosed to the public, and subject to independent oversight.
- Public records belong to the public.
- Policy should rest on evidence. A claim that a technology reduces crime deserves the same scrutiny as any other scientific claim.
How we work
We start with records. We file public records requests, read what comes back, and compare the city’s conduct to its ordinances and policies. When the records show a violation, we file a formal complaint and track it to a resolution. We publish our findings, our sources, and our methods so anyone can check our work.
We do the same for residents. If you need a public record, want to file a complaint about an officer, or need to get paperwork out of a city agency, we will help you draft it, file it, and follow it until someone responds. We specialize in bureaucracy.
Why “Perdido”
Perdido is Spanish for lost. We take the name from the idea that privacy includes the right to be lost: to be a stranger in a crowd, unidentified and unrecorded. Perdido Street is also the home of New Orleans City Hall, where most of our work is directed.
Organization
The Perdido Institute is a Louisiana nonprofit corporation based in New Orleans. We are volunteer-run.
Mailing address
The Perdido Institute
201 St. Charles Ave., PMB 2116
New Orleans, LA 70170
Email
[email protected]
