Meet Joe Simitian, Silicon Valley's surveillance technology watchdog

The Californian has drafted the strictest proposal yet that would require police forces to get explicit permission for new surveillance tech

One of the broadest pushes to reel in America's surveillance state isn't in Congress, the White House or a courtroom; arguably it's in Joe Simitian's office in California's Santa Clara County government building.

Simitian - 63 and bespectacled - is a supervisor on the county board here. This winter he drafted a proposal for regulation that would require local law enforcement to justify each time they use any piece of surveillance technology - fake cellphone towers, computer hacks, license plate readers, GPS trackers, or anything else that helps cops track civilians.