In A Bipartisan Amendment Would End Police License Plate Tracking Nationwide, Dell Cameron reports for Wired:
US lawmakers plan to introduce an amendment Thursday at a House committee markup hearing that would prohibit any recipient of federal highway funding from using automated license plate readers for any purpose other than tolling—a sweeping restriction that, if adopted, would bring an immediate end to state and local ALPR programs across the United States.
The amendment, obtained first by WIRED, is sponsored by Representative Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican and Freedom Caucus member, and Representative Jesús “Chuy” García, an Illinois progressive whose state has become a flash point in the national fight over ALPR misuse.
Sounds good to me! The abuses of Flock and other ALPRs are well-documented (see below for some links), and more and more cities and states across the country are taking steps to limit them. And it’s an issue that cuts across party lines, so it’s great to see bipartisan sponsorship here.
The markup is at 10 am on Thursday, May 21, so now is a very good time to contact your representative and ask them to support the amendment. The easiest way to do that is to call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your representative’s office. If you hate the phone, you can send a message via your representative’s site; here’s is here; click on your representative’s name to open their page, and look for the contact information.A short message is fine! It can even be as simple as
I’m [NAME] from [CITY or COUNTY], a constituent, calling to ask Representative [NAME] to support the Perry/Garcia amendment to the Highway Bill limiting use of Flock and other automated license plate readers. Congress must shield Americans from this invasive warrantless surveillance technology that threatens privacy, civil liberties, and constitutional rights.
It’s hard to know how likely this amendment is to pass … but, whatever happens in this markup, making as much noise as possible now — with almost no notice — lays the groundwork for future votes.
For more about the problems with ALPRs, see DeFlock’s resources, Have I Been Flocked’s footnotes4a, and EFF’s Automated License Plate Readers page. Here are a few specific examples:
- Range Media’s ‘Had an abortion, search for female.’ Texas deputy searched Spokane County Flock cameras and EFF’s Flock Safety and Texas Sheriff Claimed License Plate Search Was for a Missing Person. It Was an Abortion Investigation provide a real-world example of how ALPRs can be used to target people seeking reproductive health care
- The UW Center for Human Rights’ Leaving the Door Wide Open: Flock Surveillance Systems Expose Washington Data to Immigration Enforcement discusses abuses targeting immigrants here in Washington state
- Local police aid ICE by tapping school cameras amid Trump’s immigration crackdown discusses how ALPRs at or near schools put students at risk.