Protect Our Privacy: Stop Government Surveillance Toolkit
Do you use curtains in your home? Do you use passwords to protect your accounts? Do you use a passcode to open your phone? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you probably care about your privacy.
There are many reasons to care about privacy, including the fact that maintaining our privacy is a tool in defending ourselves against governmental intrusion and abuse of power.
The 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects us against “unreasonable searches and seizures.” As surveillance technologies become more widespread, so do the risks of intrusive and unchecked monitoring of our most private spaces and personal activities.
Our digital footprint is constantly growing, containing data about the most intimate aspects of our lives. When city, state, and federal governments have easy access to this information, we lose more than just privacy and control over our information. Free speech, security, and equality suffer as well.
One of the fastest-growing surveillance technologies popping up all over Iowa streets is automated license plate readers (ALPRs).
ALPRs are usually freestanding or can be mounted on objects like road signs or police vehicles. They are high-speed cameras used to capture all license plates that come into view.
ALPRs are not the same as automated traffic enforcement cameras. While an automated traffic enforcement camera is triggered by a violation (i.e. you’re speeding), ALPRs capture images of every single car that passes by, regardless of whether you’ve done anything wrong or are under suspicion.
The information captured by the cameras—including license plate and date, time, and location—is collected and pooled into a massive centralized database accessible to any government agency that subscribes to it (and even ones that don’t).
As a result, enormous amounts of your location information are stored. This information is retained, searched, and used with few restrictions to protect your privacy.
Here’s an example. A private company called Flock Safety is heavily marketing ALPR cameras to cities & towns across Iowa. Every time another city signs a contract with this company, that city is agreeing to share your data all around the country.
If your city has an ALPR contract, most likely, your government officials agreed to share with a private company things like:
- Where you go to church;
- Which doctor you go to;
- Where you work;
- If you went to a union hall, a protest, a rally, a gun show, or a local county political meeting.
These same government officials will also often say that license plate data isn’t private, because it’s in “plain view.” In a pre-Internet world, they may have been right. But a government letting someone halfway across the country track your movements is not “plain view.” It’s an abuse of power.
For years, local governments correctly limited ALPR use to help in stopping ongoing crimes, like for Amber Alerts. Those days are gone, for one reason: our personal data is now for sale.
Every local government should be protecting Iowans’ right to privacy. But instead, city councils all over Iowa are signing away that long-standing right.
This is made worse by the fact that there are currently no meaningful safeguards or regulations on the use of ALPRs in Iowa. At the same time, Flock is aggressively expanding its ALPR capabilities far beyond simple driver surveillance. The misuse and abuse of this system is already on display.
If your city has ALPRs, it’s likely your movements today were tracked by an ALPR camera. If your city doesn’t, it’s likely only a matter of time before a company like Flock starts pitching ALPRs to your local leaders.
That’s where you, your neighbors, and this toolkit come in.
We have a real opportunity here in Iowa to stop the surveillance state (and the private companies fueling it) from steamrolling over our civil liberties.
People across the political spectrum oppose government surveillance. That opposition increases even more when government surveillance is enabled and controlled by third-party private companies.
This toolkit contains resources to take a stand against the unregulated use of ALPRs in your community. Whether your goal is to end a contract your city already has with Flock Safety, or you want to proactively urge your city officials to keep ALPRs out of your community, here is the information and resources to get you started.
You do not need to be an expert to be an effective advocate against privacy-invasive ALPR use.
We recommend reviewing some basics before beginning your local advocacy work. Here are a few resources to get you started:
It’s important to establish what your city’s current automated license plate reader (ALPR) situation is to guide your advocacy and goals.
Check our ALPRs in Iowa map as a starting point. If your city is not on the map, do not assume it doesn’t have ALPRs, or is not actively considering them. Publicly available and official documentation of ALPR use is rare (this lack of transparency is part of the problem).
Other places to research include:
- Your city’s website: Check past city council meeting agendas and minutes. Consideration of ALPR contracts could be in the “consent agenda” section. Use the keyboard shortcut CMD-F (Mac) or CTL-F (PC) to search for keywords like “automated license plate reader” or “Flock” in large documents.
- City council: Email or call your city council member and ask them directly if your city has an ALPR contract or is considering one. You can find your city council’s contact information on your city’s website.
- News coverage: Check your local news sources for stories on when an ALPR contract was adopted/when city officials considered it. It is also common to see statements from police or other city officials about ALPRs in local news coverage.
- Flock Safety’s “transparency portals”: These are webpages Flock generates for cities that provide barebones information about ALPRs in those cities. Do a web browser search for your city’s name and “flock transparency portal” to see if your city has one. Cities have to opt-in to having Flock create a “transparency portal” on their behalf.
- Public search audits: Some transparency portals also include ‘public search audits’. These are typically spreadsheets that include information on what search terms the police use when searching the database. This is an example. These audits show the wide variety of search terms used.
- Deflock.me: Check this crowd-sourced map of Flock cameras for specific camera locations.
Questions to keep in mind while researching:
- What specific problem does your community want to address?
It should not be assumed that surveillance is the right solution. If your city has started a discussion about a specific surveillance proposal, they’ve already skipped several critical steps. Surveillance technology is often thrown at problems that it cannot solve. - Does your city have an ALPR contract?
If so, can you get a copy? When does the contract end? - How many ALPR cameras are in use in your city?
Where are they located?
Are they in areas that seem to target particular groups of people? Ex. low-income neighborhoods, immigrants, people of color - How much is the city paying for ALPRs?
- Did the city council approve the use of ALPRs?
- Did they vote on the contract? Was it part of their consent agenda? Was there public education about it? Local agencies should not acquire or deploy new surveillance systems, or expand their surveillance programs, without public discussion and debate.
- Has the city or the police department publicly reported on how ALPRs have been working in your city?
Information on ALPR use is often hard to find, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t find much easily. If you’re getting stonewalled by a city official or are unable to find information on your city’s website, please reach out to us at outreach@aclu-ia.org so we can help you.
As you begin, reach out to and include other community members in your efforts. Make sure you have multiple perspectives. Check out any news coverage on ALPRs in your town to see if there are other like-minded people or organizations already working on this you can join forces with. Ask around your own personal network as well.
Local groups can also be effective partners. Reach out to groups that serve people who are more likely to be targeted by malicious ALPR use (examples include victims of domestic violence and immigrants). Groups that oppose government overreach are also likely allies.
Does your city already use ALPRs?
The gold standard goal to protect your privacy and civil liberties is for your city to end its ALPR contract, particularly with a company like Flock Safety that maintains a massive nationwide camera database and whose local contracts make it clear that they want your data to share all around the country.
If ending the contract isn’t feasible right now, the next best thing is mitigating damage. You can find more information about potential proposals that reduce the harm of ALPRs here. We urge you to only try these approaches if you know for a fact that the removal or prevention of ALPR use entirely is not a viable option.
Does your city not use ALPRs?
If your city does not already have an ALPR contract, it’s likely they will be approached sometime soon. This is the perfect time to proactively reach out to your city council and put this issue on their radar. You can provide them with the Protect our Privacy campaign resources and urge them to reject any future offers from ALPR companies like Flock Safety.
Once your coalition is ready and you’re equipped with information about ALPRs in your town, you’re ready! Timing is important - the best time to speak out against ALPRs is before a contract is signed, and the second-best time is a few months before a contract is about to end. Flock contracts tend to auto-renew every two years, but check your town’s particular contract language.
Publicizing your call to end your town’s ALPR contract (or not sign an ALPR contract) is critically important to draw attention to the issue and put pressure on your city’s decision-makers. Some strategies for doing this include:
Meet with your city council and other key officials.
Talk directly with your city council members. Meet them for coffee or invite them to a coalition meeting. We recommend doing some research about your city council members to find out what and who influences them. Check out this resource for tips on how to do that.
Other key city officials to research and potentially meet with include:
- Mayor
- City manager
- Police chief
Many city officials neither understand nor endorse Flock’s nationwide, mass surveillance-driven approach to ALPR use, but they adopt the cameras simply because other cities in their area are doing so. You are doing a public service by providing them with accurate information.
Attend and testify at city council meetings.
This is most impactful when you can gather a group of people to testify. Most cities include a public comment period during their city council meetings, and each person will get a few minutes to speak.
Check your city’s website to see when your city council meets and find the process for public comment (whether you have to sign up in advance, etc.).
Use this resource to help craft what you want to say.
Check out this Coralville City Council meeting recording for a great example of residents speaking out against ALPRs.
Write letters to the editor or op-eds for your local newspaper or news blog.
Check out our resource for writing an effective letter to the editor here. We are happy to help review drafts or provide feedback!
Start a local petition.
This is an easy way to show the number of residents who are concerned about ALPRs. Use the ALPR resources linked at the top for help in drafting.
Use social media to spread the word.
It will likely take some time and perseverance to see results. Even if it seems like your city officials aren’t listening, members of your community ARE and need to know the privacy and safety violations that ALPR cameras cause.
Lastly, reach out to ACLU of Iowa staff at outreach@aclu-ia.org. We’re happy to answer questions and help make your efforts as effective as possible. Thank you for defending civil liberties in Iowa!
