1. United States
2. N.Y.
3. Letter

I'm writing as your constituent to urge you to support federal legislation banning automated license plate reader (ALPR) mass surveillance. What began as a tool for finding stolen cars has become a dragnet tracking every driver regardless of suspicion—and it fundamentally contradicts the freedoms America claims to protect. Even worse, officers with access to this invasive power are treating it like a joke. The Electronic Frontier Foundation recently exposed searches conducted for reasons as flippant as "haha" and "LOL"—as if constitutional rights were a punchline. If police can't be trusted not to misuse this technology for amusement, how can they be entrusted with its continued deployment? This isn't hypothetical abuse. Here in New York, a senior investigator at the Albany County Sheriff's Office was charged in December 2024 with misusing Flock ALPR cameras to stalk someone. An NYPD detective faced similar charges for tracking his ex-girlfriend. The NYPD alone operates nearly 500 license plate readers, accumulating millions of records on innocent drivers. We're trusting people who have already proven they'll abuse this power for personal gratification. Across the country, the pattern repeats: officers stalking partners, monitoring peaceful protesters, tracking abortion seekers. Internal oversight consistently fails—audits merely document the abuse after citizens' privacy has been violated. New Yorkers are pushing back. Communities including Syracuse, Ithaca, Saranac Lake, and Scarsdale successfully blocked Flock contracts. But local victories aren't enough—we need federal action. At minimum, Congress should mandate strict data deletion deadlines and require warrants for any person-tracking searches. Given the documented culture of abuse, a complete ban on mass ALPR deployment is warranted. Please contact me once you've reviewed my request and let me know where you stand on supporting anti-ALPR legislation.