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

I'm writing to demand immediate action on Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) surveillance in our state. The technology is currently operating as an unchecked mass surveillance network, and the evidence shows those charged with overseeing it cannot be trusted. Last month, the Electronic Frontier Foundation published findings from Flock Safety search logs that reveal how casually our civil liberties are being trampled. Police officers are querying these databases for reasons like "LOL," "LMAO," "sexy," and "idk." In some cases, officers simply mash keyboard buttons rather than articulating any legitimate investigative purpose. If a police chief proposed installing hundreds of cameras so officers could track people "for laughs," they'd be laughed out of the council chamber. Yet that's exactly what's happening digitally every day. The pattern extends beyond jokes. Network audits reveal officers regularly abusing these systems to stalk romantic partners—past and potential. They've been used to surveil protesters exercising First Amendment rights and even to track down women seeking abortions. Millions of searches flow through agency systems from thousands of external sources with zero judicial review. Here's the core problem: unlike cell phone location data, which requires a warrant and probable cause before a judge, ALPR searches happen with free rein. The dropdown menus vendors implemented to require reason selection? Easily circumvented. There's no requirement that the logged reason actually match what the officer is doing. Self-supervision has failed spectacularly—when thousands of agencies can't catch obvious misconduct among themselves, external oversight becomes mandatory. This isn't about fighting crime. It's about whether everyday citizens deserve privacy in their daily movements. We don't accept warrantless tracking of phones; we shouldn't accept it for cars either. I urge you to ban ALPR mass surveillance in our state until strict warrant requirements, independent auditing, and real consequences for abuse are codified into law. The current system is broken beyond repair.