EFF's Policy Position on ALPR Surveillance: Eliminate It and Reduce Its Harms

Filed by Dana Graviton

Automated license plate readers (ALPRs) build a searchable map of everywhere a driver goes, fed into databases that police, ICE, and private vendors can query after the fact. Networked across a city, ALPRs are purpose-built to track everyone regardless of suspicion. ALPRs are not a surveillance tool that can be made safe with the right policy or feature update—they are irredeemably harmful. EFF's position is that ALPR mass surveillance—the indiscriminate, continuous collection and retention of l