Stopping AI-powered license-plate surveillance

A camera just logged your car. You weren't suspected of anything.

A solar-powered Flock license-plate camera on a roadside pole along US-63 in Cable, Wisconsin, next to the American Birkebeiner Trail sign

This one is on US-63 in Cable, Bayfield County. It logs every car that passes.

Get corporate public surveillance OUT of the Northwoods, the last stronghold of privacy in the Midwest.

100,721 vehicles logged in one 30-day period in Bayfield County, a county of about 16,000. No public vote. No way to opt out.

What are Flock cameras and ALPRs?

An automated license-plate reader, or ALPR, is a camera that photographs every passing vehicle and logs the plate, the make, the model, the color, the time, and the spot. Flock Safety is the biggest company selling them and it's what sits on our roads, but Motorola, Axon, and others sell the same thing.

The data feeds a national network. Thousands of police departments can search it. You don't have to be accused of anything to be in it. Flock's network alone runs more than 20 billion plate scans a month across 5,000-plus communities.

New to all this? Start with the FAQ. It answers the questions people actually ask - "isn't this just for catching criminals?", "can I opt out?" - straight, with sources.

Why you should care

This isn't about having something to hide. It's about who gets to track everyone, all the time, with no warrant and no public vote.

1

Tracked anyway

You did nothing wrong

The camera can't tell a criminal from you. It logs everyone the same. You're in the file because you own a car, not because you did anything.

2

It travels nationwide

Shared far past your town

Your data doesn't stay local. Hundreds of departments in other states can pull it up, and it has already been searched on behalf of ICE.

3

No say

Nobody voted

No public vote. No way to opt out. Somebody signed a contract and the cameras went up. That should bother you no matter how you vote.

See all nine, with sources

What one county found when it checked

100,721vehicles logged in Bayfield County in one 30-day period
~250agencies in five states could see the data
0public votes taken before the cameras went up

This fight is live in towns and counties across the Northwoods. See where we're fighting.

These cameras are up in our own backyard. Here's how we take them back out.

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