ARLINGTON, Va.—On Monday, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Ma.) sent a letter to U.S. Customs and Border and Protection Commissioner Rodney S. Scott, urging the agency to “immediately cease using a system of license plate readers (LPRs) and predictive algorithms to monitor the movements of individual Americans.” Markey’s letter comes after an investigation by the Associated Press exposed that the agency is using LPRs to surveil millions of innocent Americans and detain those with “suspicious” travel patterns. In that investigation, the AP largely focused on the story of Institute for Justice (IJ) client Alek Schott, who was unconstitutionally stopped, detained, and interrogated due to the program.
“We applaud Senator Markey for sounding the alarm on this massive, unconstitutional surveillance system. The warrantless use of LPR cameras—not only by the federal government, but by all law enforcement—must come to an end,” said IJ Senior Attorney Joshua Windham. “Driving isn’t a crime and innocent people shouldn’t be treated like criminal suspects simply because a government algorithm thinks their driving patterns are odd.”
In his letter, Senator Markey says, “the notion that an American could be stopped and detained based solely on an algorithmic determination about their driving behavior is deeply chilling.”
Through its Plate Privacy Project, IJ is fighting back against the warrantless use of LPR cameras. Last year, IJ sued the city of Norfolk, Virginia, alleging that its use of 176 license plate readers to track drivers’ movements is a Fourth Amendment violation. IJ also successfully persuaded a city in Arkansas to move an LPR that was directly in front of an innocent family’s home. Before the camera was moved, it captured photos of the family’s driveway and part of their front yard every time a vehicle drove by, and photographed the family every time they left or returned home. And IJ worked closely with activists in Scarsdale, New York, who wanted to end their village’s LPR program. The village ultimately scrapped its contract to install the cameras.