The problem is right now LPR data is available to just about everyone who wants it for any reason as long as they are part of law enforcement. They are using it, for example, to crack down on dissent, to stalk ex lovers, and to enforce abortion restrictions that are constitutionally dubious.
If we are to maintain our liberty, the vast power such a surveillance apparatus should either not exist or only be accessible through an adversarial court system (i.e. a search warrant).
Along a similar line, speed limits should be reduced to 35mph maximum for non-emergency traffic, it would save thousands of pointless deaths every year.
But the small harm of time wasted in traffic is -worth- the. sacrifice of thousands of lives, as it turn out.
Wrong metric-- the person caught would have almost certainly been caught absent it, making it easy to overstate the benefit.
When someone with access-- potentially LEO but the access set is much larger-- uses the data to stalk and harass someone you'll usually never know that the ALPR camera was the data source.
So its easy to overstate the contribution and understate the harm.
But if you talk a step back you can see the dramatic change being made to our world: making it impossible to go about your life without being constantly tracked, cataloged, and having your history made available to who knows who, for who knows what purpose, for who knows how long (but probably forever).
Is there an easier way to make this statement?
So did we kill a legislation that would have blocked Police license plate readers and Flock?
Or because the legislation is killed, we can block Police license plate readers and flock?
If only there were some longer form content that could enlighten us
Good riddance.
Just yesterday, flock helped police catch a dude who shot two women and was on the run https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/napa-road-rage-sho....
There's no expectation of privacy on public roads, but there are angry people behind 2 ton death machines.
"Kill switches" are too much, but license plate readers are not.
The problem is right now LPR data is available to just about everyone who wants it for any reason as long as they are part of law enforcement. They are using it, for example, to crack down on dissent, to stalk ex lovers, and to enforce abortion restrictions that are constitutionally dubious.
If we are to maintain our liberty, the vast power such a surveillance apparatus should either not exist or only be accessible through an adversarial court system (i.e. a search warrant).
(1) https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/11/how-cops-are-using-flo...
(2) https://local12.com/news/nation-world/police-chief-gets-caug...
(3) https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/10/flock-safety-and-texas...
We need to tighten the legal guardrails around this data and punish cops who misuse it.
This would move society in a positive direction.
Making the data itself a Taboo, just to avoid jailing bad cops, does not.
Idk. Collective small harms vs individual harms.
Along a similar line, speed limits should be reduced to 35mph maximum for non-emergency traffic, it would save thousands of pointless deaths every year.
But the small harm of time wasted in traffic is -worth- the. sacrifice of thousands of lives, as it turn out.
I am not harmed when I go through a toll plaza or an express lane.
Nor when I pass a flock camera.
You are boxing with phantoms, I think.
> Nor when I pass a flock camera.
You are not, or at least, you think you are not.
How far removed are we from the federal government revoking the passports of everyone who attended a No Kings rally, anywhere in the country?
... And what do you think stops them from revoking the passports, today?
Do you think it is Courts and the looming Midterms; or are they just flummoxed by the lack of good surveillance data?
It's really a fantasy and a silly Taboo.
Our Democracy will live or die by politics, not silly rules on data collection at the margins.
[delayed]
Wrong metric-- the person caught would have almost certainly been caught absent it, making it easy to overstate the benefit.
When someone with access-- potentially LEO but the access set is much larger-- uses the data to stalk and harass someone you'll usually never know that the ALPR camera was the data source.
So its easy to overstate the contribution and understate the harm.
But if you talk a step back you can see the dramatic change being made to our world: making it impossible to go about your life without being constantly tracked, cataloged, and having your history made available to who knows who, for who knows what purpose, for who knows how long (but probably forever).
Why would they "almost certainly" have been caught otherwise?
This is a load bearing component of your argument and it seems thin.
From my perspective, you are synthesizing a harm while ignoring the clear and concrete contribution.