Ban ALPR Cameras From UMBC

UMBC currently has 8 Flock cameras installed on campus, covering every entrance and exit to Hilltop Circle. These cameras collect information in the name of "helping to locate stolen vehicles." A question: Why do we need Flock cameras when we already have round-the-clock license plate verification for parking permit compliance? How many people steal a car and then immediately register for a permit with the school they attend to avoid being fined and towed? How many people steal a car and bring it somewhere mere yards away from a county police station?

These cameras do nothing but contribute to the creation of a surveillance state where our right to privacy is eschewed so that law enforcement can amass data on our whereabouts "just in case." Not to mention, the private companies who build these also have access to this massive amount of data. And if our private health information, credit card information, and social security number can all be compromised in these massive data breaches, why should we expect our location and habits to stay secure?

The answer is, we shouldn't. We should not be forced to subject ourselves to constant monitoring and the fear that we are being watched at all times. UMBC should be a place to work, study, and develop skills to make society a better place. Instead, these cameras turn it into a panopticon and a place to fear stepping out of line and giving the all-seeing eyes a reason to look at you.

Flock cameras have already been used to track down people for reasons unrelated to auto theft, including by ICE to find and detain suspected undocumented migrants, and to prove a woman traveled out of state for an abortion in a circumstance where abortion was prohibited by that state's law.

Please join me in petitioning to remove these cameras from the campus grounds, and encourage UMBC to ban their usage in perpetuity to protect our civil liberties and right to privacy.

Further information on the harm of Flock cameras is available from the ACLU.