The ACLU of Wisconsin wants to change how Automatic License Plate Reader information is obtained

Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology has become an increasingly prominent tool used by law enforcement agencies across the country. These high-speed camera networks capture, analyze, and store data on millions of vehicles daily, recording license plates along with location, date, and time information. While proponents argue that ALPR networks assist in criminal investigations and public safety, privacy advocates emphasize that unchecked retrospective searching of vast surveillance databases poses significant constitutional issues regarding individual privacy rights and freedom of association.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Wisconsin and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) have filed a petition directly with the Wisconsin Supreme Court on behalf of the Wisconsin Council of Churches (WCC) and an individual pastor in Green Bay asking the Court to require the government to obtain a judicial warrant in order to query data collected by Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) networks. The petition asserts that retroactive searches of this kind of ALPR data amounts to a “search” that must comply with standards mandated by the Wisconsin Constitution.

The Petitioners are suing four Wisconsin cities – Green Bay, Milwaukee, Racine, and Kenosha – each of which operate these systems and conduct searches using them. The WCC represents more than 2,000 congregations in Wisconsin who provide religious services, confidential counseling, and other sensitive community programming, including in these jurisdictions. Petitioners allege that the government’s ability to retroactively search these vast, AI-assisted networks of ALPRs tramples upon Wisconsinites’ expectations of privacy and amounts to a “search” that can only be legal if performed with a warrant or a lawful exception to the warrant requirements.