Big Brother Is Watching—Through Your License Plate

You don’t need to break the law to end up in a police database. Just drive.

Across Massachusetts and much of the country, police are using Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs)—high-speed cameras that scan every car that passes. These machines don’t just check for stolen cars. They store your license plate, the time, the location, and your movements—day after day, year after year.

And here’s the kicker: the courts say this isn’t even a “search.”

How Can This Be Legal?
In Commonwealth v. McCarthy, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that short-term use of ALPR data doesn’t violate your rights. Why? Because your plate is in public, and anyone—police included—can see it. ALPRs just do the job faster.

That’s based on a 1983 U.S. Supreme Court case, United States v. Knotts, which said people don’t have privacy in where they go if it’s out in the open.

But that case was from a time when surveillance meant actual humans following cars. ALPRs don’t forget. They don’t sleep. They collect millions of data points and build a permanent map of your life. They turn every road into a checkpoint, and every trip into evidence.

A Line Crossed
Taking one photo of a license plate might not sound invasive. But when police collect those photos for weeks or months, it becomes something else entirely. They can learn where you live, where you work, where you sleep, who you see, when you protest, what church you attend.

This isn’t traffic enforcement—it’s mass surveillance.

The U.S. Supreme Court recognized this risk in Carpenter v. United States. In that case, the Court said the government needs a warrant to collect long-term cell phone location data, because it reveals the “privacies of life.” That same logic should apply to ALPRs. But many courts—and police departments—haven’t caught up.

What We Do at Lane Law Office
At Lane Law Office, we don’t let silent surveillance go unchallenged. If ALPR data is used against our clients, we take action:

– We file motions to suppress when ALPR tracking crosses the line into unconstitutional surveillance. We argue that prolonged data collection—like in Carpenter—is a warrantless search and a violation of privacy rights.

– We demand accountability. We request logs showing how long departments retain ALPR data and who accessed it. Many departments keep this data for years without any clear policy.

– We follow the data trail. If local police shared ALPR hits with ICE, the DEA, or other federal agencies, we raise those issues in court. That kind of collaboration can trigger due process and equal protection concerns—especially for immigrant clients.

– We look for policy failures. Most cities and towns have no written limits on how ALPRs can be used. No audit logs. No oversight. We expose that lack of structure to challenge the reliability—and legality—of the evidence.

We don’t accept “it’s just a license plate” as a reason to sweep up innocent people in a massive data net. We press back—because unchecked surveillance is not just a legal problem, it’s a constitutional threat.

Don’t Let “Just Driving” Be an Excuse to Track Everyone
ALPRs aren’t just cameras. They’re surveillance systems—quietly watching millions of people who haven’t done anything wrong. And they’re spreading fast, with little oversight and even less public debate.

If this sounds like Big Brother, that’s because it is. Just because you’re on a public road doesn’t mean the government should be able to build a permanent digital record of your movements—without a warrant, without cause, and without your knowledge.

It’s time we stopped pretending this is no big deal.

If you have questions about a criminal matter, or you want to talk to Attorney Lane about legal defense, call today.