EFF, ACLU of Wisconsin Petition State Supreme Court on ALPR Warrants
Civil liberties groups ask Wisconsin’s highest court to require warrants for retrospective license plate searches in four cities.
Key points
- The Electronic Frontier Foundation and ACLU of Wisconsin filed a petition with the state Supreme Court.
- The request seeks a ruling that the state constitution mandates warrants for retrospective ALPR database searches.
- The case involves law enforcement practices in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and Green Bay.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation and the ACLU of Wisconsin filed a joint petition with the Wisconsin Supreme Court today. The legal teams are asking the state’s highest court to rule that the Wisconsin constitution requires law enforcement to obtain a warrant before conducting retrospective searches of Automated License Plate Reader databases.
According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the petition targets surveillance practices in four specific municipalities: Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and Green Bay. The organizations represent the Wisconsin Council of Churches and an individual pastor based in Green Bay. They argue that current practices allow police to track movements without individualized suspicion or judicial oversight.
Constitutional Challenge and Precedent
The petition asserts that ALPR technology records the movements of vast numbers of drivers as they engage in private activities. These activities include seeking medical care, attending religious services, participating in protests, and joining political meetings, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Law enforcement entities across Wisconsin collect, store, share, and aggregate this data.
The groups contend that retrospective searches allow police to track individuals and entire communities in ways that were previously prohibitively costly or impossible. This legal action follows a prior lawsuit, SIREN v. San Jose, which also challenged warrantless ALPR searches. Additionally, a federal court in Oklahoma recently became the first to rule that ALPRs constitute indiscriminate mass surveillance.
Privacy Concerns for Specific Groups
The Electronic Frontier Foundation highlights that religious organizations and officials have a heightened interest in protecting location privacy. Their work involves facilitating worship gatherings, offering pastoral care, and providing confidential counseling. The petition notes that visitors to houses of worship have a strong right to privacy against police monitoring.
Specific concerns include monitoring when individuals pray, seek addiction counseling, or attend domestic violence survivor meetings. The groups argue that surveillance vendors should not help police upend the system of individualized suspicion. They maintain that all citizens deserve to be free from warrantless mass surveillance of their daily movements.
What should you do?
Security professionals and legal observers should monitor the proceedings of the Wisconsin Supreme Court for this petition. Organizations should review how they handle location data and ensure compliance with emerging state-level privacy rulings. Individuals concerned about surveillance should stay informed about local law enforcement data retention policies.
What to do and how to stay safe: Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Monitor official court dockets for updates on the Wisconsin Supreme Court petition regarding ALPR warrants.
- Review organizational data handling policies to ensure alignment with potential new state constitutional requirements.
- Track federal court rulings on mass surveillance, such as the recent Oklahoma decision, for broader legal trends.
- Consult legal counsel to understand how retrospective search limitations might impact local law enforcement data sharing.
Step-by-step guide: How to Remove Data from Data Brokers: The Manual Cleanup Process
General security guidance from the Threat Times newsroom. It is not confirmed advice from the organisations named in this story.
Frequently asked questions
Which cities are included in the Wisconsin ALPR petition?
The petition covers law enforcement practices in Milwaukee, Racine, Kenosha, and Green Bay, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Who are the plaintiffs in this case?
The Wisconsin Council of Churches and an individual pastor in Green Bay are represented by the EFF and ACLU of Wisconsin.
Has any court previously ruled on ALPR surveillance?
Yes, a federal court in Oklahoma recently ruled that ALPRs are a type of indiscriminate mass surveillance and suppressed evidence from a warrantless search.
