"Across ideologically diverse communities, 2025 campaigns against automated license plate reader (ALPR) surveillance kept winning. From Austin, Texas to Cambridge, Massachusetts to Eugene, Oregon, successful campaigns combined three practical elements: a motivated political champion on city council, organized grassroots pressure from affected communities, and technical assistance at critical decision moments. The 2025 Formula for Refusal Institutional Authority: Council members leveraging "procurement power"-local democracy's most underutilized tool-to say no."
"In 2025, organizers embraced the "ugly" win: prioritizing immediate contract cancellations over the "political purity" of perfect privacy laws. Procurement fights are often messy, bureaucratic battles rather than high-minded legislative debates, but they stop surveillance where it starts-at the checkbook. In Austin, more than 30 community groups built a coalition that forced a contract cancellation, achieving via purchasing power what policy reform often delays."
"In Hays County, Texas , the victory wasn't about a new law, but a contract termination. Commissioner Michelle Cohen grounded her vote in vendor accountability, explaining : "It's more about the company's practices versus the technology." These victories might lack the permanence of a statute, but every camera turned off built a culture of refusal that made the next rejection easier."
Campaigns across diverse cities stopped automated license plate reader (ALPR) surveillance through three practical elements: council members using procurement power to refuse purchases, grassroots bases demanding "no cameras", and coalitions sharing technical research. Organizers prioritized immediate contract cancellations over passing perfect privacy statutes, turning procurement battles into concrete surveillance halts. Local victories—such as a 30-group coalition in Austin and a contract termination in Hays County—used vendor accountability and purchasing leverage. Each camera turned off reinforced a culture of refusal, simplified subsequent rejections, and relied on documented harms and strategic technical assistance at key procurement decision points.
Read at Electronic Frontier Foundation
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