Texas poll: 51% strongly oppose license plate readers at public intersections
The short version: CBS Austin reports a new poll shows a majority of Texans strongly oppose license plate reader cameras at public intersections, signaling growing public distrust of ALPR surveillance.
Our Take
Credit to CBS Austin for putting a number on something we've felt anecdotally for a while: Texans are souring on license plate readers watching their every move through intersections. A majority saying they "strongly oppose" these cameras isn't a fringe reaction — it's a sign that ordinary people understand what's at stake when a government or private vendor like Flock Safety logs their travel patterns without a warrant, without a crime, without even asking.
These polls matter because they puncture the industry talking point that ALPR networks are universally welcomed as a public safety no-brainer. In reality, people are starting to connect the dots between "it caught one bad guy" anecdotes and the much larger, quieter cost: a searchable log of where you drive, when, and how often, sitting in a database that can be queried, shared across agencies, or breached. Public opinion is catching up to the civil liberties argument that's been made for years.
If you're in Texas or anywhere else wondering whether your own intersections are wired up, check our camera map to see what's already deployed near you, and if you want to push back locally the way these poll respondents clearly want to, our take-action page has concrete steps for raising this at your next city council meeting.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of CBS Austin, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.