License Plate Readers vs. Your Constitutional Rights📉 Monty Fritts (R) Primary Candidate TN Gov AUG6

Our Take

When a statewide candidate makes license plate readers part of a campaign pitch, it's a sign the issue is breaking out of activist circles and into mainstream political conversation. Monty Fritts, running in Tennessee's Republican gubernatorial primary, frames ALPR networks as a constitutional rights problem — and whatever you think of his politics otherwise, that framing matters. Mass location tracking of ordinary drivers shouldn't be a partisan issue, and it's encouraging to see candidates willing to say so out loud instead of treating Flock-style surveillance as a settled, uncontroversial public safety tool.

We don't know Fritts' specific policy proposals from a campaign video alone, and we're not in the business of endorsements. But the core concern he's raising — that a database capable of logging everywhere you drive deserves real constitutional scrutiny, not a rubber stamp — is exactly the kind of accountability conversation Tennessee and every other state needs. Lawmakers, city councils, and sheriffs have largely let ALPR vendors write the terms of these deployments with minimal public debate. A candidate putting it on the campaign trail forces the question into daylight.

If you're in Tennessee or anywhere else, don't wait for an election to find out how exposed you already are. Check our camera map to see documented ALPR locations near you, and visit our take-action page for ways to push back regardless of who's on the ballot.