Join us in Dallas!
The short version: Texas Civil Rights Project is hosting a Dallas-area screening and discussion to teach young people about ALPR surveillance and their civil rights.
Our Take
Credit where it's due: the Texas Civil Rights Project is doing something most watchdogs talk about but rarely pull off — getting pizza, popcorn, and teenagers in the same room as a serious conversation about mass surveillance. Pairing a movie screening with a breakout discussion on Flock Safety cameras is exactly the kind of grassroots groundwork that turns an abstract privacy issue into something people actually understand and act on. High schoolers and college students are growing up in cities blanketed with license plate readers they never voted for and mostly don't know exist.
That's the real value of events like this one in Plano — ALPR networks spread quietly through city council votes and police department purchases, not public debate. By the time most residents notice the cameras on their street, the data-sharing agreements are already signed and the retention policies are already set. Community education is one of the few tools that can get ahead of that curve instead of reacting to it after the fact.
If you can't make it to Dallas, you can still do your own version of this work. Check our map to see what's already watching your block, and use our take-action guide to push back on it.
This is DeFlock The USA’s original commentary. The video above is the work of Texas Civil Rights Project, published on YouTube — full credit to the creator.