From Protest to City Council -- SCVI Advocates Speak Out Against AI Surveillance

On June 2, twelve people came from our Tuesday protest to the Stillwater City Council meeting to speak out against the city’s Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs, also known as Flock cameras). There are about thirty of these cameras in Stillwater. The cameras do not just read license plates, but they also track our movements. The footage is used to train AI models that are owned by private companies that care about their profit, not our safety.

SCVI advocates stand to show their support for the comments being made against ALPR.

Speakers raised concerns about privacy and data security, illustrating that the footage from these cameras has often been hacked or misused. They pointed out that the cameras may lead people to stay away from downtown Stillwater businesses. The mayor promised that “there will be next steps” on the issue, and suggested that “we can just turn the things off and call it a day.” Our Tuesday protest is becoming a platform for local actions that make a difference in our community!

To watch our advocates' comments, go to https://stillwatermn.new.swagit.com/videos/389865 and skip to 2:10:05. To learn more about ALPRs, visit https://deflock.org/.