By Constitution Staff

On October 8, Rep. Tom Gann (R-Inola) led a legislative study on the use and abuse of surveillance cameras and warrantless searches before the House State Powers Committee. Gann particularly looked at the use of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs), which under state law only legally can be used to identify uninsured motorists who are in violation of the state’s compulsory insurance law. The cameras, however, – many of them illegally placed – are being used to track much other activity.

In the 2024 legislative session, a proposal to authorize the scanners, House Bill 3570, failed to receive a House floor vote, and a comparable measure, Senate Bill 1620, was defeated by a wide margin.

According to Gann, many local government entities have entered into contracts with a nationwide big-tech firm, Flock, to install 24/7 vehicle scanning technology with data being shared with the municipalities and law enforcement – despite such actions being prohibited by Oklahoma law.

“On the issue of automated license plate readers, our state laws are inadequate in keeping up with the fast pace of technological advances being made,” Gann said. “Unfortunately, how those advances are used is without regard to due process. My desire is to have these concerns taken into consideration as we work with the Senate and other lawmakers to develop laws to govern the activity already taking place.”

Gann said one issue is that legitimate criminal cases are being thrown out of court because of the illegally obtained license plate data. Verifiable criminals are being released from custody on the technicality. The law should be updated, he said, to specify that with a probable cause affidavit or a warrant the cameras could be used to search for specific criminals on a “hotlist.” He used the illustration of how law enforcement in Florida used license plate data to catch the person accused of trying assassinate former President Donald Trump.

The other – and more glaring issue, according to Gann – is the threat to personal privacy. Gann said ALPRs could be used to track personal visits to the doctor, to political rallies, to places of worship and much more. That data could then be used against individuals in numerous ways.

“These uses are not authorized by Oklahoma law,” Gann said. “We are for the rule of law, and that requires us to have law enforcement,” he said. “But nowhere in the Constitution does it require government to make you safe. The Constitution is a restriction on government to keep us free. Even though we all want to be safe, we have a duty first to ensure the laws that we make respect the rights granted by God and preserved by the U.S. and Oklahoma Constitutions.”

Gann said there also needs to be much more transparency about where surveillance cameras are located, who the data is being shared with, and the policies of the technology companies that are providing the cameras need to be shared publicly. He said there needs to be no wall of separation between private industry and government entities when it comes to the use of the cameras and the sharing and storing of the data collected.

Gann asked members of the Pryor Creek City Council and OK2A to speak during the study. Participants also heard from Chad Marlow, senior policy counsel with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who summed up the issue related to government use of ALPRs. “The truth is ALPRs are no magic bullet when it comes to solving crimes,” Marlow said. “In fact, they are more like a real bullet, and that if not used properly and safely they can pose a significant threat to Oklahomans.”

Gann said his intent with studying this issue is to determine how best to modify the law to allow for constitutional protections for individual privacy while allowing law enforcement to catch criminals. “It is not necessary, nor is it acceptable to put a camera on every street corner,” he said. “We must have constitutional protections in place.”