Tag: ACLU

2021: The Year Flock Safety License Plate Readers Exploded Across the Country

By guest writer Joe Cadillic, founder of the MassPrivatel Blog 2021 will also go down as the year police/Flock Safety license plate readers exploded across the country. One major development that went overlooked by the mass media is Flock Safety’s role in the ever-expanding network of police license plate readers. From January 2021-December 2021, law […]

Fourth Amendment Wins in the Baltimore Plane Surveillance Case: NMA E-Newsletter #654

“Allowing the police to wield this power unchecked is anathema to the values enshrined in our Fourth Amendment,” wrote Fourth Circuit US Court of Appeals Chief Judge Roger Gregory in late June. The case, Leaders of a Beautiful Struggle v. Baltimore Police Department, involved the use of aerial surveillance that continuously tracked and monitored the […]

Have Checkpoints Gone Too Far?

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the NMA’s Driving Freedoms Magazine in the Fall of 2020. If you would like to receive the NMA’s quarterly magazine, join the NMA today! First of all, what is the difference between a roadblock and a checkpoint? A roadblock is a barricade set up by law enforcement to […]

ALPRs win the Day in the Virginia Supreme Court

Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared as NMA Newsletter #623 in December 2020. To receive the NMA weekly E-Newsletter, subscribe HERE today! Automatic License Plate Readers or ALPRs can detail a motorist’s comings and goings without any thought of whether the person driving is suspected of nefarious activity. Some motorists around the country are challenging […]

How a Surveillance State Affects Motorists’ Privacy?

By Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director and Joe Cadillic of the Mass Privatel Blog First of all, let’s define a surveillance state, which will ultimately help us understand how a surveillance state affects motorists’ privacy. A 2013 Privacy International Blog took on that task with a look towards the United Kingdom. The UK data protection […]

Big Data in Connected Smart Cars: Myths & Reality

Today’s smart cars collect a wide variety of data, from the road’s width, information about potential hazards, a history of user behavior, and so much more. Connected cars are just a small piece of the IoT, which is helping to make our world more interconnected than ever before. Whether you are feeding information to your […]

Police Drones Take Off—What is the Impact for Motorists?

Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared as NMA E-Newsletter #485. If you would like to receive the NMA E-Newsletter on a weekly basis, join the National Motorists Association today! Traffic stops are often one of the most dangerous situations for law enforcement (not to mention for motorists as many recent events have proven). The unknown […]

We Don’t Need No Street Surveillance

By Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director and Joe Cadillic, MassPrivatel Blog The Street Surveillance Watch Blog comes to you biweekly on the National Motorists Association Blog. If you have comments or suggestions, write a comment after this blog or contact us at nma@motorists.org. We Don’t Want No Street Surveillance Joe and I have been wrestling […]

Do we really need Smart Cities?

Written by Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director with Joe Cadillic, MassPrivatel Blog The Street Surveillance Watch Blog comes to you biweekly on the National Motorists Association Blog. If you have comments or suggestions, write a comment after this blog or contact us at nma@motorists.org. Do we really need Smart Cities? Even before the COVID0-19 crisis, […]