Privacy is Power: Protecting our digital rights and our democracy
How you can get involved right now in Massachusetts
April 8, 2026
Technology and Justice
Your privacy is at risk. But we have power to right the balance.
Join us as we fight for strong state legislation to protect our digital privacy from corporations, the federal government, and state and local police.
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PRESENTATION TITLE
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Corporate biometric surveillance | Corporate location tracking | ICE/FBI buying location data | Police facial recognition | Police surveillance of motorists | ICE surveillance of motorists |
Clearview AI, Meta FR glasses, surveillance in public places eliminating privacy in public | Apps, developers, ad companies, data brokers, telecoms | Feds ignoring 4A and buying data directly from data brokers | Cops can search without a warrant, no rules against mass surveillance, no due process protections | Flock, Vigilant, and other LPR vendors allow police to track motorist movements and share data nationwide | ICE can access LPR data, even when they don't do it directly |
Prohibit companies from collecting our biometric data unless it is strictly necessary to provide us with a service we have requested | Blanket ban on the sale of precise geolocation data | Prohibit the sale of these data, cutting off the feds' supply | Require a warrant, ban mass surveillance, impose due process protections | Prohibit police from sharing LPR data absent a warrant, limit data retention | Prohibit police from sharing LPR data absent a warrant |
Consumer data privacy legislation: H.4746/S.2608 | Consumer data privacy legislation: H.4746/S.2608 | Consumer data privacy legislation: H.4746/S.2608 | Facial recognition reforms: H.4640/S.1053 | Drivers' Privacy Act: H.3755 | Drivers' Privacy Act: H.3755 |
Data privacy
Companies are collecting and processing our data without any meaningful restrictions. We are fighting back.
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Limit info collection to provide user with requested service
Data minimization
Ban the sale of sensitive data, impose stricter data minimization requirements
Sensitive data protections
Private right of action
Robust enforcement
Privacy is Power
Facial recognition
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Facial recognition
Since 2019, the ACLU of Massachusetts has been organizing to ensure police use of facial recognition technology doesn't violate our basic rights or lead to wrongful arrests.
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No warrant or court oversight was required. So, we mobilized and fought back, winning key reforms in 2020.
Records obtained by the ACLU showed police in MA were making hundreds of FR searches
The law must be updated to ensure basic civil rights are protected today and for generations to come.
Today, we have some regulations, but they don't go far enough.
H.4640/S.1053 would bar police in Massachusetts from using FR to conduct mass surveillance, require a warrant for searches, and impose due process protections.
Legislation is currently before Senate and House Ways and Means
Privacy is Power
Facial recognition
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License plate readers
For over a decade, police have been using license plate readers to track the locations of all motorists on the road—not just people suspected of criminal activity
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Nationwide or regional databases make accountability impossible, and endanger us all
Over 80 PDs in MA use Flock—there are other providers as well
Other states in New England have regulated LPRs, but not Massachusetts
MA has no regulations on LPRs
Legislation filed by Rep. Owens (H.3755) would prohibit database pooling, require warrants for sharing
Legislation is currently before House Ways and Means
Privacy is Power
Facial recognition
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Take action in support of privacy
Call your state rep and state senator!
Senator:
House rep: