Desert Rising Launches Campaign Against University of Arizona Public Mass Surveillance Program

08/11/2025

Attribution: https://desertrisingtucson.org/2025/08/11/desert-rising-launches-campaign-against-university-of-arizona-public-mass-surveillance-program/

Date: Aug 11, 2025

(Tucson, AZ) Desert Rising, a Tucson-based social justice organization, is leading the campaign against the University of Arizona’s assault on data privacy. Monday, August 11, 2025, Desert Rising will be launching an informational campaign on television, radio, social media and in print and online outlets about the University of Arizona’s use of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) on public property. They have failed to notify the public of the use of this equipment, and are violating civil rights.

The University, with Flock Safety, has created a network of Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) that record license plates, vehicle data, physical features of vehicles, and store all this data on a searchable database that is sold to law enforcement agencies. These cameras are located on posts on public thoroughfares around the University’s campus. Unlike other surveillance equipment, these cameras don’t deter crime; they gather personal data.

The primary purpose of Flock Safety’s nationwide network of over 77,000 ALPRs is to collect data on vehicles and their movements for an AI-driven national database. The searchable database is marketed by Flock Safety to law enforcement agencies and other third parties. Desert Rising’s media campaign is demanding that the University of Arizona end its contract with Flock Safety, and is designed to notify the public of how they can get involved in working to protect their privacy.

The University of Arizona is not the only Flock Safety client threatening Tucsonans’ civil liberties. Lowe’s and Home Depot have recently contracted with Flock Safety to install ALPRs to gather data on their customers and share that data with third parties. The University of Arizona’s cameras are particularly egregious because the ALPRs are located on public thoroughfares, not private property.

Flock Safety has faced backlash across the country because of its lack of transparency and failure to protect data privacy. Here are a few examples of how this system has abused American citizens’ civil rights:

In 2023 in Española, NM, a Flock Safety camera wrongly identified Jaclynn Gonzales’s car as stolen due to a misread license plate. Gonzales and her 12-year-old sister were pulled over, handcuffed, and placed in a patrol car after an officer failed to verify the error, initially holding them at gunpoint.
In 2022, a Kechi (KS) police lieutenant was arrested for illegally accessing the Flock database to track his estranged wife, after an audit confirmed the misuse.
Earlier this year a Texas sheriff accessed Flock Safety’s database, tracking a woman’s travel across state lines as she sought an abortion out-of state.
ICE has become a significant user of the Flock Safety database, channeling requests through local law enforcement agencies, with more than 4000 searches between June 2024 and May 2025.

The ACLU has reported extensively on the threats to civil liberties posed by Flock Safety:

“Automatic license plate readers have the potential to create permanent records of virtually everywhere any of us has driven, radically transforming the consequences of leaving home to pursue private life, and opening up many opportunities for abuse. The tracking of people’s location constitutes a significant invasion of privacy.”

Flock Safety and clients like the University of Arizona have been the subject of numerous lawsuits. Several cities have ended their contracts with Flock Safety as a result.

The University of Arizona has refused all requests for information about its contract with Flock Safety.

The public can learn more about the threats to data privacy and civil liberty posed by Flock Safety in the articles linked above and resources listed below.

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Desert Rising is a grass-roots Tucson-based organization using social movements to create change. Its members fight for human rights through non-violent direct action. Desert Rising is non-partisan, and focused on disrupting the seats of power in the interests of economic justice and human rights.

For More Information, please visit:

Deflock (website). Includes a crowd-sourced map of ALPRs nationwide.

ACLU. “You Are Being Tracked.” (Report, 2013).

Electronic Frontier Foundation. “New ALPR Vulnerabilities Prove Mass Surveillance Is A Public Safety Threat” (2024).

Eyes Off CR. “The Surveillance State’s Favorite Start-Up: How Flock Safety Plugged Directly Into Federal Power.” (Blog Post)

Forbes. “Flock’s AI Cameras Are Watching All Over America. They’re About To Get A Lot More Powerful” (2025).