You shouldn’t be flagged, followed, or pulled over just because of the route you drove.

But right now, that’s exactly what’s happening across the U.S.—and it’s being driven by hidden surveillance technology, secret algorithms, and zero accountability.

A new investigation has revealed that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is using AI-powered systems and license plate readers to flag drivers whose travel patterns are deemed “suspicious”—even hundreds of miles from the border. This means you can be stopped, searched, and interrogated not because of a warrant or evidence, but because a surveillance algorithm found your route “unusual.”

CBP and Border Patrol have deployed covert cameras disguised in traffic barrels, hidden their role in traffic stops from court records, and helped local police conduct “whisper stops” based on location data and pattern recognition software. Americans have been pulled over for nothing more than making a quick round trip, renting a car, or driving near a hotel.

This isn’t national security. It’s dragnet surveillance masquerading as border enforcement.

We’re calling on:

DHS
U.S. Senators and House Judiciary Committee leaders
CBP Commissioner
to take immediate action:

• Ban CBP and Border Patrol from using predictive algorithms to initiate stops or track “suspicious” patterns of life based solely on driving behavior.
• Publicly disclose the scope, partners, and impact of the CMPRS (Conveyance Monitoring and Predictive Recognition System) program.
• Cease all “whisper stops” triggered by AI, unless backed by a judicial warrant or specific probable cause.

This is unconstitutional, unregulated, and unsafe. Mass surveillance of innocent Americans isn’t the solution to anything—it’s the problem.

Sign this petition if you believe our right to move freely in this country shouldn't be decided by an algorithm.

AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin