We hit 300 signatures! Well done!

Before you congratulate yourself, PLEASE share this petition on your socials and to your friend circle. We would like to present this to President Garimella with an unignorable 1000 SIGNATURES. 

Our efforts are making a difference!

On October 1, the University of Arizona put in place a policy on Automated License Plate Readers, and announced this policy at a Wellness and Safety Forum on October 9. Chief Public Safety Officer Steve Patterson specifically referenced the widespread conversations about UA’s mass surveillance contract with Flock Safety in introducing his remarks.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that the policy is empty verbiage, and does nothing to increase transparency around the university’s use of Flock Safety. 

The policy lists under “Prohibited Uses”: “General monitoring of University community members without a safety or criminal nexus.” We know in fact that ALPRs work by imaging the license plate and vehicle characteristics of ALL vehicles that pass by.  Does the UAPD have a different definition of “monitoring” than the rest of us? Or does the UAPD assume that all drivers on or near campus are potential threats to public safety? 

The policy also does not state with whom the UAPD shares our data. 

Most importantly, according to this policy, the entity that monitors the UAPD’s use of this mass surveillance system is—wait for it—the UAPD. 

And that’s Flock Safety in a nutshell—a world in which words mean what those in power want them to mean, everyone is presumed guilty, public safety is assured by mass surveillance, and no one is watching the watchers, That is also the Cliff Notes version of Orwell’s 1984, in case all that sounds familiar.

So our demand remains the same—the University of Arizona must end its contract with Flock Safety. 

In other news, we learned that the City of South Tucson also has contracted with Flock Safety, and is installing ALPRs throughout the city. They really really don’t want you to know where these ALPRs are, but we know you know how to use a map. 

If you actually read to the end, then I suspect you’d like to do more than sign a petition. 

Please visit Deflock Tucson, AND take the additional action steps at the top of the page. Then scroll to the bottom and sign up to join our efforts. We’d love to see you involved in the planning process, distributing leaflets, or making edgy videos and graphics.

See you at 400!