Petition to Remove All Automated Vehicle Surveillance Systems from Mount Pleasant, SC

We, the undersigned residents of Mount Pleasant, demand that the Town Council immediately remove all automated license plate reader cameras, including Flock Safety systems and Axon Lightpost, and prohibit integration with or deployment of any associated surveillance technologies such as Leonardo’s ELSAG SignalTrace.

These systems do far more than read license plates. They create permanent records of our movements and now link those records to the unique electronic signatures of every device inside the vehicle — phones, smartwatches, AirPods, fitness trackers, and more.

Key violations include:

Warrantless mass surveillance in violation of the Fourth Amendment
Creation of detailed location histories of innocent residents without probable cause
SignalTrace technology that captures Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and RFID signals to build an “electronic fingerprint” of everyone who rides in a vehicle — tracking passengers, not just cars
Integration between plate readers and device-tracking software that dramatically increases the invasiveness of the system
Lack of transparency, local oversight, and strict data retention limits
Chilling effect on freedom of movement, association, and privacy
Continued use of these technologies exposes the Town to civil rights lawsuits under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of constitutional rights.

We demand all such equipment be removed, all collected data deleted, and that Mount Pleasant reject any further expansion of this surveillance grid.