RALEIGH – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of North Carolina will host a briefing for lawmakers, the media, and the general public about the need to pass legislation to regulate the government’s use of surveillance technology that could invade North Carolinians’ privacy on Thursday, February 5.
Speakers will discuss how North Carolina law enforcement agencies are able to track the private lives of ordinary citizens through their cell phones, license plates, and more, and what types of legislation are needed to protect privacy rights from unwarranted searches. A Public Policy Polling survey released today shows that 85 percent of North Carolina voters agree that better laws are needed to protect privacy in the digital age, such as requiring police to obtain a warrant before conducting surveillance against an individual.
“North Carolinians across the political spectrum agree that we need better laws to protect our privacy in the digital age against unwarranted use of surveillance technology,” said ACLU of North Carolina Policy Director Sarah Preston. “We hope lawmakers hear this message loud and clear and take appropriate actions to safeguard all North Carolinians’ right to privacy during this legislative session.”
What:ACLU legislative briefing: “Privacy Under Attack: How the Government is Watching You”
Who:
- Sarah Preston, policy director, ACLU of North Carolina
- Thom Goolsby, former Republican state Senator from New Hanover County
- Nathan Freed Wessler, staff attorney, ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project
When: 9 a.m., Thursday, February 5 (Breakfast served beginning at 8 a.m.)
Where: Legislative Auditorium, 3rd Floor North Carolina Legislative Building, 16 West Jones Street, Raleigh, NC 27601
In previous legislative sessions, the ACLU of North Carolina has worked with a bipartisan group of legislators to introduce bills that would regulate law enforcement’s use of cell phone location tracking, drones, and automatic license plate readers. Investigations by the civil liberties group have revealed that many types of surveillance tools are regularly used by police across the state with little public oversight and little to no regulatory framework.
