On April 23, 2021, the City of Marco Island installed automatic license plate readers (ALPRs) at each of the three bridges connecting Marco Island to mainland Florida. These devices automatically record and archive the precise locations of every vehicle entering or leaving the island, storing that information in a database accessible to law enforcement for three years.
The plaintiffs, residents of Marco Island who cross these bridges nearly every day, sued, alleging that the city’s actions violate the Fourth Amendment. Yet the district court dismissed their complaint, finding that the plaintiffs lacked a cognizable privacy interest in the data collected by the city. Although the city’s program is currently limited to three cameras, nothing in the decision (below) would prevent its expansion of the ALPR network to most of the island.
Left undisturbed, this precedent would authorize the city to construct a comprehensive surveillance system capable of recording every resident’s movements without judicial oversight. Modern surveillance tools, such as ALPRs, military-grade drones, enhanced security cameras, and other cutting-edge sensors, let the government monitor millions of people with ease. Law enforcement can track movements, detect faces, record conversations, and store such information indefinitely.
Cato filed a brief urging the Eleventh Circuit to reverse the decision (below) and check the encroaching electronic eyes and ears that could capture and forever store islanders’ every move.