ACLU of Massachusetts v. Massachusetts State Police

Public records lawsuit seeks basic information about the state's deployment and use of a powerful and unregulated surveillance technology that has generated widespread outcry in communities across Massachusetts.

In November 2023, the ACLU of Massachusetts, represented by the law firm Wolf Greenfield, filed a lawsuit seeking public records from the Massachusetts State Police regarding the state's use of automatic license plate reader technology. After the ACLU filed a public records request in August 2023 seeking basic information about MSP's use of ALPR cameras to surveil public roads, the agency withheld certain records, including the locations of cameras and records showing why and how often MSP officers searched the ALPR database.

As the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court recognized in the 2020 Commonwealth v. McCarthy decision, the warrantless use of ALPR cameras to monitor movements and real-time location can implicate constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

Since 2025, communities across Massachusetts have been organizing to oppose the use of ALPR cameras at the local level, citing concerns about data sharing with out-of-state and federal law enforcement agencies, and about threats to the privacy and safety of immigrants, political protesters, and people seeking protected healthcare in the Commonwealth. In response, several municipalities, including Cambridge, Framingham, Greenfield, Natick, and Watertown, have blocked their local police from using ALPRs.

For updates on this case, please refer to case documents and press releases below.