Privacy and Surveillance

The ACLU works to expand the right to privacy, increase the control individuals have over their personal information, and ensure civil liberties are not compromised by technological innovation.

Collage with imagery representing facial recognition biometrics and a child on a device with their face hidden and imagery of data

We are fighting for everyone’s right to privacy and freedom from excessive surveillance.

The lack of strong privacy laws endangers all of us — especially vulnerable communities like immigrants, protesters, and people seeking and providing reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare.

The ACLU advocates for modern data privacy laws and community awareness of excessive surveillance. We do this through our public records requests and ongoing engagement with state and local government.

The Latest

Press Release
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ACLU of Massachusetts Celebrates Somerville’s Commitment to Protect Civil Liberties for All Residents

Updates to the city’s Welcoming Community Ordinance further restrict local collaboration with ICE and reinforce strong protections for First Amendment activity
Issue Areas: Immigrants' Rights, Privacy and Surveillance
News & Commentary
Collage image of a stop light, street camera, road, and geometric shapes.

We’re privacy hawks. Here’s why we’re alarmed by license plate readers — and not necessarily by speed cameras

When properly regulated, speed cameras don't pose the same threats to privacy as license-plate-reader surveillance
Press Release
Black background with text that reads in white and neon yellow “Meta: Make Eyewear, not spywear.” Below the text is a graphic collage that includes eyeglasses, a creepy eyeball, and an image of three people walking down the street with neon yellow boxes around them suggesting they have been visually captured and identified.

ACLU and 75 Organizations Sound Alarm on Meta’s Plan to Add Facial Recognition Technology to Ray-Ban and Oakley Eyeglasses

Open letter signed by scores of nonprofits warns that the glasses pose an unacceptable threat to our right to privacy and must be cancelled
Issue Areas: Privacy and Surveillance
Press Release
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ACLU of Massachusetts Applauds House Data Privacy Bill

H.4746 features critical protections against the abuse of personal data
Issue Areas: Privacy and Surveillance
Campaign
Apr 2026

Eyewear, Not Spywear!

Tech giant Meta is poised to add facial recognition technology to its AI glasses. This planned “name tag” feature would violate our privacy and liberty.
Campaign
May 2026

Data Privacy Now!

Today, technology has far outpaced privacy law. Data brokers and Big Tech are free to do almost anything they want with our personal information, including selling our cellphone location data on the open market. These practices endanger all of us, but especially vulnerable communities like immigrants, protesters, and people seeking and providing reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare. Lawmakers must pass the Massachusetts Consumer Data Privacy Act (H.4746) to give all Massachusetts residents robust privacy rights in the digital age.
Initiative
May 2026

Get The FLOCK Out: Resource Guide

With Flock Safety's license plate reader (LPR) technology, law enforcement agencies across the country can track Massachusetts drivers in real-time — without a warrant, probable cause, or even reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing. Flock's nationwide data sharing model puts our civil rights and civil liberties at risk.
Campaign
Jun 2019

Press Pause on Face Surveillance

Face surveillance gives the government unprecedented power to track our every move. We have a plan.