Flock

Your Right to Privacy Doesn't Disappear When You're in Public

Defenders of Flock-style surveillance systems argue that people “have no reasonable expectation of privacy in public.” They're wrong.

Autumn Billings | 9.30.2026 2:17 PM

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(Image: MiracleMiles/Wikimedia Commons. Illustration: Adani Samat)

Do Americans have a reasonable expectation of privacy in public? Reason has published extensively on the problems associated with law enforcement's current use of automatic license plate readers and the ongoing nationwide backlash to mass government surveillance. In response, proponents of the technology commonly argue that concerns over privacy violations are unfounded. Besides, the argument goes that Americans "have no reasonable expectation of privacy in public" or while "using public roads."

But is that true? And where does this argument come from? 

First of all, such a statement is far too broad a claim. Police officers are not allowed to randomly stop someone in the street and demand to know where they're going or where they've been unless the officer has reasonable suspicion that the individual is involved in criminal activity or has committed a traffic violation. Even then, these stops are meant to be brief, and Americans are free to invoke their right to remain silent and refuse to speak with police or answer any questions. If Americans had........

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