We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Lawmakers who support reproductive rights must recognize that abortion access and mass surveillance are incompatible. The systems built to track stolen cars and issue parking tickets have become tools to enforce the most personal and politically charged laws in the country.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/45678297

In a chilling sign of how far law enforcement surveillance has encroached on personal liberties, 404 Media recently revealed that a sheriff’s office in Texas searched data from more than 83,000 automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras to track down a woman suspected of self-managing an abortion. The officer searched 6,809 different camera networks maintained by surveillance tech company Flock Safety, including states where abortion access is protected by law, such as Washington and Illinois. The search record listed the reason plainly: “had an abortion, search for female.”

  • protist@mander.xyzEnglish
    33·
    4 days ago

    Her family knew she had had an abortion before reaching out to the sheriff’s office. When reporting her missing, the family told the sheriff’s office about the abortion and their concern about her physical safety, which is why he listed that as the reason he needed to locate her in the database.

    So she did tell her family, then went out of communication for days, and her family, who was worried about her, issued a “request to locate,” which has a police department attempt to verify someone’s safety. Once they established phone contact with the woman and verified she was safe, the entire thing was over.

    If someone you love suddenly goes incommunicado like this and you’re worried about them, you have the same right to issue a “request to locate” and have the police attempt to verify they’re alright.

    Sheriff Adam King of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office told 404 Media in a phone call that the woman self-administered the abortion “and her family was worried that she was going to bleed to death, and we were trying to find her to get her to a hospital.”

    “We weren’t trying to block her from leaving the state or whatever to get an abortion,” he said. “It was about her safety.”

    He said the search “got a couple hits on her on Flocks in Dallas,” but Flock was not responsible for ultimately finding her. Two days later the Sheriff’s Office was able to establish contact with the woman and verify she was okay, he added.

    • Fredselfish@lemmy.worldEnglish
      51·
      4 days ago

      Bullshit stop licking their boots. ACAB and I don’t buy their story. They don’t give damn one about your safety.