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There is a history in the U.S. of surveillance being used to attack or harm vulnerable communities and today's Automated License Plate Readers raise new concerns.

While decades old, unrestricted readers are now enhanced by artificial intelligence and data integration, which can be used by public law enforcement and private entities. It is especially concerning to those within New Mexico's LGBTQ+ community who travel to nearby Texas and Arizona, where discrimination is feared.

Marshall Martinez, executive director of the group Equality New Mexico, said when police run your license plate, it is not just vehicle data they gather.

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"We understand that these license plate readers exist for the purposes of public safety, and they have helped folks catch violent criminals," Martinez acknowledged. "But also they just sweepingly capture data on everybody in a community."

In this year's legislative session, lawmakers failed to pass a bill which would have required data from the readers retrieved by police to be deleted within 30 days, unless there was a warrant in play. Supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, the law also would have protected such data from being shared or sold inappropriately. Sixteen states have at least some laws addressing the issue.

The high-speed reader systems mounted on patrol cars, traffic lights and utility poles can photograph the license plate from every passing vehicle and store data. The Albuquerque Police Department operates about 250 fixed cameras and stores data for one year.

In terms of usage, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office said it shares license plate data with 88 other agencies, most within New Mexico, but some in Arizona, Colorado and Texas. Martinez believes state legislation is urgently needed given today's politics and increased violence against gay and trans people, immigrants and those seeking reproductive health care.

"They can literally put the word, 'investigation' into the purpose, and we can't be certain that they're not weaponizing our cameras in New Mexico against our New Mexican community members, from Texas," Martinez pointed out.

Last month, the city council in Redmond, Washington, directed its police department to shut down cameras made by Flock Safety over concerns they had been used on behalf of ICE for immigration purposes.

Additionally, cybersecurity researchers told the tech news outlet 404Media they had easily hacked some cameras made by Flock, revealing a vulnerability to image manipulation and security concerns.