Eyes Off Indiana

Protecting privacy. Preserving progress.

We support technology that keeps communities safe — and laws that keep it constitutional. Eyes Off Indiana is a nonpartisan nonprofit working to set clear limits on how police collect and retain retain automatic license plate reader (ALPR) data

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The Issue

Indiana lacks clear, constitutional limits on automatic license plate reader (ALPR) surveillance.

No Statewide Regulation on ALPR Use

Indiana has no law regulating automatic license plate readers, leaving each law enforcement agency to set its own policies—or operate without any rules at all.

Unlimited Data Retention

Indiana places no limit on how long police can keep ALPR data. Without mandatory deletion rules, agencies can store years of location records from routine scans, allowing long-term monitoring of citizens’ movements with no oversight or expiration.

Warrantless Access to Driver Data

Police can access ALPR tracking data without a warrant, viewing detailed records of drivers’ movements at any time. This information is often shared with hundreds or even thousands of other agencies, including state, local, and federal, creating a nationwide surveillance network with little oversight or restriction.

Threat to Constitutional Privacy Rights

Continuous location tracking without cause violates fundamental privacy protections guaranteed by both the U.S. and Indiana Constitutions.

See our legal basis →

Policy Goals

Clear guardrails keep ALPR technology constitutional and accountable.

Strict Retention Limits

ALPR data should never be stored indefinitely. Indiana should set firm limits on how long non-relevant scans may be kept, with longer retention allowed only for warrants or active investigations.

Ban Commercial Sharing

License-plate data collected for public safety must remain under public control. Any sale, licensing, or informal sharing with private vendors or brokers should be strictly prohibited.

Transparency and Oversight

Agencies should log all ALPR searches and maintain public portals showing how data is used, shared, and deleted to ensure accountability and constitutional use.

Get Involved

Hoosiers across the state can help keep ALPR technology within constitutional limits.

Sign the petition

Add your name to demand sensible limits on ALPR surveillance in Indiana.

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Contact your representative

Tell lawmakers that Hoosiers expect warrant requirements and community oversight.

Find your representatives

Donate

Support outreach, education, and coalition building to keep surveillance accountable.

Make a Donation*

* Eyes Off Indiana, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation incorporated in Indiana. Federal 501(c)(4) recognition is pending; contributions are not tax-deductible.

Frequently Asked Questions

No. We believe ALPR technology is an incredibly powerful tool for solving crimes, recovering stolen vehicles, and locating missing persons. When used properly, it can save lives and support legitimate law enforcement work. Our concern is not with ALPR itself, but with how it’s managed. Storing location data on millions of innocent people for months or years, without oversight or limits, crosses a constitutional line. We support clear rules that keep this technology effective, accountable, and rights-respecting.

No—because the risks of keeping that data far outweigh the rare cases where it might help. ALPR data almost never solves cold cases. The overwhelming majority of scans have no connection to any crime, and data older than a few weeks is almost never useful. Meanwhile, long-term retention creates real dangers: misuse by officers, unauthorized sharing, data breaches, and the quiet expansion of mass surveillance. Police can still retain plate records tied to active investigations through a written request. But storing everyone’s movements “just in case” turns a public safety tool into a tracking system for millions of innocent people. Tracking every car with GPS would help solve crimes too, but we don’t allow that because it violates basic rights. This is no different.

Requiring a warrant may sound like a safeguard, but it still allows the government to stockpile location data on millions of innocent drivers. Once that data exists, it can be leaked, misused, or quietly repurposed, no matter how strict the access rules are. A warrant controls who can look—but not what is stored, how long, or what might happen to it later. Deletion prevents those risks by removing data that is not tied to an active case. It also discourages lazy investigations that rely on broad data mining instead of focused leads. ALPR is most effective in real time or shortly after a crime occurs. If a case emerges, police can request that specific records be preserved. But by default, deletion after 30 days is the strongest protection for both public safety and civil liberties.