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Even if a police department or government agency has strong privacy rules in place to protect the surveillance records and personal data it stores, your private information is still vulnerable. That’s because surveillance data is often available to all as a public record.

While police usually keep surveillance on the targets of an investigation closely guarded, typically they must provide the data collected by indiscriminate surveillance tools (like public cameras, aerial cameras, and ALPRs) to anyone who requests it. Public records laws are valuable. They protect the public by exposing mistakes and abuses, detailing how the government spends our tax dollars, and providing an incentive to keep public servants honest. But when an agency stores surveillance footage and troves of personal data indefinitely, your private information becomes vulnerable to stalkers, identity thieves, work rivals, curious neighbors, divorce lawyers – anyone who can write and stamp a letter. A business owner might use ALPR data to track the movements of his competitors or employees. Extremist activists might use surveillance camera footage or cell phone location data to identify people who visit a reproductive clinic, attend a gun show, or participate in a demonstration.

Moreover, the Electronic Privacy Information Center notes that “information from public records is being sold by private companies … back to the government for law enforcement purposes.” This isn’t just a questionable use of public resources. The records that police purchase from private companies often contain credit and consumer information collected from other sources. When the government purchases your data from private companies, it may become disclosable as well. As petty criminals, stalkers, and voyeurs become more sophisticated, so should our government’s privacy policies.

Public disclosure laws should enable citizens to keep an eye on their government – not to keep an eye on other citizens.