Tell your lawmakers to VOTE NO on the Governor’s recommendations to HB2724

Virginia’s governor wants lawmakers to vote to expand mass surveillance for use by the Virginia State Police and to gut protections in HB2724, when lawmakers reconvene April 2, 2025.

The recommendations come just weeks after his executive order deputizes state police to act as ICE agents, and at a time when the government is monitoring the actions of its residents in an unprecedented manner.

During the 2025 Virginia General Assembly Legislative Session lawmakers voted down the expansion of mass surveillance using automatic license plate readers (ALPRs), only sending a bill to the governor that put some minimal regulations on the ALPRs that currently exist in some Virginia localities. ALPRs are mass surveillance technology designed to track the movements of every person, create enormous opportunities for abuse, and are a threat to liberty, privacy, and our safety.

The governor’s proposed surveillance expansion would give law enforcement the ability to install, maintain, and operate the mass surveillance devices for law enforcement purposes on any roads/highways maintained by VDOT, access the movements of any person, use photos from ALPRs for any “criminal investigation,” and connect the surveillance to a nationwide database accessible to other law enforcement agencies and the federal government. The Virginia State Police cannot employ mass surveillance tools on state highways without explicit permission from General Assembly members.

Tell your lawmakers to VOTE NO to the Governor’s recommendations to HB2724. Any regulations that remain in the bill following the governor’s changes are woefully inadequate to justify expanding surveillance to over 60,000 miles of state highways.