Dear Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison:

We the undersigned civil society organizations from racial justice, gender justice, digital rights, privacy and worker rights movements write to you to demand that Lowe’s Home Improvement terminate all contracts with Flock Safety and other dangerous mass surveillance systems.

We are at a serious inflection point in our nation’s history, a time in which the repercussions of mass surveillance have life-altering consequences for the life and liberty of everyday people.

Time and again, we’ve seen how automated license plate reader (ALPR) cameras have exposed individuals to danger and persecution, whether they be protesters, legal observers, those seeking reproductive and gender-affirming care, or communities of color who are frequently profiled and harassed. As one of Flock Safety’s largest commercial customers, Lowe’s Home Improvement is directly implicated in these harms against our communities. It is past time for Lowe’s to remove this harmful surveillance network from its parking lots and stores, and refuse to be complicit in the erosion of our constitutional and human rights[1].

Critical reporting from 404 Media[2] and other reputable news outlets has exposed Flock license plate reader technologies for their role in aiding in Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids and criminalizing abortion[3]. In an October 2025 letter to Flock CEO Garret Langley[4], Senator Wyden wrote “it is my view that Flock has built a dangerous platform in which abuse of surveillance data is almost certain.” This letter, which we highly encourage you and your leadership staff to read in full, illuminates the near impossibility of truly auditing Flock or similar surveillance systems to prevent the abuses that are continually making headlines. It concludes that cities should reevaluate whether to install these cameras. In the past few months, over three dozen cities have dropped ties with Flock. More evidence continues to surface that ICE agents have been able to obtain access to their Flock databases to assist in immigration raids and that law enforcement agencies have repeatedly broken state laws meant to protect such data[5]. Further, Flock cameras have been exposed to be wildly insecure and a tool for abusers to stalk their victims[6].

Public record acts requests[7]confirm Lowe’s coordinating directly with Flock Safety reps to provide multiple law enforcement agencies access to Lowe’s camera footage. The documents reveal an open door policy for sharing data on customers with law enforcement without a court order. This policy, in which you coordinated directly with Flock Safety reps to provide multiple law enforcement agencies whatever footage they like, so long as it’s related to a “bona fide investigation,” places the bar of respect for your customers on the floor. A simple attestation from a law enforcement officer that the footage they’re requesting is related to an investigation does nothing to protect Lowe’s customers from being swept into investigations related to reproductive health care, protests, or immigration. We have a system of court orders for a reason: to protect people from overreach and harm.

By holding your contract with Flock and willingly sharing data with law enforcement without a legal order to do so, Lowe’s has effectively taken a stance in support of brutal immigration raids, authoritarian rule, and the constant surveillance and disregard for its customers’ privacy. People deserve to shop in safety, without fear that your license plate readers or cameras will result in them being unwittingly tracked, profiled, or harassed by anyone—whether they be federal agents or dangerous hackers. Having Flock cameras or other means of mass surveillance on your premises is not a neutral stance, it is a hostile one that our society is growing more concerned by. We implore you to take action now to end your participation in this network of harm.

Thank you for your consideration of this urgent matter. We eagerly await your response.

Signed,

Fight For the Future
18 MILLION RISING
805 Undocufund
AFT
Anti Police-Terror Project
Basic Rights Oregon
Bisexual Resource Center
DeFlock Atlanta
Deflock Olympia
Deflock Rancho Cordova
EBASE
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Equality New Mexico
Freedom Oklahoma
Helderberg Indivisible
Indivisible Fremont CA
Kairos Fellowship
Labor Tech Research Network
Make the Road States
Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition
MPower Change
Muslim Justice League
No Kings Silver Lake (an Indivisible chapter)
Oakland Privacy
OpenMedia
PDX Privacy
Project South
Reproaction
Restore The Fourth
Secure Justice
Singing Resistance San Fernando Valley
Southend Indivisible
T-Time Transgender Support
The Sidewalk Project
Ultraviolet Action
WA People’s Privacy
Working Partnerships USA
Worth Rises