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Marvin Ellison, President and CEO
Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
1000 Lowe’s Boulevard
Mooresville, NC 28117
USA
Dear Mr. Ellison,
I am writing to urge Lowe’s to immediately stop the use of AI-powered license plate readers (LPRs) in your parking lots and to end any data-sharing arrangements that feed this information into law-enforcement surveillance systems accessible to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Lowe’s parking lots are widely known as regular gathering places for day laborers seeking work. The deployment of automated surveillance technology in these spaces—especially when data is shared with or accessible to ICE—creates an environment of fear and risk for immigrant communities and workers. There is extensive documentation of ICE raids targeting day laborers in and around big-box retail parking lots, including Lowe’s locations. The use of LPR technology in this context effectively turns your stores into surveillance hubs that facilitate immigration enforcement and family separation.
AI-powered license plate readers collect sensitive location data that can be retained, aggregated, and repurposed far beyond their original intent. When this data enters law-enforcement databases, it becomes available for immigration enforcement, often without transparency, meaningful oversight, or the consent of those being surveilled. This raises serious concerns about privacy, civil liberties, racial profiling, and corporate complicity in harmful enforcement practices.
Lowe’s has the power to take a different path. I urge the company to:
- Discontinue the use of AI-powered license plate readers in all Lowe’s parking lots.
- Prohibit any sharing of parking-lot surveillance data with law-enforcement agencies, including ICE.
- Publicly commit to policies that protect customer and worker privacy and ensure Lowe’s properties are not used to facilitate immigration raids or surveillance.
Customers expect Lowe’s to be a place of safety, not a site of fear or monitoring. Ending the use of LPR technology and severing ties to ICE-accessible surveillance systems would demonstrate Lowe’s commitment to human rights, privacy, and the well-being of the communities it serves.
I urge you to act swiftly and transparently on this issue.
Sincerely,
[ Your Name ]
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