Fervor over 'mass surveillance' hardly a new concept in Houston

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- There is plenty of debate these days over the use of license-plate readers, and whether or not they're an invasion of privacy.

"Flock does not serve the people," one resident at Tuesday's meeting of Harris County Commissioners Court said. "Stop funding mass surveillance."

Comments like those highlight a concept as old as the country itself, according to David Kwok of the University of Houston Law Center.

"This country was founded on the idea that democracy was a pushback against what (the founders) felt was overbearing government," Kwok said.

The use of technology has only added to that concept over the decades.

"The scope of our federal government today, obviously, would be unimaginable to someone in the 1700s," Kwok said.

With technology in mind, ABC13 looked through the Houston Chronicle archives for examples of when Houstonians believed their government was taking things too far with technology.

A letter to the editor in 1970 called HPD's use of motion detectors "one more instance of police overstepping the bonds of personal privacy."

There were also plenty of concerns over the years regarding wiretapping, the usage of small cameras, the recording of phone calls, and even polygraph tests.

Kwok said technology will continue to change, but there will always be a delicate dance between the governments that use it and the people it serves.

"It's a dynamic environment that the police will adapt, governments will adapt, and citizens may adapt, too," Kwok said.