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ACLU Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project

October 26, 2026

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In September 2025, Grace Knowles, a 20-something from northern Virginia, was between jobs and decided to take a road trip. Her trip included driving through Oregon, Texas, and Louisiana. On her way to Florida, she was pulled over by a police officer and had an encounter that a growing number of Americans can expect to experience if the use of AI by law enforcement is allowed to grow. Grace (who has never shared her story publicly until now) told me,

I’d left New Orleans that morning, and I noticed there was a cop car behind me at some point. I know I was going a normal speed, but he pulled me over anyway. And he made up some excuse — that I’d been in the left lane too long.

He started asking me what I was doing, where I was coming from and going.…