Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Police are Tracking Your Movements in Databases Fed by License-Plate Cameras

Via WaPo:

The spread of cheap, powerful cameras capable of reading license plates has allowed police to build databases on the movements of millions of Americans over months or even years, according to an American Civil Liberties Union report released Wednesday.

The license-plate readers, which police typically mount along major roadways or on the backs of cruisers, can identify vehicles almost instantly and compare them against “hot lists” of cars that have been stolen or involved in crimes.

But the systems collect records on every license plate they encounter — whether or not they are on hot lists — meaning time and location data are gathered in databases that can be searched by police. Some departments purge information after a few weeks, some after a few months and some never, said the report, which warns that such data could be abused by authorities, and chill freedom of speech and association.

2 comments:

  1. For the record, Alex Jones has been saying this for about 4 years now.

    ReplyDelete
  2. S'OK, we're tracking police movements in databases fed by all of us...

    ReplyDelete