Are automated license plate readers in your city? Here's how to find out

Will Freeman wants radical to cognize they’re being tracked.

His tendency to shed airy connected the proliferation of licence sheet readers successful his vicinity successful Huntsville, Ala., this twelvemonth spurred an thought for a crowdsourced database wherever radical crossed the satellite tin upload the locations of the readers. The database, called DeFlock, besides provides users with the enactment to database who manufactured the cameras for greater transparency.

“Everything you spot connected determination is conscionable a precise tiny percent of what really exists,” Freeman said of the thousands of cameras listed connected his project.

Over the past decade, licence sheet readers person go a utile instrumentality for instrumentality enforcement agencies crossed the country. But privateness advocates person raised alarms astir the technology, alleging that the cameras way radical without their consent and that the information stored connected them tin beryllium susceptible to atrocious actors.

Freeman has astir 20,000 pending information points helium plans to adhd to the planetary map. DeFlock, first reported by 404 Media, arrives arsenic much section governments and adjacent backstage homeowners crook to surveillance exertion to combat crime.

Freeman’s thought for greater technological transparency started with a fistful of waterproof pages helium posted astir his Alabama neighborhood.

“The pages said ‘license sheet reader’ with an arrow pointing up,” Freeman said. “They were each taken down successful a substance of days.”

Undeterred, Freeman did what immoderate bundle technologist would bash erstwhile faced with specified a roadblock: He took it online. “There are radical who support their existence, but I don’t deliberation it’s worthy it,” helium said of the licence sheet readers.

In Riverside County, much than 1,600 automated licence sheet readers dot intersections and roads. The cameras observe millions of vehicles implicit a 30-day play and are meant to assistance constabulary hunt for stolen vehicles oregon assistance successful different investigations. License sheet readers are besides located successful San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Boston and different large cities.

Riverside County contracted with Flock Security to found its web of licence sheet readers. The county’s public-facing transparency portal provides a snapshot of the system. Los Angeles installed astir 100 licence sheet readers successful the San Fernando Valley successful October for astir $500,000 successful the anticipation of addressing crime. The licence sheet readers are manufactured by Motorola Solutions and, similar astir others, tin observe a vehicle’s make, exemplary and color, portion signaling the GPS location, day and time.

The camera alerts constabulary if it captures a reported stolen vehicle, but there’s besides a voluminous magnitude of information stored by constabulary agencies of each the different cars connected the road. Critics reason the information tin autumn into the incorrect hands oregon beryllium abused.

“We’ve seen instrumentality enforcement officers themselves usage the information for their ain purposes,” said Electronic Frontier Foundation Director of Investigations Dave Maass. “It should beryllium frightening to everybody, due to the fact that wherever we spell successful our lives is not the government’s business.”

A 2020 California audit noted that the Los Angeles Police Department, Fresno Police Department, Marin County Sheriff’s Office and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department improperly stored images of vehicles that were not portion of a constabulary investigation.

A constabulary serviceman could successful mentation way wherever a idiosyncratic goes without requiring a hunt warrant oregon subpoena done the information collected by automated licence sheet readers, Maass said.

In 2022, the Wichita Police Department successful Kansas was forced to revoke entree to its web of licence sheet readers aft a constabulary lieutenant allegedly utilized the strategy to stalk his estranged wife, according to reporting from quality presumption KWCH.

California instrumentality dictates however agelong information are stored and however they are shared by instrumentality enforcement agencies. Unless it’s utilized successful a transgression investigation, accusation captured by a licence sheet scholar is not stored with immoderate personally identifiable information, said Sgt. David Chi of the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department.

Last year, the California authorities auditor recovered that lone a fewer instrumentality enforcement agencies that usage licence sheet readers person privateness policies successful place.

Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials person relied connected licence sheet readers much often arsenic the exertion has improved.

“We telephone it ‘catch them present oregon drawback them later,’” Chi said, referring to however the exertion tin beryllium used. A camera mightiness alert constabulary the infinitesimal it registers the conveyance of a idiosyncratic wanted arsenic portion of an probe oregon authorities mightiness pore implicit captured images arsenic portion of a case, helium said.

But privateness advocates interest that the cameras could beryllium utilized by constabulary oregon others with entree to surveillance networks to way a idiosyncratic for non-criminal activity.

That could beryllium idiosyncratic going to a session for termination entree oregon possibly a governmental rally, said Jake Laperruque, lawman manager of the Security and Surveillance Project astatine the Center for Democracy and Technology.

The usage of the cameras has already extended extracurricular constabulary departments.

A Southern California homeowners relation pooled its resources and welcomed the installation of licence sheet readers successful its neighborhood to deter crime.

“It’s the benignant of happening wherever there’s a batch of powerfulness to propulsion up accusation astir what radical are doing, wherever they’re going, who they’re interacting with, and precise small to halt however the authorities uses that,” Laperruque said.