Why License Plate Readers Are Bad for Good People

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) recently released a report, "You Are Being Tracked: How License Plate Readers Are Being Used to Record Americans' Movements," about how license plate readers are becoming a growing threat to the privacy of innocent people.  License plate readers are essentially automatic cameras that constantly scan for license plates in their surrounding areas, read the plates, and then run the license plate numbers through a database.  If a license plate matches a plate that has been flagged in the database for some sort of a violation (e.g., expired registration, expired insurance, outstanding warrant, stolen vehicle, etc.), a law enforcement officer will be alerted to the violation. 

These license plate readers can be mounted almost anywhere.  They are commonly seen on the trunks of police cars; however, they are often installed at intersections and along major roads and points of entry where police want to monitor every vehicle as it passes by.

It is bad enough government agencies are using automated technology to impose a massive dragnet on the public, but the real problem comes in with data storage.  Some agencies are storing the information from these license plate readers for months, years, or indefinitely.  This data allows government agencies to form extensive logs of where each vehicle was at exact dates and times.

Now, supporters of this program will defend the data collection with the typical argument: If you don't have anything to hide, don't worry about it.  The reality, however, could be a bit more complicated.  Here are a few scenarios where stored license plate data could affect an innocent person like you.  

Insurance Company Name Change
Insurance companies sometimes change their corporate names a little.  A name change could cause your policy to show up in a state database as an invalid policy.  In the week or two that it might take for you to get a letter from your state about the problem, you will probably get pulled over for being an uninsured driver. 

Bounced Check
You pay to renew your auto registration with a check.  Due to a bank error, the check bounces.  You might get pulled over for an expired registration before you even know it happened.

On Trial
You are on trial for a crime committed months ago.  You did not commit the crime, and you were not in the area at the time in question.  You testify in court you have never been to that area.  Later in court, the prosecutor claims the license plate readers show your car was in the area.  You did not know one of your family members borrowed your car on that date.  Now, the jury suspects you are lying. 

Crime Investigation
A silver Honda Accord was seen leaving a crime.  You drive your silver Honda Accord past a license plate reader on a nearby street around the same time.  You are now a suspect in a crime.

Place of Worship
There is a license plate reader on the road leading to your place of worship.  A couple of people from your congregation are suspected of a religiously motivated terrorist attack.  You are now on a watch list.

Rifle Range
You take a wrong turn down a road that leads to a rifle range.  A license plate reader records your trip.  The problem is that you sought mental health treatment a year ago and lost your right to own a gun.  Your suspected trip to a rifle range could lead to a warrant to search your home for firearms.    

Drug House
You often visit a friend at his home.  The house next door is a place frequented by drug buyers.  The police are keeping a record of all of the cars that park near that house.  Now you are flagged as a potential drug buyer.

These are just a few scenarios to show how you might be innocent and still have your life complicated by license plate reader data.  Let's say, however, you are not entirely innocent.  Let's say you have some embarrassing habits right now.  You are not doing anything to hurt anyone, but there are some things in your life you would rather keep secret.  What is going to happen ten years from now, long after you have turned your life around?  Could this stored license plate data be used to intimidate you or turn you down for some sort of job or privilege you want?

With this license plate reader data, we are allowing government agencies to keep extensive records of our lives. Where you go says a lot about you.  If the government has detailed records of where your go, when you go there, and how often you visit, they can make many accurate (and some inaccurate) assumptions about you.  This information could be abused to reveal your religious beliefs, hobbies, political affiliations, habits, relationships etc.  Do you trust the government to know (or think they know) that much about you?  Just because you are out in public and have "no expectation of privacy," that does not automatically mean you are not entitled to some degree of privacy as an innocent person who is simply out driving around and going about your life.

Massachusetts Wants to Scan and Track License Plates

Massachusetts has plans to assemble a statewide database that will store records from automatic license plate recognition devices in the state. Automatic license plate recognition devices can be installed virtually anywhere, but they are commonly mounted on patrol cars. These devices rapidly scan and capture license plate numbers of the vehicles within their proximity. The license plate numbers automatically get processed through a database of numbers associated with violations. For example, if a fugitive's license plate number is in the database, and an automatic license plate recognition device scans that plate number, a police officer will be alerted to the presence of the fugitive's vehicle.

This system has a very creepy Big Brother vibe to it, and it creates huge opportunities for abuse. Massachusetts, however, is taking things to the next level. Massachusetts wants to store the data collected by the automatic license plate recognition devices in a big database that the multiple agencies can access. This database would allow the state of Massachusetts to keep virtual tabs on anyone who owns a vehicle and happens to ever get within the proximity of a automatic license plate recognition device. This system amounts to tracking, and innocent citizens who are not suspected of any crime should not be tracked under any circumstances.

Florida Made $63 Million Selling Personal Information

If you have a Florida driver license, you might want to know that the state is selling your information to private companies for a profit. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles made $63 million last year selling names, addresses, birth dates, and vehicle ownership information to companies like Lexus Nexus and Shadow Soft.

Who knows what other information about you the state is selling and where it is going? The potential for abuse and identity theft is massive. One thing is for certain. This is a huge assault on privacy, and it is happening so the state of Florida can make some easy cash. By the way, Floridians, if you are wondering exactly what your information is worth, the state sells it for one cent per file.

Monitoring America

The Washington Post is running an excellent, in-depth article about extensive surveillance of ordinary Americans. The article, "Monitoring America," by Dana Priest and William M. Arkin details a vast network of databases, computers systems, and information-sharing programs used by law enforcement to watch and track virtually everyone in a broad variety of ways such as facial scans, license plate scans, cellphone tracking, civilian reports, undercover infiltrations of activists groups, FBI files, etc.