Police Documents on License Plate Scanners Reveal Mass Tracking

[CaseyJones]

http://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty-national-security/police-documents-license-plate-scanners-reveal-mass


Automatic license plate readers are the most widespread location tracking technology you’ve probably never heard of. Mounted on patrol cars or stationary objects like bridges, they snap photos of every passing car, recording their plate numbers, times, and locations. At first the captured plate data was used just to check against lists of cars law enforcement hoped to locate for various reasons (to act on arrest warrants, find stolen cars, etc.). But increasingly, all of this data is being fed into massive databases that contain the location information of many millions of innocent Americans stretching back for months or even years.

This is what we have found after analyzing more than 26,000 pages of documents from police departments in cities and towns across the country, obtained through freedom of information requests by ACLU affiliates in 38 states and Washington, D.C. As it becomes increasingly clear that ours is an era of mass surveillance facilitated by ever cheaper and more powerful computing technology (think about the NSA's call logging program), it is critical we learn how this technology is being used. License plate readers are just one example of a disturbing phenomenon: the government is increasingly using new technology to collect information about all of us, all the time, and to store it forever – providing a complete record of our lives for it to access at will.

Today, we are releasing all of the documents we have received (accessible through this interactive map and this issue page) and are publishing a report, “You Are Being Tracked,” which explains what these documents say about license plate readers: what they are capable of, how they are being used, and what privacy harms they can cause if protections aren’t put in place. We’re also offering more than a dozen recommendations we think local police departments and state legislatures should follow when they pass laws about this technology.

http://www.myfoxny.com/Story/22863801/driving-somewhere-theres-a-government-record-of-that

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/07/17/government-tracking-movement-of-every-vehicle-with-license-plate/

[Dr.3D]

Yep, they were very quiet about putting those wavy lines on the new license plates. You can hardly see them, but just take a picture of one with a flash and it shows right up.

[devil21]

There's already film that you can place over your tag that's not clearly visible but supposedly messes up the picture. No idea if it's effective but like anything the police get, someone quickly figures out how to beat it. Can't remember the name of it....


This is scary in the document for my police dept.



Ensure all positive hits on the Terrorist Watch list are reported to the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC). All Terrorist Watch List hits will be handled by phone. There will be no radio traffic for Terrorist hits except in the case of emergencies. ALPR
Operators must be familiar with the 3 levels of Terrorist:

Watch List hits:
Level One stop hold and call TSC
Level Two keep visual and contact TSC for further instructions and don't alert subject to your presence
Level Three document and take no action and report to TSC

Holy shit. There's a lot more that's disturbing and Im barely into the document just for my area. It says data is retained for 18 months automatically and can be kept indefinitely.

eta: TSC is an FBI department. http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/nsb/tsc
So this means that state license plates are now linked to federal watch lists.

[eduardo89]

There's already film that you can place over your tag that's not clearly visible but supposedly messes up the picture. No idea if it's effective but like anything the police get, someone quickly figures out how to beat it. Can't remember the name of it....

About a decade ago I remember seeing a spray for your license plates that would create so much glare from the flash on photo radar cameras that your plate would be unreadable. Not sure how effective it was or if it's still on the market. Sounded pretty neat, though.

[kcchiefs6465]

About a decade ago I remember seeing a spray for your license plates that would create so much glare from the flash on photo radar cameras that your plate would be unreadable. Not sure how effective it was or if it's still on the market. Sounded pretty neat, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wxKROZuoydY#at=98


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Q_DSreJi2uo

hxx p://www.phantomplate.com/photoblocker.html


The thing about it is with a moving camera that checks/records all plate numbers is that it makes this product effectively useless. They could create a system where an unreadable plate "warranted" a search as they probably had something to hide or was even determined as being probable cause. The police could receive a notice to turn and follow the car whose plates were unreadable. Not to mention that the make of the vehicle is still recorded and could be said over the radio for other officers to look for. Cops would receive the notice and would get behind similar cars.

[eduardo89]

Yeah that's the product I remember seeing.

Obviously it doesn't work with traffic cameras which don't have a flash, but it's still something I'd invest in.

[Scrapmo]

Ensure all positive hits on the Terrorist Watch list are reported to the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC). All Terrorist Watch List hits will be handled by phone. There will be no radio traffic for Terrorist hits except in the case of emergencies. ALPR
Operators must be familiar with the (3) three levels of Terrorist:

Watch List hits:
Level One stop hold and call TSC
Level Two keep a visual and contact TSC for further instructions and do not alert subject to your presence
Level Three document and take no action and report to TSC

...and since you can be labled a terrorist for just about anything, get ready for a lot of unwarrented traffic stops.

[devil21]

Yeah that's the product I remember seeing.

Obviously it doesn't work with traffic cameras which don't have a flash, but it's still something I'd invest in.

My local PD document has the manual for the camera and software in pdf. This is very different than red light and speed cameras in that it displays the picture on the laptop screen in real time. The cop himself can then pull you over for obscured tag. This is big brother's next huge step forward. You can not escape surveillance and tracking if you drive. This will see US Supreme Court attention sooner rather than later.

[kcchiefs6465]

My local PD document has the manual for the camera and software in pdf. This is very different than red light and speed cameras in that it displays the picture on the laptop screen in real time. The cop himself can then pull you over for obscured tag. This is big brother's next huge step forward. You can not escape surveillance and tracking if you drive. This will see US Supreme Court attention sooner rather than later.
Exactly.

License plate bulb type ticket at the least.

Probably probable cause to search your vehicle or even a specified crime.

[devil21]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=cVeBb7RJWPc#at=12

They only publicize this stuff after its already been in use. There's never any national public debate on it BEFORE it gets implemented and local hearings are sparsely advertised.

[kcchiefs6465]

They only publicize this stuff after its already been in use. There's never public debate on it BEFORE it gets implemented.
I remember the bulky square foot camera on the back of the cop cars.... so expensive only one could be afforded in a department.

I should have known.

[devil21]

I remember the bulky square foot camera on the back of the cop cars.... so expensive only one could be afforded in a department.

I should have known.

I did update my last post because I remember a local news report that publicized a city council meeting on the use of the cameras after they were gifted to the city but the meeting occurred earlier that evening. Such issues never make national news to bring attention and debate to where we are headed as a country.

[Warrior_of_Freedom]

Red light cameras have almost made me get into accidents multiple times. The very bright flash at night stuns me for a second, enough time to accidentally crash.

[kcchiefs6465]

I did update my last post because I remember a local news report that publicized a city council meeting on the use of the cameras after they were gifted to the city but the meeting occurred earlier that evening. Such issues never make national news to bring attention and debate to where we are headed as a country.
I'm glad you did. I was unaware of all this.

Sad day.

I remember the bulky, noticeable, $144,000 cameras that were placed on a few cop cars around the country.

I made a thread on it a couple months after I joined.

I was not aware of all this. Cheaper cameras along with the earlier precedent set I should have known.

Note this when comparing to those who aren't opposed to drones being used by law enforcement. They will eventually have small, undetectable, drones and the precedents won't be there to save us. Indeed, the precedents set and often advocated for will be the ones to effectively nullify the Fourth and Fifth Amendments as well as hinder many more.

Fucking absurd.

[kcchiefs6465]

Red light cameras have almost made me get into accidents multiple times. The very bright flash at night stuns me for a second, enough time to accidentally crash.
A good point to raise.

The light changes to yellow, I am traveling 45 MPH and cannot speed. I also cannot go through the light one split second after it turns reds.

One hundred and fifty feet away what do you do?

To avoid a ticket people are spiking their brakes. It is ridiculously more unsafe than speeding up to make the light or people driving a little faster than the posted limit. (instead of 45MPH, 50 or 52MPH) At least then you wouldn't have someone spiking their brakes on yellow lights to avoid a damn ticket.

[DamianTV]

All these cameras and yet they REFUSE to convict a single banker...

[Bern]

[video=youtube;cVeBb7RJWPc]...
They only publicize this stuff after its already been in use. ...

Austin American Statesman ran a story on the local PD acquiring the technology back in October 2009*. I tried to warn peeps back then where it would lead, but most blew me off as a tin foil hat nut job.

* http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2009/10/30/police_to_start_using_license.html

[DamianTV]

Austin American Statesman ran a story on the local PD acquiring the technology back in October 2009*. I tried to warn peeps back then where it would lead, but most blew me off as a tin foil hat nut job.

* http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/blotter/entries/2009/10/30/police_to_start_using_license.html

Tin Foil Hats tend to catch fire with focused Microwave Crowd Dispursers. Oh wait, the Microwave Crowd Dispurser is exactly what we fear in the first place.

[tsai3904]

Picture captured by a license plate reader in California:

http://i44.tinypic.com/2vlwod1.jpg

Here's the story:
http://cironline.org/reports/license-plate-readers-let-police-collect-millions-records-drivers-4883

[DamianTV]

Just a quick question: How long do you think it will take for those Govts to start selling all this data to Advertisers?

[TheNewYorker]

You know, today on my way home from work i noticed a big camera on a pole on the side of a bridge aimed down at oncoming traffic on the NY state thruway. The east syracuse 298 exit bridge. Now i know what its for. Disturbing. They musthousands of license plates a day.

[DamianTV]

Red Riding Hood: My Mr. Govt, what big Cameras you have!
Government: All the better to control you with my dear!

[Keith and stuff]

http://www.myfoxny.com/Story/22863801/driving-somewhere-theres-a-government-record-of-that
Not in New Hampshire. It is a recent law that free staters helped pass. Here is an article about it which has been talked about here before. It shows the RSA number the the current law, the most restrictive in the US. http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130623/NEWS07/130629674


Law enforcement officials also point out that the technology is legal in most cases, automating a practice that's been done for years. The ACLU found that only five states have laws governing license plate readers. New Hampshire, for example, bans the technology except in narrow circumstances, while Maine and Arkansas limit how long plate information can be stored.

There is a bill stalled in a committee to do it on a very limited bases in NH, though it still won't store the data (if the text of the bill is followed) in a way that a database could be created. Here is the new proposed bill, it weakens the protections. Though, it would still make NH law SUBSTANTIALLY more restrictive than other state, especially if I have anything to say about it. http://www.unionleader.com/article/20130718/NEWS07/130719299/0/FRONTPAGE