Massive License Plate Databases

[grarpamp]

https://cdt.org/blog/government-keeps-its-eyes-on-the-road-with-invasive-license-plate-reader-program/

On April 2, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a
Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) that describes how the DHS Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) – including ICE’s primary investigative
offices, Enforcement and Removal Operations and Homeland Security
Investigations – will find the present and past location of drivers by
accessing a massive private database of vehicle location information.
The program raises serious privacy concerns, with the specter of
individuals’ location data being collected on a mass scale, stored for
a prolonged period, and used without effective restrictions.

According to the PIA, both fixed and mobile license plate readers
record license plate number, a digital image of the license plate, the
vehicle’s make, model, and state of registration, GPS location, a time
stamp, and sometimes “the environment surrounding a vehicle, which may
include drivers and passengers.” A private company – probably Vigilant
Solutions, which has amassed of database of 2.5 billion license plate
location records, will hold the data. ICE can then use license plate
numbers to query a database, and provide a “hot list” of license plate
numbers under surveillance to the private company so that when there
is a hit on one of those numbers, ICE will receive immediate notice of
the location of the license plate. Queries can uncover all recorded
sightings of a license plate for the previous five years, or as far
back as the statute of limitations for the crime being investigated.
......