As I predicted in my earlier post (although it might have already been true at the time of my post), the private sector already has an ALPR app available for Android and iPhone
Get ready to be stalked.
Showing posts with label ALPR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ALPR. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
More on ALPR
Two stories that came out in the last week which provide additional information as to how ALPR is currently used. This should be seen as the starting point for this technology. Naturally the data collection points and data history will only grow over time:
- GPS data is captured along with the license plate information and stored for long periods of time. At least several months. This story shows that government officials are able to enter a license plate and find out where that plate has been over a long stretch of time. No warrant is needed as the information is publicly available (with the exception of the DMV information that is linked to the plate).
- This article shows that outstanding warrant information of the vehicle's owner is also tagged to licensee plates. This allows police to get alerted with a plate, owned by someone with an outstanding warrant, is nearby. Does this provide probable cause for a traffic stop? Hard to say. In the article, police are able to see the driver and confirm that they are not the person wanted for a warrant (normally this would be difficult while following a vehicle). But interestingly, they stop the vehicle anyway for a traffic violation.
Most people don't have a problem with criminals being caught by this technology. But mark my words, this technology is in the public domain and private companies will take advantage of this at some point. If a police officer doesn't need a warrant to collect this public information, what's to stop Google/Microsoft/political parties? And while these public organizations don't have access to DMV records (at least, not easily), they do have access to property records. What's to stop them from driving through residential neighborhoods to collect plate information along with home address information? With a database of address/property owners, they would be able to make an educated guess as to who 60% of the plates belong to. They'll also be able to map out who knows who.
Just like Facebook, except you won't have the option not to join.
Just like Facebook, except you won't have the option not to join.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
ALPR - The all seeing eye of Big Brother
On November 8th, the US Supreme Court is set to hear a case which will determine whether or not police need a warrant to install a GPS tracking device on a vehicle. The case will certainly be getting a lot more attention in the next few months due to its ability to change how the government views the 4th amendment.
But behind the scenes, technology is making GPS tracking of vehicles obsolete. Automated License Plate Recognition (or ALPR or ANPR - Automated Number Plate Recognition). It is sweeping the law enforcement world by storm. In the United States, many police departments have outfitted patrol cars with ALPR systems, mostly funded by anti-terrorism grants. So what does it do? Well as the name implies, it automatically captures, records and checks license plates against a database and it can do so in huge numbers and with no intervention by police. When the ALPR system finds a plate that is associated with a stolen vehicle or an outstanding warrant, the system alerts the officer and provides information on the vehicle and warrant.
On the surface, this seems like a great technology. Police cars can rove the streets/parking lots and with little effort uncover any criminals who were stupid enough to drive around. But like most technology, it will have unintended consequences. The biggest one is that as ALPR becomes more popular, it will become easier and easier to track any particular individual's movement. As the plate information is publicly visible on public streets, it's virtually immune from any 4th amendment challenge. More cities are also installing ALPR systems at intersections in addition to patrol cars. So the net effect will be that police will have the ability to determine not only where you and your car are at any given time, it will also (through the use of historical databases) allow them to see what any particular person's driving patterns are. Effectively, this will make GPS tracking of vehicles unnecessary, at least in medium to large cities.
And as all of the technology that makes ALPR work is already in the public domain, it won't be long before the private sector makes use of it as well. It's not hard to imagine that personal ALPR systems might be available in the future, allowing users to monitor patters of drivers though group-sourced traffic applications like Waze.
Imagine if a private company were able to capture license plate information along with travel patterns (where you live, work, drive). As of now, the government controls DMV information and most states make it very hard to get. These private companies could offer this to you as well and as it's publicly visible information, it would be difficult to stop. It would be a stalker's dream.
But behind the scenes, technology is making GPS tracking of vehicles obsolete. Automated License Plate Recognition (or ALPR or ANPR - Automated Number Plate Recognition). It is sweeping the law enforcement world by storm. In the United States, many police departments have outfitted patrol cars with ALPR systems, mostly funded by anti-terrorism grants. So what does it do? Well as the name implies, it automatically captures, records and checks license plates against a database and it can do so in huge numbers and with no intervention by police. When the ALPR system finds a plate that is associated with a stolen vehicle or an outstanding warrant, the system alerts the officer and provides information on the vehicle and warrant.
On the surface, this seems like a great technology. Police cars can rove the streets/parking lots and with little effort uncover any criminals who were stupid enough to drive around. But like most technology, it will have unintended consequences. The biggest one is that as ALPR becomes more popular, it will become easier and easier to track any particular individual's movement. As the plate information is publicly visible on public streets, it's virtually immune from any 4th amendment challenge. More cities are also installing ALPR systems at intersections in addition to patrol cars. So the net effect will be that police will have the ability to determine not only where you and your car are at any given time, it will also (through the use of historical databases) allow them to see what any particular person's driving patterns are. Effectively, this will make GPS tracking of vehicles unnecessary, at least in medium to large cities.
And as all of the technology that makes ALPR work is already in the public domain, it won't be long before the private sector makes use of it as well. It's not hard to imagine that personal ALPR systems might be available in the future, allowing users to monitor patters of drivers though group-sourced traffic applications like Waze.
Imagine if a private company were able to capture license plate information along with travel patterns (where you live, work, drive). As of now, the government controls DMV information and most states make it very hard to get. These private companies could offer this to you as well and as it's publicly visible information, it would be difficult to stop. It would be a stalker's dream.
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