Plate scanners--again

[High Exposure 5,662]

The larger issue for plate scanners is the storage of historical data. Just like the 24 hour destruction requirement for NICS checks there should be no legal reason to store this data for future use or at an absolute minimum there needs to be a probable cause requirement for someone to have access to the data to prevent abuse and fishing expeditions.

 

Again, there is no personal "data" to retain in the APR. It downloads lists of plates that are wanted, unregistered, suspended, etc... from a server at the MVC level. This list contains plate, make, model, status (suspended, expired, valid), model year, color. It then compares tags that are "scanned" from a photo of the plates it sees to the list stored on the hard drive . There is no "destruction" requirement because there is nothing to destroy.

 

No location data and no pedigree information is ever in the APR system.

 

A location is only attached to the plate if a stop is made and a location is reported via radio. That location is only recorded in an in-house system as evidence in the event of a trial, and officer safety in case backup is needed. There is a whole other step involved using CJIS, a completely different system, to get to personal information of the registered owner or driver by running a license or registration.

[TK421 2]

Again, there is no personal "data" to retain in the APR. It downloads lists of plates that are wanted, unregistered, suspended, etc... from a server at the MVC level. This list contains plate, make, model, status (suspended, expired, valid), model year, color. It then compares tags that are "scanned" from a photo of the plates it sees to the list stored on the hard drive . There is no "destruction" requirement because there is nothing to destroy.

 

No location data and no pedigree information is ever in the APR system.

 

A location is only attached to the plate if a stop is made and a location is reported via radio. That location is only recorded in an in-house system as evidence in the event of a trial, and officer safety in case backup is needed. There is a whole other step involved using CJIS, a completely different system, to get to personal information of the registered owner or driver by running a license or registration.

 

Really? Tell me more...

 

Digital Recognition Network

 

Digital Recognition Network (DRN) is a data company exclusively focused on data derived from vehicles. By recovering, storing and grouping data on vehicle location, where vehicles go and who drives them, DRN is able to provide value to clients to help them make better, more profitable decisions.

 

An industry pioneer in vehicle asset location technology and services, DRN fuels a national network of more than 550 Affiliates employing mobile license plate recognition technology that gathers the data we provide to our clients. Because this technology is used in every major metropolitan area in the United States, DRN captures data on more than 50 million vehicles each day.

 

With more than 700 million data points gathered to date, DRN has the largest vehicle location database in existence. We are proud to maintain strict standards for privacy, compliance, and data integrity.

 

Digital Recognition Network Defeats California SB1330

 

Industry leaders unite to reserve the right to utilize LPR data for legitimate business and public safety purposes.

 

Fort Worth, TX (PRWEB) June 05, 2012

Digital Recognition Network (“DRN”) is pleased to announce that their efforts to defeat California SB1330, legislation intended to outlaw the use of License Plate Recognition (“LPR”) data for legitimate business and public safety purposes, have prevailed and the bill died on the California Senate floor without passage.

 

DRN and its’ California-based business partner, Vigilant Video, an innovative leader in providing video content analysis for the public and private sectors, joined forces to lead the opposition to SB1330. Leveraging the value of the data created by DRN’s LPR data solutions and providing it to law enforcement via Vigilant Video’s advanced intelligence solutions has helped solve a number of cold cases. “We applaud the legislators who worked with us to defeat the bill. The value of DRN’s data network stood out clearly in the mind’s eye of legislators who realized the ability of the private sector to create value by providing data to law enforcement to ensure public safety. We are extremely pleased with this outcome and believe it reinforces the trend of private companies helping government protect and lower the tax burden for citizens,” said Chris Metaxas, Chief Executive Officer of DRN.

 

California’s legislative attempt to eliminate the use of LPR data for legitimate business purposes was designed to seriously undermine the ability of private entities to deliver substantial value to California consumers in the form of risk mitigation, lowered insurance premiums, less-stringent credit requirements, and improved flexibility from lenders seeking to help the economy in California. DRN and Vigilant Video are able to provide advanced intelligence solutions that address a number of business challenges and solutions essential to reducing crime, lowering law enforcement operating budgets, and improving public safety.

 

“Quite frankly, we were surprised that California took on the challenge of trying to impose legislation that sought to restrict the stringent permissible use guidelines already imposed by the federal government and in active use by all law enforcement agencies, financial institutions, and insurance companies. We work closely with government to ensure that standards of use are met and diligently enforced,” added Chris Metaxas.

 

 

Law enforcement officials came out in droves to support the opposition of SB1330 based on thousands of documented cases that were solved utilizing the DRN data

[High Exposure 5,662]

This is not how the system is used in NJ. Additionally, this info is not available in real time to an Officer operating an APR.

 

[TK421 2]

This is not how the system is used in NJ. Additionally, this info is not available in real time to an Officer operating an APR.

 

Perhaps not yet... Give it time.

[High Exposure 5,662]

You are gnashing your teeth about "perhaps", you are wailing about "in time"?

 

In time we may be invaded by aliens, hit by an asteroid, or go to war with China. You may lose your job, get in a car wreck, or maybe win the lottery.

 

Geez Louise guy You are going to give yourself a stroke worrying about all the "perhaps" that may happen in life if given enough time.

[TK421 2]

Um... Time's up!

 

Use of license plate readers by N.J. police increasing

 

Saturday September 1, 2012, 1:03 PM

 

SEA ISLE CITY — A camera mounted to a lamppost on the Sea Isle Boulevard Bridge has taken a picture of every license plate leaving the island for the past two years.

The information is transmitted to a computer at the nearby Police Department, where officers use it to monitor for stolen vehicles and suspected criminals, or keep it to be used in a potential future case.

The automated license plate reader, or ALPR, is a technology that is growing in use locally and throughout the world as a way to dramatically expand the reach of police investigations. Cameras essentially take photographs of passing vehicles and use software to extract the license plate numbers — data that can then be used to automatically search police databases for any issues with that vehicle or its registered owner.

"It's a very, very good tool when you deploy it right," said Sea Isle City police Lt. Kirk Rohrer, who has used the system for several successful investigations.

Using the technology correctly has been a concern among privacy advocates, though, who worry what would happen if the immense amount of data being collected is misused.

At the end of July, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey filed public records requests to 21 police departments in the state — including Atlantic City and Vineland — and hundreds more nationwide to get more information about how ALPR systems are being used.

"From a civil liberties perspective, we're more concerned about how the information is kept, who has access to it, how long it is kept, things of that nature," said Thomas MacLeod, the ACLU-NJ's Open Government Project fellow who filed the requests in New Jersey.

Nevertheless, law enforcement has been using the technology for years and its use continues to expand.

The Cape May County Prosecutor's Office announced Thursday that it purchased seven more ALPR systems for municipal police departments to attach to patrol cars to similarly scan license plates that go by. These mobile ALPRs will go to Ocean City, Sea Isle, North Wildwood, Wildwood, Wildwood Crest, Lower Township and Middle Township police departments, joining an untold number of other towns that also already use the systems.

The prosecutor's office said the technology could capture as many as 3,600 license plates a minute going by at up to 160 miles per hour. It could identify cars whose owners have suspended licenses, place suspects at the scenes of crimes, monitor gang activity, assist in drug enforcement, and be used for many other law enforcement activities.

Exactly how departments should use the devices and then maintain the records they generate is laid out in guidelines from the state, county and individual departments, some of which are still being developed.

Former state Attorney General Paula Dow issued guidelines for ALPR technology in 2010. It said records should be purged after five years, and that there should be a record of who accesses the information and when.

It also said the data can be used when a plate generates an automatic alert, such as in the case of a wanted suspect or stolen vehicle, or for follow-up investigations related to a number of situations, such as dispelling an alibi or determining if someone frequents a high-crime area.

An example in the guidelines that would permit records to be accessed even if no alert is generated would be to investigate a crime that would involve extensive planning or possible rehearsals, such as a terrorist attack, for days, weeks or months before an event.

The information has been used to proactively deter crime, such as in the case of Camden, which installed a $1.8 million citywide surveillance system last year. The cameras it uses monitor high-crime areas and letters are sent to anyone traveling there, notifying them that they may be investigated and charged if believed to be committing illegal activity. (<===== ARE YOU F-ING KIDDING ME!)

MacLeod said this is just the type of intrusion into privacy that the ACLU fears could be used for the wrong reasons.

"It permits basically surveillance essentially for its own sake," he said. "It's the type of thing that could conceivably be misused if someone with access to the information had an axe to grind with someone and they could track their movements."

In the case of Sea Isle, records are stored on servers in the police department. The software is provided by Intelligent Security Systems, a company based in Woodbridge Township, Middlesex County.

Aluisio Figueiredo, chief operating officer of ISS, said his company does business in 51 countries, providing everything from ALPR systems to facial recognition software. He said the algorithm to identify license plates was created around 2001, but the technology has matured in recent years.

"We are not replacing the police, but we are definitely enhancing their ability to solve crime," Figueiredo said.

Rohrer said he has used Sea Isle's camera a couple dozen times to investigate different cases, and earlier this year he used it to solve a shoplifting case.

Surveillance footage from Heritage Surf and Sport, on Landis Avenue, caught two people stealing an expensive pair of boots. Based on his experience, Rohrer suspected they probably left the island immediately after.

He ran a search of all cars the ALPR recorded leaving within the next few minutes, and he started calling the owners and asking why they were in the city. He eventually reached a mother who said her daughter borrowed her vehicle.

"I said, 'Look, does your daughter have a brand-new pair of blue UGGs?'" Rohrer said.

The answer was yes, and after a more thorough investigation, the police charged the girl.

"That never would have happened without this technology," he said.

[TK421 2]

To be fair, full disclosure - I researched these LPR systems for almost three months a while back for a project I was working on with my former employer. I know their capabilities and how they are CURRENTLY being utilized and deployed.

[High Exposure 5,662]

Then you should know that the only info being obtained by the APR is a photo of the actual plate. Pedigree information is not being obtained at the APR levels and mobile APRs aren't tagging location data. The plate is not being run through CJIS by any APR software. A list of registered owners is not being compiled. To conduct an investigation plates still need to be run to discover owner info. It is no different than using surveillance cameras in a shopping mall, on an ATM, or Walmart parking lot, or MVR in a squad car when investigating a reported crime.

 

Yes you can tell the APR to search for a particular plate, but you can not tell it to search for a particular person. That is a big difference.

 

A Cop sitting in his squad car can do the same things with a pen and paper. Then there would be crying about a wasted salary for some "lazy cop" to sit and watch traffic.

[TK421 2]

Then you should know that the only info being obtained by the APR is a photo of the actual plate. Pedigree information is not being obtained at the APR levels and mobile APRs aren't tagging location data. The plate is not being run through CJIS by any APR software. A list of registered owners is not being compiled. To conduct an investigation plates still need to be run to discover owner info. It is no different than using surveillance cameras in a shopping mall, on an ATM, or Walmart parking lot, or MVR in a squad car when investigating a reported crime.

 

Yes you can tell the APR to search for a particular plate, but you can not tell it to search for a particular person. That is a big difference.

 

A Cop sitting in his squad car can do the same things with a pen and paper. Then there would be crying about a wasted salary for some "lazy cop" to sit and watch traffic.

 

Did you even read that? How you can make that statement is beyond me. They are storing data derived by plate numbers scanned and decoded using optical character recognition algorithms and maintaining them in a database that can easily be searched for up to five years. What part of that do you not clearly understand? You can deny it all you want but there it is from the horse’s mouth, they are not even trying to hide it.

[TK421 2]

The one system I looked at and demoed went so far as to be able to identify with very good accuracy the make, model and color of the car the plate was on and flag the record if they did not match the DMV record for a possible stolen/fictitious plate. You obviously do not know what is already out there and available.

 

edit, couldn't recall the company name originally:

 

HTS Vehicle Identity Recognition

[leahcim 679]

I never said anything about GPS. A device that can scan, identify, and pull up info on a plate, faster than an officer can, is beneficial to the driving community, and crime as a whole. Everyone needs to take off the tin foil hats for a second, and let that seep in.

No I said that. I think plate scanners, comnbined with GPS and computer databases, can be used in a ways that would present clear 4A issues--would violate our reasonable expectation--similar argument as the SCOTUS ruling in U.S. v. Jones.