The deployment of License-Plate-Recognition (LPR) cameras is dramatically increasing nationwide. A quick Google search of news shows article after article from counties and states across the country describing approval for increasing numbers of LPR cameras. These automated high-speed camera systems are equipped with advanced optical character recognition (OCR) technology and placed strategically in a variety of locations to capture the license plates of all passing vehicles. LPR cameras have several uses, but there are also concerns about decreasing privacy in an age that is already increasingly surveilled.
How Do License-Plate-Reading Cameras Work?
LPR cameras utilize high-resolution cameras and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software (OCR is also how a PDF document is converted into a Word document) to capture and process images of passing license plates. During the processing, the software extracts the alphanumeric characters and stores them in a database alongside metadata, including date, time, and location.
What are LPR Cameras used for?
Law Enforcement
The primary user and the primary distributor of LPR cameras is Law Enforcement. Cameras are located in many Law Enforcement vehicles and distributed in other places around cities, including highway signs, overpasses, and light poles. They are utilized to assist police with locating stolen vehicles, finding vehicles linked to other criminal activities, and also tracking the movements of suspects. Sought after vehicles will be added to a Hot List which will then alert Law Enforcement when the vehicle is spotted. Law Enforcement can also use the data for investigations after the fact, like looking into all nearby drivers after a crime is committed.
These cameras can also come into play during civil legal cases when there are questions surrounding an involved party's whereabouts or direction of travel. There are also private companies involved in the industry that sell data to Insurers and Law Enforcement Agencies. LPR cameras are placed in contracted private vehicles that drive around capturing license plate data.
Parking Management | Toll Collection
LPR cameras have made parking management processes and toll collection much more efficient for users and operators alike. Depending on the time of parking area, LPRs may help automate entry and exit, continuously monitor parking areas, or ensure only authorized vehicles enter parking facilities. These automations reduce expense for the parking facility operator, ensure any issues are addressed promptly, and increase safety for those utilizing the parking area. Toll collection has been automated in many places to remove the need for manned booths. LPR cameras capture the license plate as it drives through, and a bill for the toll is sent in the mail.
Fleet Management
LPRs have been a part of the increasingly technological world of commercial trucking. They allow fleet management companies to monitor the movements of vehicles and enable them to increase route efficiency, keep track of mileage, and ensure compliance with FMCSA and other regulatory requirements.
Privacy Concerns Surrounding License-Plate-Reading Cameras
A significant concern with LPR cameras is what happens to the data that they capture and who has access to it. Retention rates vary by jurisdiction or location, with some ranging as long as five years. Access to that data can be widespread, with some databases being managed by police departments and others by private companies that share data across law enforcement agencies.
Over extended time periods, holders of that data are able to track individuals in such a way that creates serious privacy concerns. The government would be able to know a person's routines, routes, and habits. According to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the leading nonprofit organization defending civil liberties in the digital world,
"Taken in the aggregate, [LPR] data can paint an intimate portrait of a driver’s life and even chill First Amendment protected activity. [LPR] technology can be used to target drivers who visit sensitive places such as health centers, immigration clinics, gun shops, union halls, protests, or centers of religious worship."
Laws addressing the use of these cameras, the storage of their data, and the access to databases, has been limited thus far to a couple states. The risk for abuse is high and instances of abuse and mistakes have already been documented. While these devices offer undeniable benefits in certain law enforcement contexts, parking management, and fleet vehicle tracking, it is paramount to implement stringent policies and safeguards to protect individual privacy rights.
