The US Department of Homeland Security is shopping around for a service that tracks license plates nation-wide.
The US Department of Homeland Security is shopping around for a service that tracks license plates nation-wide.
Their goal is to gain access to a commercial database that’s been built by the automated scanning of every vehicle that crosses the camera’s lens.
Catching individuals who pose a threat to national security is mentioned as a primary focus of the system’s eventual use.
What the proposal does not mention are what types of safeguards will be put in place to protect the innocent from being subjected invasive surveillance.
A spokesperson for Homeland Security said that the information they acquire would be limited to what’s deemed relevant for the solving of existing cases.
The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, has made its position on devices such as license-plate readers clear.
Last year, the organization issued a statement that expressed their concerns about the potential abuse of such technologies.
Among them is that a person’s entire life history could be assembled by anyone with access to a wealth of non-selectively culled data.
That sort of constant monitoring, they say, could, “chill the exercise of our cherished rights to free speech and association.”
