ACLU Seeks Information on Automatic License Plate Readers
American Civil Liberties Union affiliates in 35 states, including the ACLU of Delaware, sent requests today to local police departments and state agencies that demand information on how they use automatic license plate readers (ALPR) to track and record Americans’ movements.
More information on this important privacy issue can be found on the ACLU Web site or this fact sheet. Full information on the ACLU of Delaware FOIA request can be found at the end of this article.
What is an ALPR?
ALPRs are cameras mounted on patrol cars or on stationary objects along roads – such as telephone poles or the underside of bridges –that snap a photograph of every license plate that enters their fields of view. Typically, each photo is time, date, and GPS-stamped, stored, and sent to a database, which provides an alert to a patrol officer whenever a match or “hit” appears.
Automatic license plate readers make it possible for the police to track our location whenever we drive our cars and to store that information forever. The American people have a right to know whether our police departments are using these tools in a limited and responsible manner, or whether they are keeping records of our movements for months or years for no good reason.”
~ Catherine Crump, staff attorney, ACLU Speech, Privacy & Technology Project
How is an ALPR Used?
ALPRs are spreading rapidly around the country, but the public has little information about how they are used to track motorists’ movements, including how long data collected by ALPRs is stored, and whether local police departments pool this information in state, regional or national databases. If ALPRs are being used as a tool for mass routine location tracking and surveillance and to collect and store information not just on people suspected of crimes, but on every single motorist, the American people should know that so that they can voice their concerns.
ALPRs have already proven controversial. Just last month the Drug Enforcement Administration withdrew its request to install ALPRs along certain portions of Interstate 15 in Utah after they were met with resistance by local lawmakers.
More Information
ACLU-DE Auto License Plate Tracking FOIA Press Release
Sample FOIA Request Letter to Local Municipalities
Exhibit A to Police Dept-City-Town 7-30-12 FOIA Request
License Plate 7-30-12 FOIA Request List
