We're privacy hawks. Here's why we're alarmed by license plate readers -- ACLU of Massachusetts

[erronis]

https://www.aclum.org/news/were-privacy-hawks-heres-why-were-alarmed-by-license-plate-readers-and-not-necessarily-by-speed-cameras/

When properly regulated, speed cameras don't pose the same threats to privacy as license-plate-reader surveillance

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey recently proposed expanding the use of automated enforcement technologies (AET), which use cameras and sensors to identify traffic violations. State lawmakers are working on legislation that would authorize cities and towns to use AET to ticket people for speeding and running red lights and stop signs.

Given the ACLU's years-long campaign to warn about the dangers of unregulated license plate readers (LPR), we're often asked about the potential risks of AET.

Our take: When properly regulated, AET does not pose the same threats to privacy as license-plate-reader surveillance. We're also encouraged by the smart guardrails state lawmakers are considering in legislation that would authorize Massachusetts cities and towns to expand AET.

Read on to learn more about how AET works, how it differs from the LPRs already in widespread use throughout Massachusetts, and how lawmakers ought to regulate both technologies to ensure they support community safety without violating privacy.

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Start of comments:

IMO the biggest problem with Flock cameras is not that the technology exists, it's that there's no judge or legal signoff to obtain the data. If you build the system to require warrants before searching for individuals travel history, than the concerns of the system would lessen a great deal.

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I think it's also a massive issue that the private company owns that data and can sell it to anyone. Giving it to cops without a warrant is bad but selling data on everywhere I go, when I go there, and who im with to anyone with money is insane

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Yeah, that's a nightmare if stalkers/burglars/etc can just pay for access to track your movements. And when there's a financial incentive to not vet account holders very well...

But the concern isn't even just them selling it--from what I understand they also don't do a very good job at security, and there's a bunch of exploits that bad actors can use to get access.

[cachukis]

1. Taking the humanity out of society is extremely

worrisome. The transactional approach is restrictive to those without resources.
Learning from mistakes has gotten most of us this far. Getting bagged for a small transgression that didn't really interfere with the flow is unnecessarily cumbersome.
Catching the really bad guys may be a positive, but there wouldn't be so many bad guys if their chances for success weren't reliant on breaking the rules.