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posted by chromas on Friday August 17 2018, @01:31PM   Printer-friendly
from the for-the-good-of-the-land dept.

Submitted via IRC for Fnord666

Since 2016, Sacramento County officials have been accessing license plate reader data to track welfare recipients suspected of fraud, the Sacramento Bee reported over the weekend.

Sacramento County Department of Human Assistance Director Ann Edwards confirmed to the paper that welfare fraud investigators working under the DHA have used the data for two years on a "case-by-case" basis. Edwards said the DHA pays about $5,000 annually for access to the database.

Abbreviated LPR, license plate readers are essentially cameras that upload photographs to a searchable database of images of license plates. Each image captured by these cameras is annotated with information on the registered owner, the make and model of the car, and time-stamped GPS data on where it was last spotted. Those with access, usually police, can search the database using a full or partial license plate number, a date or time, year and model of a car, and so on.

Source: Gizmodo

From the SacBee article,

County welfare fraud investigators with the Department of Human Assistance use ALPR [automated license plate recognition] data to find suspects and collect evidence to prove cases of fraud, said DHA Director Ann Edwards. Investigators determine whether to use the data on a "case-by-case" basis "depending on the investigative needs of the case," she said.

"It's really used to help us locate folks that are being investigated for welfare fraud," she said. "Sometimes they're not at their stated address."

Through agreements, law enforcement agencies across California and the U.S. upload the images they obtain to a database owned by Livermore-based corporation Vigilant Solutions, which says the data help police solve crimes, track down kidnappers and recover stolen vehicles. Users can search the database by license plate, partial license plate, date or time, year or model of car, or by address where a crime occurred, which can show police which vehicles were in the area, the company's website says.


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  • (Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @02:56PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 17 2018, @02:56PM (#722821)

    that my friend is 'another set of stories'. my point is/was that ca has the legal right to check up the use of the funds they provide .. and the seem to be doing it for a grand total of 5k/yr. less than a penny per person.. e.g. an excellent investment of our money. (not dissing the orwellian dynamics or the dangers of a legal panopticon; but that is a completely seperate thing, yes?)

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