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posted by janrinok on Wednesday September 18 2019, @10:28PM   Printer-friendly
from the what-could-go-wrong? dept.

Submitted via IRC for Fnord666

Billions of license plate scans are part of a private surveillance database

The US government might have reconsidered its plans for license plate recognition, but companies haven't -- and they've raised serious privacy concerns in the process. Motherboard has posted an exposé detailing the Digital Recognition Network, a privately run database that collects legions of plate recognition scans (roughly 9 billion to date) from repo drivers with camera-equipped cars. The system automatically captures both the plates and locations of every car they drive by, making it possible to track the movement of car owners across the US over months or even years. Anyone with access could find out where you live, work and socialize.

[...] As you might have already suspected, this automatic data gathering creates many issues. For one, most of the vehicles in the database are of completely innocent people who have no way of knowing if they're even included in the data set. And while a spokesperson for DRN said the company "takes data security seriously" and doesn't allow access without its approval, there have been instances where unauthorized people have obtained that access. It's feasible that users (approved and otherwise) could exploit this for stalking or gaining the upper hand in court without revealing sources.

Law enforcement can also use the system, and DRN's sibling brand Vigilant Solutions sells the tech to government agencies. That raises the potential of rogue officers using the plate tracking to intimidate protesters or witnesses of police abuses.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:05AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:05AM (#895901)

    The DMV doesn't (afaik) collect location data -- when and where any specific plate/car is in a particular place. This data (from https://drndata.com/ [drndata.com] ) is much more intrusive/scary than DMV data.

    What kind of shill are you?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:11AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:11AM (#895905)

    Don't know. DMV shilll?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:58AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 19 2019, @12:58AM (#895925)

    Not cool to reach for the shill button when someone says something you disagree with.

    You're in public, with your car, which has a plate. It's fair game to track.

    OK, go ahead and call me a shill. Embrace your ignorance and and don't get over yourself.

    • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 19 2019, @01:11AM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 19 2019, @01:11AM (#895936)

      > You're in public, with your car, which has a plate. It's fair game to track.

      And...you are also fair game to track. Will you feel the same way if someone that doesn't like you uses this data to have you swatted or something similarly unpleasant?

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 20 2019, @03:28AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 20 2019, @03:28AM (#896372)

        That can and does already happen to many, sunshine. So what?

        It's not like you have a chance in hell of actually changing anything meaningful about it. Not without changing the ideal that if one is in public then one is, you know, in public.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 19 2019, @02:31PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 19 2019, @02:31PM (#896090)

    They probably do. I see license plate cameras at homeland infrastructure, like tunnels.