Are Anpr Cameras Legal
Given the high saturation of license plate readers, it is essential that the use of these devices is accurate and without prejudice, thus protecting established legal values and constitutional rights. Unfortunately, publicly available information suggests that this is not the case. This could explain why at least 16 states have enacted laws governing the use of ALPRs or the use of data collected by devices. footnote1_ontrl94 1 â Automated License Plate Readers: State Statutes”, National Conference of State Legislatures, Washington, DC, updated June 23, 2020, www.ncsl.org/research/telecommunications-and-information-technology/state-statutes-regulating-the-use-of-automated-license-plate-readers-alpr-or-alpr-data.aspx. Some prohibit the use of ALPRs except for limited public safety purposes, while others introduce controls on their use, including binding privacy policies, restrictions on data retention, explicit limits on the types of investigations in which they can be used, and mandatory audits. footnote2_ewdlkn1 2 See, for example, Ark. Code Ann. §§ 12-12-1803 (prohibition of the use of ALPRs by individuals, partnerships, companies, associations or government agencies and restriction of use by law enforcement authorities); Neb. Rev. Stat.
§§ 60-3206 (requires any government agency that uses ALPRs to adopt and publish a privacy policy); Code Ann. §§ 46-5-118 (setting a ninety-day period for the retention of license plate data collected by ALPR); 23 See Stat. Ann. §§ 1607-07 (âThe use of ALPR devices by Vermont law enforcement is intended to provide access to law enforcement reports on wanted or stolen vehicles and wanted persons and for other legitimate law enforcement purposes.â); and Md. Public Safety Code § 3-509(b)(1)(2)(c)(2)(ii) (definition of mandatory audits of ALPR systems). These regulations highlight many of the concerns listed below regarding ALPRs and predict many of the following recommendations. The installation of ANPR cameras by law enforcement authorities in vehicles requires careful consideration of the comparison of cameras with the license plates they are supposed to read. Using the right number of cameras and positioning them accurately for optimal results can be challenging given the different missions and environments.
Highway patrol requires predictive cameras that span multiple lanes and are capable of reading license plates at very high speeds. The city patrol needs cameras with a shorter range and a lower focal length to capture license plates on parked cars. Parking spaces with vertically parked cars often require a special camera with a very short focal length. Most technically advanced systems are flexible and can be configured with a range of cameras from one to four that can be easily repositioned if necessary. States with pure rear license plates have an additional challenge, as a forward-looking camera is inefficient in oncoming traffic. In this case, a camera can be turned backwards. Perhaps the most well-known incident involving the misuse of an ANPR database in North America was the case of journalist Kerry Diotte of the Edmonton Sun in 2004. Diotte wrote a critical article about Edmonton police`s use of traffic cameras to increase their revenue and was added to an ANPR database of “high-risk drivers” in retaliation to monitor his habits and create an opportunity to arrest him. [106] [107] [108] The Chief of Police and several officers were subsequently fired, and the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner of Canada publicly expressed concern about “the increasing use of technology by police to spy on motorists.” [109] A Fairfax County judge made an interesting decision regarding the use of ALPR/ANPR cameras by the local law enforcement agency.
This is not a landmark case as it is based on the state`s law called the Data Act or Virginia`s Government Data Collection and Dissemination Practices Act. It`s unlikely to apply in other jurisdictions, but it helps form a framework for a controversial technology. Automatic license plate recognition (ANPR) cameras have been around for some time. Optical character recognition technology for reading and recognizing vehicle license plates is an excellent tool for enforcing traffic rules and thus creating safer and less congested roads. However, many people consider ANPR cameras to be a threat to their privacy, especially if these cameras can also capture their faces. Their fear of such a privacy breach may seem exaggerated, but given the scandals in which many companies have been involved in recent years, these concerns have become legitimate. An ANPR camera is a mass surveillance device that performs optical character recognition on images to read license plates, inform police, and prevent criminal activity. These advanced cameras are used in supply chain management, smart cities and other areas where vehicle tracking is needed. In addition, ANPR cameras can automate access control systems, provide better security, prevent car theft and make traffic management efficient. Several cities have tested – and some have put it into operation – the KGYS (Kent Guvenlik Yonetim Sistemi, City Security Administration System)[33], i.e.
the capital Ankara, which consists of a system for the recognition of license plates on the main traffic arteries and city exits. [34] The system was used with two cameras per track, one for plate detection, one for speed detection. Now the system has been extended to network all recording number cameras and apply the average speed over predefined distances.