Surveillance Cameras To Scan License Plates

[patric]

OHP trooper used license plate system to stalk and harass women

https://www.normantranscript.com/news/ohp-trooper-accused-of-using-state-records-to-stalk-harass/article_85b231fe-d307-11e8-9159-6fe76c0b1b7b.html

[patric]

State officials Tuesday unveiled plans to implement an automated license plate scanner system designed to clamp down on uninsured motor vehicles.
https://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/state-prepares-to-unveil-license-plate-reading-system-to-hunt/article_4f148635-2902-5d01-9832-8003a0d1b415.html

The system, the first of its kind in the country, will be operational by Nov. 1 and use technology that can issue up to 10,000 violation notices per day, officials said during a news conference held in Tulsa.

Noble said the system will not retain plate information for vehicles that meet state insurance requirements.
"We're not taking pictures of every car going past the camera. It's just those that don't have insurance."

Thats not true.
Automatic License Plate Readers photograph and store every single vehicle and every single driver...they are incapable of distinguishing "bad" from "good" they just stockpile data that has a history of being abused and mismanaged.
NYPD still uses it to track Muslims, and then there's the pedigree of stalking and blackmail...

Missing from the "extensive public awareness campaign" is what it costs you when the corporation mails you a ticket by mistake.

[patric]

Thousands of uninsured vehicles are flagged during first weeks of new program that scans license plates

Vehicle violation notice letters will be sent to registered owners in coming days, said Amanda Arnall Couch, prosecutor for the Uninsured Vehicle Enforcement Diversion Program, a unit of the Oklahoma District Attorneys Council.

The program, the first of its kind in the country, launched Nov. 1, with four vehicle-mounted plate scanners traveling "all over the state," Arnall Couch said.

Cameras mounted on vehicles scan license plates on automobiles as they are encountered. The tags are compared to a state database that includes vehicles with liability insurance.

The state agency is contracting with Massachusetts-based Sensys Gatso Group, which is providing the license plate scanners and supporting technology in return for a cut of the revenue.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/thousands-of-uninsured-vehicles-are-flagged-during-first-weeks-of/article_92f1f6fc-ea7b-5acb-93cc-8792c301a15c.html

[Conan71]

Thousands of uninsured vehicles are flagged during first weeks of new program that scans license plates

Vehicle violation notice letters will be sent to registered owners in coming days, said Amanda Arnall Couch, prosecutor for the Uninsured Vehicle Enforcement Diversion Program, a unit of the Oklahoma District Attorneys Council.

The program, the first of its kind in the country, launched Nov. 1, with four vehicle-mounted plate scanners traveling "all over the state," Arnall Couch said.

Cameras mounted on vehicles scan license plates on automobiles as they are encountered. The tags are compared to a state database that includes vehicles with liability insurance.

The state agency is contracting with Massachusetts-based Sensys Gatso Group, which is providing the license plate scanners and supporting technology in return for a cut of the revenue.

https://www.tulsaworld.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/thousands-of-uninsured-vehicles-are-flagged-during-first-weeks-of/article_92f1f6fc-ea7b-5acb-93cc-8792c301a15c.html

Do you view this as a good thing or bad thing?  Enforcing the liability laws isn't a bad idea, JMO.

[dbacksfan 2.0]

Do you view this as a good thing or bad thing?  Enforcing the liability laws isn't a bad idea, JMO.

I already hear the tin foil hat squad warming up. I don't have a problem with it. Will it help? Some, probably boost the business at General/Safe Auto and those other insure anybody companies with people getting insurance long enough to get legal and then drop it again. So I will keep paying for full coverage with uninsured and under insured coverage because it will never end.

[patric]

Will it help? Some, probably boost the business at General/Safe Auto and those other insure anybody companies with people getting insurance long enough to get legal and then drop it again. So I will keep paying for full coverage with uninsured and under insured coverage because it will never end.

Wholesale cataloging of people's movements has all sorts of uses. 
Some may serve society while others may be nefarious.  Just reading thru the abuses on this thread alone makes it painfully obvious that taking the state's word that this will only be used to verify car insurance is just wishful thinking.

Keep in mind these are the same people behind asset forfeiture.
https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/cash-seized-forfeited-oklahoma-law-enforcement-nearly-doubled-last-year-data/

[swake]

Wholesale cataloging of people's movements has all sorts of uses.  
Some may serve society while others may be nefarious.  Just reading thru the abuses on this thread alone makes it painfully obvious that taking the state's word that this will only be used to verify car insurance is just wishful thinking.

Keep in mind these are the same people behind asset forfeiture.
https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/cash-seized-forfeited-oklahoma-law-enforcement-nearly-doubled-last-year-data/

I particularly dislike that it's a private company doing it and they will get a huge slice of the fines and most of all, what do they plan on doing with all the data they collect? Do you trust the state of Oklahoma to competently set and enforce rules that protect citizens? I certainly don't.

[Conan71]

I particularly dislike that it's a private company doing it and they will get a huge slice of the fines and most of all, what do they plan on doing with all the data they collect? Do you trust the state of Oklahoma to competently set and enforce rules that protect citizens? I certainly don't.

Based on the fine to fee structure and given that the contractor appears to have all the up-front cost, I don't think the fees are out of line unless I skimmed over a huge up-front fee for the purchase of the equipment.

As far as data collection, the state issued the tag in the first place, they already have:  tag number, owner's name, VIN, registered address, and whether or not there is a liability policy which references said vehicle.  There's not much data for this company to use against you.  If it ends up helping LEO's catch a fugitive, I really don't see where that is different from any other form of surveillance.

The state has as much or more information on file with your driver's license.  Tracking my movements? It's of no use to law enforcement since I conscientiously observe the laws.  Yes, I get mildly annoyed when I purchase a bottle of wine at the grocery store and I'm asked to swipe my license to verify my age, but seriously, what use to the state or Feds is my alcohol use?

Literally, I cannot figure anything that my personal data, other than the explicit electronic keys to one of my financial accounts, would be of benefit to someone else.  As long as I pay rightful taxes and obey laws, scanning my license plate to verify if I have liability insurance is pretty low on the list of what I view as personal liberty violations.

[patric]

Based on the fine to fee structure and given that the contractor appears to have all the up-front cost, I don't think the fees are out of line unless I skimmed over a huge up-front fee for the purchase of the equipment.

As far as data collection, the state issued the tag in the first place, they already have:  tag number, owner's name, VIN, registered address, and whether or not there is a liability policy which references said vehicle.  There's not much data for this company to use against you.  If it ends up helping LEO's catch a fugitive, I really don't see where that is different from any other form of surveillance.

The state has as much or more information on file with your driver's license.  Tracking my movements? It's of no use to law enforcement since I conscientiously observe the laws.  Yes, I get mildly annoyed when I purchase a bottle of wine at the grocery store and I'm asked to swipe my license to verify my age, but seriously, what use to the state or Feds is my alcohol use?

Literally, I cannot figure anything that my personal data, other than the explicit electronic keys to one of my financial accounts, would be of benefit to someone else.  As long as I pay rightful taxes and obey laws, scanning my license plate to verify if I have liability insurance is pretty low on the list of what I view as personal liberty violations.

Was that your car parked at the brothel?
Its been there about every Tuesday and Thursday around 1:30, according to our data, and going back a few years it looks like a regular habit ever since we started scanning tags there.  Oh is that a furry costume last October?  Keeping it fresh.
Pretty sure its the brothel and not the family planning clinic you give those ladies rides to.  So generous of you, and if we look closer at your travels you would think you have a second family in Salt Lake. I guess thats the thing.  Suzie needs braces, BTW, her mom spends too much time at the bar...

but you could use a Guinness right now
https://youtu.be/oBaiKsYUdvg



Try to see past the car insurance pretext and look at the track record of how this technology has been used (and abused) elsewhere.
As far as the value of a database of people's habits, Facebook makes their millions somehow...

Department of Public Safety brings in millions by selling personal data
https://newsok.com/article/3451253/oklahoma-brings-in-millions-by-selling-personal-data

Leaky database leaves Oklahoma police vulnerable to intruders
https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/oklahoma-highway-patrol-midfirst-bank-data-breach/

[swake]

Based on the fine to fee structure and given that the contractor appears to have all the up-front cost, I don't think the fees are out of line unless I skimmed over a huge up-front fee for the purchase of the equipment.

As far as data collection, the state issued the tag in the first place, they already have:  tag number, owner's name, VIN, registered address, and whether or not there is a liability policy which references said vehicle.  There's not much data for this company to use against you.  If it ends up helping LEO's catch a fugitive, I really don't see where that is different from any other form of surveillance.

The state has as much or more information on file with your driver's license.  Tracking my movements? It's of no use to law enforcement since I conscientiously observe the laws.  Yes, I get mildly annoyed when I purchase a bottle of wine at the grocery store and I'm asked to swipe my license to verify my age, but seriously, what use to the state or Feds is my alcohol use?

Literally, I cannot figure anything that my personal data, other than the explicit electronic keys to one of my financial accounts, would be of benefit to someone else.  As long as I pay rightful taxes and obey laws, scanning my license plate to verify if I have liability insurance is pretty low on the list of what I view as personal liberty violations.

The state provided the company the database with the plate info. The cameras look to cost about $2000 online and the company bought four of them so maybe they have spent $50k, maybe. The cameras went into service starting November 1st and less than two months 2,100 violations are being issued. They make $80 a pop. That works out to annualized revenue of just over a million dollars.

And then they have all that data about you from the state. And can match that data with location data, they know when and where you were when you passed their cameras. Maybe four cameras isn't scary, but since they are making that kind of money with four cameras, hell, let's buy 400. Or 4,000.  

[DTowner]

Enforcing the auto insurance requirement is long overdue, but there are a lot less intrusive ways to ensure compliance.

[swake]

I'm not even against the use of cameras, but I would prefer it be done by police and courts system and also that there be privacy laws that require the camera equipment to dump the logs of all non-offender plates and never send that data out of the car.

[patric]

I'm not even against the use of cameras, but I would prefer it be done by police and courts system and also that there be privacy laws that require the camera equipment to dump the logs of all non-offender plates and never send that data out of the car.

Something like this:

S.B. 1144  
Relates to license plates; creates the "Automatic License Plate Reader Privacy Act"; provides definitions; prohibits certain use of automatic license plate reader systems; provides exceptions to restrictions; prescribes certain preservation and access; stipulates reporting requirements; requires certain compliance; defines penalties; requires certain privacy; States certain severability; provides for codification; provides an effective date.

Not only did a certain group kill that, they got another exemption from the open records act, allowing them to operate in secret and not share the profits with schools etc.

[Conan71]

The state provided the company the database with the plate info. The cameras look to cost about $2000 online and the company bought four of them so maybe they have spent $50k, maybe. The cameras went into service starting November 1st and less than two months 2,100 violations are being issued. They make $80 a pop. That works out to annualized revenue of just over a million dollars.

And then they have all that data about you from the state. And can match that data with location data, they know when and where you were when you passed their cameras. Maybe four cameras isn't scary, but since they are making that kind of money with four cameras, hell, let's buy 400. Or 4,000.  

I would be a very low value target to law enforcement.  My whereabouts should be of very little to no interest to them.

[patric]

I would be a very low value target to law enforcement.  My whereabouts should be of very little to no interest to them.

How about a private corporation given police powers and allowed to operate in secret and with no accountability?