Plate scanners raise privacy fears

[woo me with science]

http://www.policeone.com/police-products/traffic-enforcement/license-plate-readers/articles/5679548-Plate-scanners-raise-privacy-fears/

Plate scanners raise privacy fears

By Sarah Burge
The Press Enterprise

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Police departments across the Inland area have embraced a new technology that helps officers on patrol to locate stolen cars, felony suspects and more by instantly scanning the license plate numbers of passing cars.

But as these license-plate scanners become more common here and across the country, a lesser-known use for the devices is raising concerns among privacy advocates. Some police departments are amassing the scans in bulging databases that can be used to track an individual's movements.

"That's very troubling," said Peter Bibring, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. "What's happening is police departments are compiling databases of the movements of law-abiding citizens, or, at least, their cars. "It's one of the basic premises of privacy — the government should not be gathering information on innocuous activity."
....
It allows officers to check far more plates than if they were entering the numbers manually [font color=blue] (um....apparently every one they pass). [/font color]When the computer finds a hit on a lost or stolen plate or a vehicle connected with a felony warrant, for instance, it alerts the officer.
....

[southernyankeebelle]

1. I am waiting for the day the government puts chips in all of us wheter we want it or not.

[woo me with science]

2. How long until this technology is used to identify

people late with their inspection stickers or car tax payments, or...

Instant, ubiquitious scans for compliance. The future of America.

[southernyankeebelle]

3. They are probably working on that already. Sometimes I wish we could turn the clock back to

the days of Mayberry when life seemed easier without so much technology.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

7. I just flashed on a scene from Star Trek:

control collars:

[southernyankeebelle]

12. LOL,HAHAHA That is what happens when we step out of line.

[dixiegrrrrl]

11. Here ya go: not governments, but corporations

Hospitals Using Microchips To Keep Tabs On Newborns
POSTED: 2:15 pm PST February 7, 2007

Snip:
Now, some hospitals have been looking at radio identification tags that could be implanted under the skin of some patients.
By implanting such a chip with a patient’s medical record, hospitals and emergency workers could immediately gain access to an ill or injured person’s medical history regardless of location.
http://www.10news.com/health/10956654/detail.html

and there are several "chip" corporations that have developed micro chips to detect problems in the body
http://www.positiveidcorp.com/products.html
and to track people's medical records/info
http://www.positiveidcorp.com/

Problem is, no one has any idea of the long term effects of RFID chips .

[southernyankeebelle]

13. OMG, I wonder if they can force us to wear them?

[dixiegrrrrl]

16. At some point down the road, I see that happening.

right now it is being presented as a way to "help you" with a problem you did not realize you had..ie: medical record access, mesuring glucose in your body, etc.
remember that when the carmakers put black boxes in cars, they were quiet about it,
until the infor got out, then the insurance industry stepped in and said it was to "help you" if you had an insurance claim in a car wreck.

And the GPS system which is also in cars...that was marketed to "help you" find you way around
( what the hell ???? people so dumb they cannot drive a car on their own any more?)
but, turns out the GPS is also used to track you, just like a cell phone, which tracks you even when it is turned off
( you have to take the battery out to kill the tracker)

and now anyone who arrested for anything, even if they are let go without charge later, has to give biometric data which goes into the every growing data banks...

I believe that soon you will have to give biometric info to get a driver's license/renewal.

[southernyankeebelle]

17. That is that funny little slippery slop I have been noticing.

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Cue the "I have nothing to hide.." people

who can't look forward to the possible negative consequences of giving up privacy.

[MineralMan]

5. I've seen a couple of unmarked black police cars with this equipment mounted

discreetly on the cars near my home in St. Paul, MN. The cars are parked alongside the road and are scanning passing vehicles. I'm not exactly sure why. They could be watching for stolen vehicles or something else. I'm also not sure what agency they belong to, since the place I saw them was on a street that marks the border between St. Paul and another city. They could be State Patrol, as well.

[Gold Metal Flake]

6. This is part of what a police state looks like.

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. The best part? police scanner/cameras are owned by private corporations

who manage the devices...for a fee.
Just Google "Police Camera systems" and see all the companies which pop up.

Everything is being privatized.

[Gold Metal Flake]

15. That is a part of what fascism looks like.

[msongs]

8. riverside PD has a long ugly history - they are not your friend nt

[Robb]

9. Needs oversight.

A verified system that deletes information on vehicles that aren't actively being searched for would solve the privacy issue. Easy to say, hard to implement.

[AnotherMcIntosh]

10. Big Brother is already in Tiburon, CA with license plate cameras that record the plates of every veh

In every city that has "red light cameras," such cameras can easily be modified to read and record every license plate of all vehicles that cross their paths.

[Dragonbreathp9d]

18. I saw one in Dallas area which lead to an arguement