license plate recognition privacy
DHS Cancels Nationwide License Plate Tracking System
The Department of Homeland Security has cancelled a plan to build a national license plate tracking database. The database would have included the license plate records of car owners across the country, obtained from private companies and law enforcement agencies. The request for bids lacked any consideration of privacy protections. EPIC, through various Freedom of Information Act requests, had obtained extensive documents on the current programs operated by the Customs and Border Protection and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The documents uncovered by EPIC show that both agencies failed to adequately address the privacy implications of license plate readers. For more information, see EPIC: License Plate Recognition Systems.