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In the UK there are ANPR cameras everywhere. The police can and will pull your driving history (or at least when you passed the cameras), and if you are 'wanted

In the UK there are ANPR cameras everywhere. The police can and will pull your driving history (or at least when you passed the cameras), and if you are 'wanted' it will ping the local police force when you drive past one. Does this exist in the US? This has been going on for nearly 20 years here.

downrightmike 5y ago
No many places like Arizona those cameras were made illegal. Some were installed, but the people voted to remove them. That's the difference between citizens and subjects.
- martinald 5y ago
  This seems to suggest differently. https://www.azmirror.com/2019/07/08/arizona-police-agencies-gather-share-license-plate-data-but-few-ensure-rules-are-being-followed/ https://www.azmirror.com/2019/07/08/arizona-police-agencies-... Seems the US has many more installed in police cars (which is rare in the UK) vs stationary ones, in general.
russellbeattie 5y ago
> Does this exist in the US? As with any time this question is asked, try to remember the US is the third largest nation in both geographic size and population, with 320 million citizens spread out over 50 quasi nation-states, a handful of which themselves are bigger than most countries, and all with their own legal systems. We share currency, an army, a flag and a constitution. The rest is a roll of the dice. That said, at a Federal level, I've never heard of this and where I live in Northern California, I haven't heard of anything to that extent either. That doesn't mean it's not happening in some municipality in Michigan or Hawaii, or even in a different part of my own state. Though, honestly, I doubt it. The way we do surveillance here is more roundabout: First we allow right wing news media to scare the shit out of all the old people in the country, who then go out and buy doorbell and other Wifi cameras and start live streaming every square inch of their property, 24/7. Then we either compel the bigco to give the government access to the feed, complete with gag order, or the NSA just hacks in and takes it anyways. It seems to work well. Our video is all HD.
- Handytinge 5y ago
  Most people who don't live in the US (literally 95% of the worlds population) live in countries with states, provinces or other local governments. This isn't uncommon, and the US isn't paticularly unique, outside of its populus' general arrogance.
- martinald 5y ago
  But there must be cameras recording number plates for toll collection (for people who don't have the transponder). Could the police subpoena that data for law enformcement purposes?
  - russellbeattie 5y ago
    Oh, sure! In fact, there was a link from HN I can remember from a long time ago where a reporter in the Bay Area did Freedom of Information act to get any records about his car kept by the government. If I remember correctly, he got back way more detail and discovered way more cameras are out there than he thought. So yeah, where there are publicly run cameras like for traffic, that data is usually available to law enforcement without much trouble.
throwaway0a5e 5y ago
>In the UK there are ANPR cameras everywhere. The police can and will pull your driving history (or at least when you passed the cameras), and if you are 'wanted' it will ping the local police force when you drive past one. The systems exist to varying extent on a state by state basis, but they're mostly not used for mundane stuff because the American public even in the most boot-lickey states won't just roll over and take it when the .gov tries to use skynet to screw them out of extra money and the powers that be would rather use the systems sparingly than anger the public and get rules and laws that say they can't.

downrightmike 5y ago

No many places like Arizona those cameras were made illegal. Some were installed, but the people voted to remove them. That's the difference between citizens and subjects.

martinald 5y ago
This seems to suggest differently. https://www.azmirror.com/2019/07/08/arizona-police-agencies-gather-share-license-plate-data-but-few-ensure-rules-are-being-followed/ https://www.azmirror.com/2019/07/08/arizona-police-agencies-... Seems the US has many more installed in police cars (which is rare in the UK) vs stationary ones, in general.

russellbeattie 5y ago

> Does this exist in the US? As with any time this question is asked, try to remember the US is the third largest nation in both geographic size and population, with 320 million citizens spread out over 50 quasi nation-states, a handful of which themselves are bigger than most countries, and all with their own legal systems. We share currency, an army, a flag and a constitution. The rest is a roll of the dice. That said, at a Federal level, I've never heard of this and where I live in Northern California, I haven't heard of anything to that extent either. That doesn't mean it's not happening in some municipality in Michigan or Hawaii, or even in a different part of my own state. Though, honestly, I doubt it. The way we do surveillance here is more roundabout: First we allow right wing news media to scare the shit out of all the old people in the country, who then go out and buy doorbell and other Wifi cameras and start live streaming every square inch of their property, 24/7. Then we either compel the bigco to give the government access to the feed, complete with gag order, or the NSA just hacks in and takes it anyways. It seems to work well. Our video is all HD.

Handytinge 5y ago
Most people who don't live in the US (literally 95% of the worlds population) live in countries with states, provinces or other local governments. This isn't uncommon, and the US isn't paticularly unique, outside of its populus' general arrogance.
martinald 5y ago
But there must be cameras recording number plates for toll collection (for people who don't have the transponder). Could the police subpoena that data for law enformcement purposes?
- russellbeattie 5y ago
  Oh, sure! In fact, there was a link from HN I can remember from a long time ago where a reporter in the Bay Area did Freedom of Information act to get any records about his car kept by the government. If I remember correctly, he got back way more detail and discovered way more cameras are out there than he thought. So yeah, where there are publicly run cameras like for traffic, that data is usually available to law enforcement without much trouble.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago

>In the UK there are ANPR cameras everywhere. The police can and will pull your driving history (or at least when you passed the cameras), and if you are 'wanted' it will ping the local police force when you drive past one. The systems exist to varying extent on a state by state basis, but they're mostly not used for mundane stuff because the American public even in the most boot-lickey states won't just roll over and take it when the .gov tries to use skynet to screw them out of extra money and the powers that be would rather use the systems sparingly than anger the public and get rules and laws that say they can't.