4 ms·

It's a lot more precise data, and getting it from private companies without a warrant makes the bar potentially quite low. My concern is more that it's ripe fo

It's a lot more precise data, and getting it from private companies without a warrant makes the bar potentially quite low. My concern is more that it's ripe for parallel construction in cases that otherwise wouldn't make it out of the gate.

ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago
From what I understand, LPRs are very precise; especially the car-mounted ones that I see around here. The biggest issue with LPRs, is the private corporations that run the infrastructure, sell the data to non-law enforcement people. Basically, license plates were designed to give authorities the ability to match the car with an owner, and are designed to be public, but the matching data is supposed to be behind a lock. LPRs simply supercharge the collection of the data, but they have contracted out the matching, and those contractors seem to be using what is supposedly a “locked” ability, to make money.
- sidewndr46 2y ago
  well sure, the data is very precise. It's augmented with GPS. I can also go get an inkjet printer to produce paper that has your tag number on it, slap it over my license plate and get all the ALPR systems to immediately flag my vehicle as your location. Probably a crime, but also going to quickly poison the entire dataset
- google_expat 2y ago
  Precise but not accurate. I've gotten multiple tickets for running tolls from San Francisco that show commercial work vans or trucks (one of which didn't even have a license plate on it), despite having a compact car several states over that's never even entered that dystopian city/state. The big databases are unlikely to retain pictures that may be used to prove innocence -- so coupled with the legal principle that computers are presumed to be operating correctly these are nothing more than automatic probable cause machines with no upside.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- moduspol 2y ago
  A LPR will tell you when a car was at a specific spot, but it won't tell you where a car is at all times. The difference may be inconsequential in dense urban areas, but it's not where I live.
  - neuralRiot 2y ago
    Another thing that people usually forget is that a phone or a car are not a person. “Your” car being at some place doesn’t mean “you” being there. Same as a owning the murder weapon doesn’t make you directly guilty of the crime only a suspect.

ChrisMarshallNY 2y ago

From what I understand, LPRs are very precise; especially the car-mounted ones that I see around here. The biggest issue with LPRs, is the private corporations that run the infrastructure, sell the data to non-law enforcement people. Basically, license plates were designed to give authorities the ability to match the car with an owner, and are designed to be public, but the matching data is supposed to be behind a lock. LPRs simply supercharge the collection of the data, but they have contracted out the matching, and those contractors seem to be using what is supposedly a “locked” ability, to make money.

sidewndr46 2y ago
well sure, the data is very precise. It's augmented with GPS. I can also go get an inkjet printer to produce paper that has your tag number on it, slap it over my license plate and get all the ALPR systems to immediately flag my vehicle as your location. Probably a crime, but also going to quickly poison the entire dataset
google_expat 2y ago
Precise but not accurate. I've gotten multiple tickets for running tolls from San Francisco that show commercial work vans or trucks (one of which didn't even have a license plate on it), despite having a compact car several states over that's never even entered that dystopian city/state. The big databases are unlikely to retain pictures that may be used to prove innocence -- so coupled with the legal principle that computers are presumed to be operating correctly these are nothing more than automatic probable cause machines with no upside.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
moduspol 2y ago
A LPR will tell you when a car was at a specific spot, but it won't tell you where a car is at all times. The difference may be inconsequential in dense urban areas, but it's not where I live.
- neuralRiot 2y ago
  Another thing that people usually forget is that a phone or a car are not a person. “Your” car being at some place doesn’t mean “you” being there. Same as a owning the murder weapon doesn’t make you directly guilty of the crime only a suspect.