Seeking suggestions and ideas for possible policy decisions surrounding the widespread use of Automated License Plate Recognition (ALPR) cameras by law enforcement.
What these cameras are designed for are reading license plates from a fixed point or mobile source (such as a police car) and collecting the data - license plate number, time stamp, location, etc. and retained for an undetermined period of time. Law enforcement agencies use them to help locate wanted vehicles and persons, such as AMBER Alerts, wanted fugitives, etc, however, where the civil liberties come into play is how long everyone else’s whereabouts are retained and for how long. Currently (and to my knowledge), data retention period is left up to the manufacturers and operators, which vary from as little as 30 days to as long as 10 years. Potential decisions could include limiting the number of cameras deployed by agencies, limitation of data retention or some combination of both.