Question for our resident LEOs

[breakingcontact]

Are images stored that you acquire from ALPRs (Automatic License Plate Readers) or just checked against the database and discarded? Is this information uploaded and stored in a database and if so for how long?

 

[txinvestigator]

They send them to me so I know if you get too close to me.

 

[AngeliaH]

TXI made a funny.


Seriously though....good question.

 

[Renegade]

All of the above.

I know if instances where they just compare against a list of stolen/wanted plates and then discard.

I also know of parking enforcement using them where they keep the data for over a year in case of court issues.

I also know of cases where it is not Parking and it is kept for whenever.

My license plate reader keeps it forever. (ie a camera that photos every cay coming or going from my driveway -like a game cam.).

 

[breakingcontact]

They send them to me so I know if you get too close to me.

My ninja bicycle has none of your government plates.

 

[breakingcontact]

Many people may not even be aware of this technology. Back in the old days cops would radio in plates or type them into a computer. Now with ALPRs they are constantly reading plates in all directions automatically. Same technolgy that takes pics of plates going through toll plazas.

Reading the plates then trashing the data isnt troubling to me. Storing the data of plates that dont come up "hot" long term should be illegal.

 

[Byrd666]

Funny you asked. When I worked for the Texas D.P.S. I asked a question very similar to this. I'm still waiting on an honest and verifiable answer.

 

[benenglish]

I'm still waiting on an honest and verifiable answer.

You're kidding, right?

When the toll roads came to Houston, the Harris County Toll Road Authority assured everyone that their records (which are mostly readings of toll tags but also includes license plate reader output) were private. It took less than 6 months for an attorney in a divorce case to get a court order for the records.

I personally have experience with this. My toll tag died (back when they had batteries in them) and the plate reader kept track of me for a couple of years. Then there was a mixup in the database and I got hit with a bunch of fines from the previous two years. Thus, I know those records are kept for years despite the original HCTRA promises that such would not be the case.

My point is that whenever a database is created it tends to persist and public servants who say otherwise are usually lying.

 

[MPA1988]

In my opinion, this issue is really not that important. Government already has you in their database. If you have bought a firearm from a dealer you are in a government database so why is this a big deal?

 

[Renegade]

In my opinion, this issue is really not that important. Government already has you in their database. If you have bought a firearm from a dealer you are in a government database so why is this a big deal?

Yes but Govt does not know where you are or have been in the last x years. The privacy issue here is the ability to create a GPS database from phone, motor vehicle, facial recognition, etc., technologies.

 

[jordanmills]

You're kidding, right?

When the toll roads came to Houston, the Harris County Toll Road Authority assured everyone that their records (which are mostly readings of toll tags but also includes license plate reader output) were private. It took less than 6 months for an attorney in a divorce case to get a court order for the records.

I personally have experience with this. My toll tag died (back when they had batteries in them) and the plate reader kept track of me for a couple of years. Then there was a mixup in the database and I got hit with a bunch of fines from the previous two years. Thus, I know those records are kept for years despite the original HCTRA promises that such would not be the case.

My point is that whenever a database is created it tends to persist and public servants who say otherwise are usually lying.

With requirements for compliance and auditing, I would expect that all of the reads are logged and kept perpetually. Seven years (which seems to be the going length for short term archival) at a minimum.

 

[oohrah]

In my opinion, this issue is really not that important. Government already has you in their database. If you have bought a firearm from a dealer you are in a government database so why is this a big deal?

FFLs is this true? I thought the forms were just kept on file, but not sent to the govt, unless a specific request was made/

 

[benenglish]

FFLs is this true? I thought the forms were just kept on file, but not sent to the govt, unless a specific request was made/

Oversimplified, what you're thinking is theoretically right. Many people believe that theory and practice diverge in this context.

To cover the topic in detail would need multiple threads and a few doctoral theses as well as a few GAO and multiple agency IG investigations. You ask a conceptually simple question that opens the door to a topic far too big to adequately cover (or even scratch the surface) via a public message board.

 

[Renegade]

FFLs is this true? I thought the forms were just kept on file, but not sent to the govt, unless a specific request was made/

NFA yes, Non-NFA No - only if the FFL goes out of business do the 4473s go to BATFE, where they will sit for years before they are ever entered into a DB, if ever.

 

[Sapper740]

It's obvious some of you never read Orwell's book "1984" or Ayn Rand's "We the living" or "Atlas Shrugged". ALPRs? Sure, no problem! Emails and cellphone conversations recorded? Sure, no problem! Firearm databases? Sure, no problem! FBI activating webcams? Sure, no problem! No-knock warrants? Sure, no problem! We've already seen this regime's abuse of government agencies to attack groups it doesn't like and anyone who isn't concerned is obviously a long term Kool-Aid abuser.

 

[Cogent Design]

I just assume that some government entity can locate me very quickly if someone decided I was worth pursuing for any reason.