[Scan-DC] License Plate Readers

[Doug Kitchener]

I didn't know there were fixed ones... not sure I understand that concept, would someone care to elaborate?  "Oh, there, a wanted car just drove by my corner!"

I think in more and more states, the data from license plates is not available to the general public - however, in states where it is still in the public domain, I suppose people would harvest it and sell it...

DK




----- Original Message -----
> From: Alan Henney <alan at henney.com>
> To: Scan DC <Scan-DC at mailman.qth.net>
> Cc: 
> Sent: Monday, January 14, 2013 2:34 AM
> Subject: [Scan-DC] License Plate Readers
> 
> 
> One might think in this day of technology, private individuals would have LPR 
> networks to harvest and sell data.  Or perhaps they do and I never found out 
> yet?
> 
> Do we know where all the fixed LPRs are in D.C.?  I know the one on Benning and 
> the other on 16st St at Carter Barron.  Any others?
> 
> 
> 
> St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota)
> 
> January 11, 2013 Friday
> 
> Minneapolis license plate data raises privacy questions
> 
> BYLINE: By Curtis Gilbert Minnesota Public Radio
> 
> SECTION: LEGISLATURE; Crime and Court Stories; Minnesota-Twin Cities; West 
> Metro; State
> 
> LENGTH: 725 words
> 
> Academics and entrepreneurs nationwide have received copies of a massive 
> database that the Minneapolis Police Department uses to track the location of 
> cars. Where some see business or research opportunities, the city sees a public 
> safety risk.
> 
> The data come from the city's network of automatic license plate readers -- 
> cameras that record the locations of hundreds of thousands of cars every month.
> 
> Minneapolis has received at least 100 requests for data from its license plate 
> scanners over the past five months, ever since the Star Tribune first reported 
> on the existence of the data. Most requests came from people who wanted to know 
> where the scanners had spotted an individual license plate. More than a third 
> came from one man, Alex Peterson, who repossesses cars for a living. 
> 
> "I see a license plate hit in this neighborhood, and I do work on the 
> Internet and find out they have a relative who lives in that neighborhood and 
> find it at that address," Peterson said. "There's a lot of 
> different ways I can use the information."
> 
> Minnesota law makes all data collected by the government public, unless it is 
> specifically classified otherwise. Minneapolis dutifully turns over the 
> information to anyone who asks.
> 
> But in December, the city abruptly changed its approach and asked the state to 
> issue an order rendering the data private for the next two years while it 
> lobbies the Legislature to change the law.
> 
> "It became clear to us that this was creating a real risk to public 
> safety," said Susan Segal, city attorney.
> 
> Segal said the license plate readers are designed to help police find criminals 
> and stolen cars. In the wrong hands, the data they collect could be used to 
> commit crimes.
> 
> "Victims of domestic abuse, for example, don't want their batterers to 
> know where they're living or where they may be working," Segal said.
> 
> The city also is concerned about the increasing amounts of data being requested.
> 
> In addition to inquiries about specific license plates, Minneapolis also 
> received numerous requests for the entire database. Earlier this month, it 
> released a file containing some 2.1 million records covering a three-month 
> period.
> 
> Nine people received the database. One of them was Mark Pitts of Rogers, who is 
> finishing a master's degree in statistics.
> 
> "And so I thought it would be an interesting data set for my master's 
> project, and it turned out to be a very interesting data set, as you know," 
> Pitts said.
> 
> Eight of the license plate scanners are attached to police cars. Pitts said the 
> scanners don't just record the locations of nearby vehicles; they also 
> record the movements of the police.
> 
> "And so you can literally see everywhere they went. I can tell you when 
> they stopped for lunch. I can tell you when they met at the hospital," 
> Pitts said. "There's a lot more information about their activities and 
> movements in this data then there are about any single individual."
> 
> That's why Pitts supports making the data private. But some of the other 
> people who have examined the data disagree.
> 
> Arthur D'Antonio, 25, is a California-based Web developer who has requested 
> similar data from other cities around the country. He is exploring whether the 
> data have commercial applications.
> 
> "I personally believe that the data shouldn't be being stored on 
> innocent people at all. But I also believe that if it is, we're paying for 
> that," D'Antonio said. "And so anybody should be able to use it 
> for whatever legal purpose they want to use it for."
> 
> D'Antonio hasn't figured out exactly how to make money using the data, 
> but the fact that automobile repossession companies have been using it suggests 
> one possibility, he said.
> 
> "Is there any way that we could have made it so that that guy could have 
> obtained that data, quicker, more efficiently, maybe even on the go?" 
> D'Antonio said. "That makes his business that much more successful. He 
> can maybe hire more people. If there's opportunity, I think everybody should 
> be looking to seize it."
> 
> But researchers and entrepreneurs looking for opportunities in the license plate 
> scanner databases might have missed their chance, at least for now.
> 
> A recently issued administrative order classifies the data as private for at 
> least the next three months. It applies to Minneapolis and any other Minnesota 
> cities that collect such data. And the Legislature likely will consider whether 
> to make the data private permanently.
> 
> 
> 
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