Reporter's 300-Mile Test Run Exposes the Reach of License Plate Readers
2025-03-28
A reporter conducted a day-long, 300-mile road trip to investigate the scope of license plate reader (LPR) surveillance. He filed Freedom of Information Act requests with 15 law enforcement agencies for footage of his vehicle. The results revealed his movements were tracked in numerous locations, even in residential areas. This raises concerns about privacy and data misuse, especially given the lack of oversight on vast amounts of non-crime-related data held by law enforcement. The article concludes with an anecdote of witnessing police reviewing surveillance footage in a donut shop, highlighting both the positive and negative implications of this technology.