DEA Program to Record American’s Whereabouts With License Plate Readers

[Samthehumble]

https://www.aclu.org/blog/technology-and-liberty-criminal-law-reform/foia-documents-reveal-massive-d...

[bruce MN]

Thanks Sam. If just ONCE someone would come forward and say WHY? All about the proverbial man behind the tree. The spooks are more paranoid than the most paranoid of the public. Or maybe we just don't want or need to know. If it is that bad these clowns aren't going to be able to do anything about it. a macro way. We had that confirmed in 2001. BTW Everybody here should bookmark this website

[bruce MN]

Forgot to mention BA's "if you've got nothing to hide" meme.

[Milligan Hay - Iowa d:^)]

It would seem obvious that I am and always have been right. The central controllers aren't doing this for the fun of it. Heinrich Himmler would be very amazed at the information gathering abilities that the controllers have at their disposal.

[r3020]

---

@bruce MN wrote:
Thanks Sam. If just ONCE someone would come forward and say WHY? All about the proverbial man behind the tree. The spooks are more paranoid than the most paranoid of the public. Or maybe we just don't want or need to know. If it is that bad these clowns aren't going to be able to do anything about it. a macro way. We had that confirmed in 2001. BTW Everybody here should bookmark this website

---

To keep an eye on you when you are doing things they don't like.

snip-

The Drug Enforcement Administration abandoned an internal proposal to use surveillance cameras for photographing vehicle license plates near gun shows in the United States to investigate gun-trafficking, the agency's chief said Wednesday.

DEA Administrator Michelle Leonhart said in a statement that the proposal memorialized in an employee's email was only a suggestion, never authorized by her agency and never put into action. The AP also learned that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives did not authorize or approve the license plate surveillance plan.

Automated license plate scanners take pictures of every vehicle that passes their field of view and record the information in a database that can be used to track a vehicle's movements over time.

Federal, state and local police agencies routinely use the cameras mounted on patrol cruisers or in fixed locations, such as utility poles or busy intersections. Collectively, they capture the movements of millions of vehicles each day. Private companies, including tow truck agencies, also use them.

The scanners have raised significant privacy concerns even though they generally only record cars and trucks driving on public roads. There are no consistent, national rules that govern how police can use the information, how long it can be saved and how widely the records can be shared with other police agencies.

The Wall Street Journal reported the DEA's aborted plan in Wednesday's editions.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20150128/us--license_plate_surveillance-d906e7a16c.html

[Red Steele]

got off my planned route in Florida a few years ago, and ended up on one of the toll roads. Well, I missed a toll in my rental car, I could not believe that after slowing down to put 75 cents in, that less than a mile later I had to slow down again and put 50 cents in the slot and therefor  I accidentally drove thru one toll stop.

Sure enough, that cost me $50 a few weeks later as they tracked me down back in Minnesota, all off the license plate, the rental care registration form, etc.

[hardnox]

As far as collection at border points you're probably not going to win that one in absolute terms, regardless which alphabet soup agency happens to be running this one. I'd say that if it constitional for the government to tap my phones because I might be a terrorist it sure as heck is constitutional to record license plates at the border.

But I suppose once you've established that as valid it is a direct route to the argment that says that the initial data is much more valuable if you can also crosscheck it with data from interior points. Tough sell, I imagine the best they'd get is a requirement for a FISA type requirement for reasonable cause on accessing it. Not very comforting.

As far as setting up moblie readers at a gun show, in some ways not too different than writing down license plates parked outside a mob funeral. But probably different enough that it also ought to require probable cause and a warrant with a standard that shows it to be of value in a particular case as compared to merely casting a net. Also probably not terribly hard either, as I'd imagine there are criminals at most any gun show looking to score weaponry- even if the dealers are all Patriots.

That's why staying away from those things is probably a good idea. I've never been to one but can still purchase an amazing range of weapons should I choose.

When I was in Phoenix last year I noted many cars with shading plates over the tags. I was told that was because they have many revenue grabbing stoplight cams and it makes it hard to read, but apparently is still legal.

Finally, I recall once on Car Talk when a guy calls in and says he has a bone to pick. In a recent show they'd said that if you find yourself without change at a tollbooth on the Mass Turnpike you should run through at over 90 and the reader can't record it. The guy said that cost him a very large fine.

Tom says, "and you belleved us, DOPE?"

[hardnox]

In idle time I've pondered the difficulty of successsfully committing crimes today with street cams, security cams at most businesses, plate readers, cell data, (satellite data?).

Probably have always had to be stupid to do run of the mill crime (as compared to white collar financial crime, much better risk/reward ratio) but surely more so now.

Probably much more to credit for the drop in the crime rate than armament.

[r3020]

---

@hardnox wrote:

In idle time I've pondered the difficulty of successsfully committing crimes today with street cams, security cams at most businesses, plate readers, cell data, (satellite data?).

Probably have always had to be stupid to do run of the mill crime (as compared to white collar financial crime, much better risk/reward ratio) but surely more so now.

Probably much more to credit for the drop in the crime rate than armament.

---

Criminals know their way around most of the stuff that catches them. Went to a sale once with a brother in law who was looking at a combine. Three hours away. I wasn't interested in anything there but went along for the ride. He never bought the combine but I ended up buying an International diesel powered single axle truck with a flat bed. Thought I would put a grain bed and hoist on it. The farmer only used it to haul water for spraying. The license plate was expired for four years. Called by brother an ask if I should drive it home or come back to get it with a new registration. He didn't say anything for a moment and then said smear some mud on the plate and drive er home. I did. No problems.

[Canuck_2]

I am in favour of border tracking and computing the time a person spends in our country.

I am sure some people spend as much or more of the year outside our borders and then return for our free health care.

I figure if they are going to get health care here they need to spend their $$ here.

It would also help police US citizens who managed to get a health care card and cross the border for care and that is all although new cards being issued in the last few years has probably cut these crooks from the rolls. 

So monitoring is a necessary thing to keep some people honest.