Illegal invasion of privacy, says ACLU.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia opened litigation against the Fairfax County Police Department Monday over a policy whereby they store data collected on thousands of motorists via the use of license-plate readers.
The suit came after Gov. Terry McAuliffe vetoed two bills on Friday which would have allowed Virginia police to keep the license plate data for only seven days, and which defined license plates as “personal information,†reported the Washington Post.
According to to the Associated Press, the ACLU alleges that keeping a database of information collected through license-plate readers amounts to an illegal invasion of privacy.
Virginia’s then-Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli had previously advised state police in 2013 that data collected by plate readers is personal information under state law and can’t be kept unless it’s part of a specific criminal investigation.
The state police now purge their data after 24 hours, but local police agencies, including Fairfax, still persist in keeping the data for up to a year, wrote the Post.
Harrison Beal, who lives in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County, was shocked to find that his car had been photographed in April and May of last year and was in the police database for no discernible reason. He is the plaintiff for the ACLU’s suit, revealed the Washington Post.
“The Department’s ALPR database can be used to discover the location of thousands of vehicles at a particular date and time,†said ACLU lawyer Rebecca Glenberg. “It is an unacceptable invasion of privacy.â€
1 Comment
This is outrageous. I know lets just install cameras in every house, or better yet, put GPS on every citizen. This will eliminate most crime, kidnappings, child abuse and missing persons. Sounds like a great idea right? Disagree? If so then you must have something to hide, right? This insanity of surveillance and eroding of liberties in the name of “preventing terrorism” has to stop. Check out this site to put a stop to this alpr nonsense http://www.sunflexzone.com/product/stealth-anti-tracking-ir-infrared-license-plate-blocker-privacy-frame-alpr-countermeasure