Dossier
license plate data
Coverage of license plate data in the Nexus archive.
- The surveillance camera on your street corner: lawful spying or constitutionally problematic?
Automated license plate readers (ALPRs), like those from Flock Safety, are widely deployed in the U.S., capturing vehicle data and creating searchable databases. Privacy advocates argue these systems enable unconstitutional surveillance by aggregating data to track individuals' movements, while law enforcement claims they aid crime-solving. Courts have not yet ruled on whether denser systems violate constitutional protections.