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ICE Is About To Start Tracking License Plates Across the US

Presto Vivace shares a report from The Verge: The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has officially gained agency-wide access to a nationwide license plate recognition database, according to a contract finalized earlier this month. The system gives the agency access to billions of license plate records and new powers of real-time location tracking, raising significant concerns from civil libertarians. The source of the data is not named in the contract, but an ICE representative said the data came from Vigilant Solutions, the leading network for license plate recognition data. While it collects few photos itself, Vigilant Solutions has amassed a database of more than 2 billion license plate photos by ingesting data from partners like vehicle repossession agencies and other private groups. ICE agents would be able to query that database in two ways. A historical search would turn up every place a given license plate has been spotted in the last five years, a detailed record of the target's movements. That data could be used to find a given subject's residence or even identify associates if a given car is regularly spotted in a specific parking lot. Presto Vivace adds, "This will not end well."

9 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Missing Option by Moof123 · · Score: 3, Informative

    I ride my bike and garage my car most of the time you insensitive clod.

    Can't wait till get have to have our papers on us every time we travel. Maybe we can give arm bands to identify those we are supposed to be scared of?

    1. Re:Missing Option by sl3xd · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You do leave your home with your face, right?

      That's a pretty big clue, all by itself. From there, it's just a matter of combining footage from omnipresent security cameras -- which is really just a matter of effort.

      Combining all security camera footage was pretty effective in getting pictures of the suspects and timeline of the Boston Marathon bombing. London's panopticion is a regular feature on /.

      First it was "terrorists", then "immigrants". We already have prosecutors subpoenaing Alexa and Google Home for murder trials, and people are willingly putting surveillance devices in their homes.

      Hey, Siri, how screwed are we?

      Interesting question, sl3xd

      --
      -- Sometimes you have to turn the lights off in order to see.
    2. Re:Missing Option by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I ride a bike quite a bit too, friend, and I'll tell you this: if and when the day comes that we're all either prohibited (in one way or another, or to one degree or another) from riding bicycles anywhere, or are required to have some sort of gods-be-damned license plate on them so they can track us, then we'll know that it's time for Civil War II to start, because things will have officially Gone Way Too Far, and "government by the people for the people" will no longer have any meaning, we'll be living in a full-on police state and have no rights anymore.

  2. Re:Cool by HanzoSpam · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That sounds like a good way to end up making the license plates.

    --

    Progressivism: Parasites helping parasites to help themselves - to other people's stuff.
  3. Violation of Washington State Constitution by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 3, Funny

    We have a specific Right of Privacy in this state.

    You can't even put a GPS locator on a car without a specific INDIVIDUAL court order by a JUDGE here.

    This is a clear violation.

    Expect to be sued - successfully - by our State Attorney General.

    He's 22 for 22 so far.

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    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:Violation of Washington State Constitution by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Not sure what you are smoking but https://www.seattletimes.com/s...

      This has been happening for years. Adorable that you think your llicense plate is private though!

  4. Re:Cool by alvinrod · · Score: 3, Funny

    Why take someone else's when you can just make your own instead. It seems to be working really well for all of these people. Just make sure to keep yelling "I do not consent" or inform the police that you are an article 4 free inhabitant when you get pulled over. Works like a charm.

  5. Re:Cool by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 4, Informative

    But there's nothing preventing someone from putting a dozen other, different ones, on their car as long as the legit one is displayed (free speech!).

    Except state laws?

    For example here is the law around license plates in my state:

    (a)A person commits an offense if the person attaches to or displays on a motor vehicle a license plate that:

    (1)is issued for a different motor vehicle;

    (2)is issued for the vehicle under any other motor vehicle law other than by the department;

    (3)is assigned for a registration period other than the registration period in effect;

    (4)is fictitious;

    (5)has blurring or reflective matter that significantly impairs the readability of the name of the state in which the vehicle is registered or the letters or numbers of the license plate number at any time;

    (6)has an attached illuminated device or sticker, decal, emblem, or other insignia that is not authorized by law and that interferes with the readability of the letters or numbers of the license plate number or the name of the state in which the vehicle is registered; or

    (7)has a coating, covering, protective substance, or other material that:

    So since you can't legally get multiple valid license plates for your car and thus you would either have fictitious license plates or ones that were issued for a different vehicle which violates the law.

  6. Re:Cool by currently_awake · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If the police follow you around for 5 years, you would expect they require a warrant. Interesting how using technology to achieve the same result is suposedly legal. This appears designed to bypass judicial oversight.