Wednesday, August 1, 2012

ACLU seeks information on law enforcement use of license plate readers


On Monday, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia sent requests to numerous police departments and localities seeking information about how these entities are using automated cameras that take pictures of license plates of vehicles as they pass by.[1]

According to Catherine Crump of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, the license plate readers track the location of motorists, storing this information forever.

There’s a fine line between public safety and government overreach[2] into the lives of its citizens for purposes of security. The issue of storing location-data on motorists forever leans more towards the latter (i.e. government overreach).

The question, how much intrusion into the private lives of its citizens in the name of social security are we as a people willing to accept, is rarely asked, at least by lawmakers or the mainstream media (e.g. CNN, Fox News).

The only counterexample that comes to mind surrounds the decision by the Transportation and Security Administration (TSA) to use full-body scanners in airports across the U.S.[3] Unfortunately, few if any questions were actually answered and the debate quickly faded while more supposedly pressing concerns came to the forefront of America’s political discussions.

But as America, and hopefully the world, enters a new age of advanced technology, questions of security and privacy will have to be addressed more forcefully.

Most who’ve studied just about any time in Western history, in particular, are aware that the issue of security has oftentimes been used as a justification to crack down on the liberties of the people by their respective governments. But what is it to be secure? How much intrusion are American’s willing to accept to feel “secure?”

Intrusion by the state for security purposes is not, however, an appropriate justification for pulling a “Big Brother.” You’ve heard the phrase before but I think it’s appropriate to use here, it’s a “slippery slope” once society begins acquiescing to the gradual erosion of its privacy for reasons of security, knowingly or not.

The sad truth is that in a free society, stuff happens. We cannot and should not try to control all of society’s moving parts in order to create a more serene society because in many instances, the reverse effect becomes a reality. 


[1] http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/jul/30/aclu-seeks-info-use-plate-readers-ar-2095492/
[2] http://www.aclu.org/national-security/aclu-slams-fbi-privacy-violations
[3] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/us/jan-june10/security_01-12.html

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