Look ^^^up^^^ at your next intersection, vehicle surveillance abounds

[grarpamp@gmail.com (grarpamp)]

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/01/no-cost-license-plate-readers-are-turning-texas-police-mobile-debt-collectors-and

"No Cost" License Plate Readers Are Turning Texas Police into Mobile
Debt Collectors and Data Miners

Vigilant Solutions, one of the countryâ??s largest brokers of vehicle
surveillance technology, is offering a hell of a deal to law
enforcement agencies in Texas: a whole suite of automated license
plate reader (ALPR) equipment and access to the companyâ??s massive
databases and analytical toolsâ??and it wonâ??t cost the agency a dime.

Even though the technology is marketed as budget neutral, that doesnâ??t
mean no one has to pay. Instead, Texas police fund it by gouging
people who have outstanding court fines and handing Vigilant all of
the data they gather on drivers for nearly unlimited commercial use.

ALPR refers to high-speed camera networks that capture license plate
images, convert the plate numbers into machine-readable text, geotag
and time-stamp the information, and store it all in database systems.
EFF has long been concerned with this technology, because ALPRs
typically capture sensitive location information on all driversâ??not
just criminal suspectsâ??and, in aggregate, the information can reveal
personal information, such as where you go to church, what doctors you
visit, and where you sleep at night.

Vigilant is leveraging H.B. 121, a new Texas law passed in 2015 that
allows officers to install credit and debit card readers in their
patrol vehicles to take payment on the spot for unpaid court fines,
also known as capias warrants. When the law passed, Texas legislators
argued that not only would it help local government with their
budgets, it would also benefit the public and police. As the billâ??s
sponsor, Rep. Allen Fletcher, wrote in his official statement of
intent: ...