Billions of license plate scans are part of a private surveillance database

guest · Sep 17, 2019

Billions of license plate scans are part of a private surveillance database
Repo drivers and others can pay a small fee to track cars
September 17, 2019
https://www.engadget.com/2019/09/17/repo-drivers-scan-license-plates/?

The US government might have reconsidered its plans for license plate recognition, but companies haven't -- and they've raised serious privacy concerns in the process. Motherboard has posted an exposé detailing the Digital Recognition Network, a privately run database that collects legions of plate recognition scans (roughly 9 billion to date) from repo drivers with camera-equipped cars.

It costs just $20 to look up a license plate in the data base, and $70 to receive a "live alert" that flags when a plate shows up.
As you might have already suspected, this automatic data gathering creates many issues. For one, most of the vehicles in the database are of completely innocent people who have no way of knowing if they're even included in the data set.

And while a spokesperson for DRN said the company "takes data security seriously" and doesn't allow access without its approval, there have been instances where unauthorized people have obtained that access.
Law enforcement can also use the system, and DRN's sibling brand Vigilant Solutions sells the tech to government agencies.
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Motherboard: This Company Built a Private Surveillance Network. We Tracked Someone With It

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