It has come to my attention that there is a large quantity of Repo-Men that are using license plate reading technology to find targets. This seems all fine and dandy except they are reading more plates than just the ones that are behind on payments. With the use of new software, also used by the Police, these private companies are collecting the whereabouts of thousands of cars a day. As you can see in the picture below, there are cameras fitted to a car that then drives around all day recording plates. I understand the irony of putting a photo containing a non-blurred license plate but I chose not to bother given the topic of conversation.
The information collected on these thousands of cars a day is then sorted and sold. The primary parties interested are insurance companies, banks, and law enforcement. These companies are allowed to do anything they want with your data. There are no regulations on how long your picture is kept or how it is disposed. If an individual, say a stalker, wanted to track where you are driving, all they would have to do is sign up with one of the parent companies. These companies may require some information, but I find it highly unlikely that they would turn away a paying customer. Then, every time your vehicle gets tagged by any one of the MANY, MANY repo companies operating that system, anyone with access knows.
This may seem like a simple way to catch bad guys and such, for the police. However, this is just one more freedom being pulled for the sake of convenience. It is one thing for the authorities to have systems like this, but civilians? Come on, that seems a little too much like invasion of privacy. These camera systems are quite a problem in California (no surprise there). Bills have been put before the CA Legislature but have all failed so far. I am hoping that this issue will be taken to a Federal level and put to bed. I have no desire to be tracked and have that information sold off to some corporate giant. I already have enough of that on the internet.
