The EFF has
a post in which they raise an alarm about license plate readers being used by a private company in private malls.
Automated license plate recognition is a form of mass surveillance in which cameras capture images of license plates, convert the plate into plaintext characters, and append a time, date, and GPS location. This data is usually fed into a database, allowing the operator to search for a particular vehicle’s travel patterns or identify visitors to a particular location. By adding certain vehicles to a “hot list,” an ALPR operator can receive near-real time alerts on a person’s whereabouts.
OK. I may not "like" this, but I have no expectation of privacy when I am in public. Your license plate is in clear view of anyone who has line of sight. Not only that, but most if not all mall parking lots have cameras that record your comings and goings. You may think that because the mall parking lot is "private property" that somehow YOU have an expectation of privacy. No. The
owner of said private property has an expectation of privacy. You, the guest do not.
You know where else does this kind of thing? Casinos. Many advantaged players who are known to a Casino are spotted in the parking lot and 'security" can be waiting for them at the entrance. Is the EFF interested in this? Of course not. Why? I.C.E.
In December 2017, ICE signed a contract with Vigilant Solutions to access its license-plate reader database. Data from Irvine Company’s malls directly feeds into Vigilant Solutions’ database system, according to the policy. This could mean that ICE can spy on mall visitors without their knowledge and receive near-real-time alerts when a targeted vehicle is spotted in a shopping center’s parking lot.
EFF has joined other lefty organizations in being against the US enforcing it's immigration laws. This is why this is "news". Of course the actual problem is that there are people who are in the US illegally who have been given a driver's license and other forms of "ID", often fraudulently obtained (fake SS numbers, etc.). That's the real problem. But EFF isn't really worried about all that.
