Went in to get my inspection done, had to wait on another vehicle. It was an out of state plated Hundai with 4 Motorola devices mounted on the trunk aiming left, right, fore, and aft. Each one had 2 lenses like binoculars and he had a laptop in the passenger seat. Turns out he worked for a Repo company driving around scanning plates. They stayed in the system so if your car is stolen later or otherwise needed to repo, the last known address is kept. He said he picked up 150 possibles driving around that day. Wish I had taken a pic of the devices.
Mobile licence plate reader
- Thread starter rekit
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I remember when the local police started using these cameras. They had (1) sole purpose (at that time) and it was for ID'ing and/or locating stolen vehicles. It quickly progressed....
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I must be missing something. So say I am driving down the road and behind on payments, and this dude picks up my plate. Then what? He follows me home or?
In the end it no different than Google selling your search history or visa selling your purchase preferences to retailers.
In the end it no different than Google selling your search history or visa selling your purchase preferences to retailers.
They already know where you live (and probably where you work). These are for if they catch your car elsewhere and have a tow truck nearby.
This is news to you?
LPR technology has been around since the early 2000s
I remember loading the special OCR software onto Panasonic Toughbooks for some PD Highway cruisers at my first job
They used my licence plate as the demonstration for the presentation, interesting to watch me drive into the city step by step that morning
It's also used by repo men to find vehicles marked for recovery (only after a manual VIN check before rolling out)
I watched a tow truck operator almost get arrested because he didn't do his manual double check before taking the vehicle
Some parking garages and car washes use it to track what you've paid for/if you're authorized to enter
Scofflaw also uses them to find and boot you
While I understand the concern for privacy (and I somewhat agree), if you pay your note & tickets, and don't roll around on bogus plates, you have nothing to fear from License Plate Readers
If "they" want to find you, they will, LPR or not
LPR technology has been around since the early 2000s
I remember loading the special OCR software onto Panasonic Toughbooks for some PD Highway cruisers at my first job
They used my licence plate as the demonstration for the presentation, interesting to watch me drive into the city step by step that morning
It's also used by repo men to find vehicles marked for recovery (only after a manual VIN check before rolling out)
I watched a tow truck operator almost get arrested because he didn't do his manual double check before taking the vehicle
Some parking garages and car washes use it to track what you've paid for/if you're authorized to enter
Scofflaw also uses them to find and boot you
While I understand the concern for privacy (and I somewhat agree), if you pay your note & tickets, and don't roll around on bogus plates, you have nothing to fear from License Plate Readers
If "they" want to find you, they will, LPR or not
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Isn't this pretty low probability? I understand the police doing it - there driving around anyway and can pull you over if it flags. However the repo man has to find you, follow you, then wait till you exit the car. Still not following the logic. If they have some idea where you might show up, then maybe I suppose. Driving around and flagging possible license plates - how does that help them?
Obviously I am not at all familiar with such matters. I am curios on how the tech and process works?
If you like LPR, check out the FLOCK camera system. Similar to LPR, but they are fixed cameras that are installed on main roadways. Takes a snap of the plate and runs that, and a picture of the car. You can search the database to find things like 'how many blue chevrolet trucks ran through intersection XYZ' along with the usual stolen vehicles or people that are fleeing police.
The libertarian in me sortof hates the technology, but.
There isn't a week that goes by that we don't catch a stolen car (mostly) or some form of wanted subject. Massively handy, and helps a ton.
--Edit-- And you have access to the nationwide database, so if a county in another state has the system and your stolen car or whatever is there, you get the alert that tells you where it hit.
The libertarian in me sortof hates the technology, but.
There isn't a week that goes by that we don't catch a stolen car (mostly) or some form of wanted subject. Massively handy, and helps a ton.
--Edit-- And you have access to the nationwide database, so if a county in another state has the system and your stolen car or whatever is there, you get the alert that tells you where it hit.
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While i dont like the invasion of privacy i do think the tech is very cool. You can make your own lpr system using a security camera and software from blue iris and others and it can keep track of license plates of say everyone that comes in your driveway.
In reality by the time you're "behind in payments" the bank has submitted the vehicle for repossession. Normally these outfits scan in parking lots but ya they could get a hit say at an intersection and follow you then repo the vehicle as soon as it's parked regardless of where you park it (Home, business, etc). Repo companies receive a database of plates for their geographic area and they go fishing. This technology has been around for at least 10 years.
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About 5 yrs ago I was pulled over this way by a LOE for having an expired tag.
Yeah, I have seen many police cars outfitted this way too.
They pay people to drive around. Is it efficient ? It must be efficient enough or they wouldn't do it. In the OP, the driver of the vehicle said they had 150 possible hits, not plates scanned, 150 vehicles marked for repo, etc.
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My son has LPR cameras on his Unit . He's recovered a bunch of stolen cars and got a lot of arrests for outstanding warrants .
I worked for an agency in Central Texas, our cars had this outfitted. It would send a audio signal within the car when the system detected a plate of a wanted person, officer safety issue, etc.
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What privacy ? Driving down the street ? You can't go many places where you aren't already on somebody's camera . And the Courts have already ruled that you have no expectation of privacy while out in public .
The repo guys don't want a fight. Once they learn your habits they'll sneak up while you're sound asleep or deep in your work. They lift your drive wheels, go around the block, chain things up tight, and it's off to the lot.
Add an autonomous vehicle to the scenario and it can be super efficient.
For this and this reason alone I think the system is justified. Kidnapping victims & AMBER alerts.
I will accept having my public plate read in anyway if it keeps a child from being harmed.
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If you are driving around most any large city , your plates are being read by fixed position cameras .
