PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — State lawmakers are wrestling with what to do with automated license plate readers. Supporters say they are valuable tools for law enforcement, but opponents say, when combined with AI, they become a nightmare surveillance tool straight from dystopian sci-fi.
Testifying before a joint meeting of the Pennsylvania House Transportation and Judiciary committees on Monday, Flock Safety’s Kevin Kane said there’s a lot of misinformation about Flock’s automated license plate readers. He said they do not use facial recognition, only take still images, not videos, and any search of the network is preserved with an audit trail for oversight of wrongdoing.
“Flock ALPR data is simply images of vehicles used for legitimate law enforcement purposes and then deleted permanently,” he said. “The vast majority of these images are never accessed, and when images are accessed, that access is controlled and monitored.”
Kane said Flock supports legislation that sets guardrails on ALPR use by law enforcement. Advocates for constitutional protections and privacy, however, are calling for a ban.
Chad Marlow with the ACLU said ALPRs like Flock capture time, location and distinguishing features of every vehicle, not just ones suspected of wrongdoing — allowing unprecedented surveillance of everyone.
“These pictures and data stitched together can reveal very intimate patterns of life, especially using AI, which is the driver of their system now,” he argued.
There are several bills addressing ALPRs, but time is winding down in this session.
