Yet.
Don’t forget the yet.
When someone or something tells you they will or won’t do something, it’s a good idea to hear that promise in the context of “for now.” As in, “We have decided we will exercise caution and precision when responding with air strikes. For now.” Or “We will not collaborate with the other parties. For now.”
Or, more specifically, when law enforcement agencies tell the people they monitor they will or won’t do something I hear what they are saying through skeptical ears.
That’s why police assurances that license plate data won’t be shared with federal agencies doesn’t provide me with great comfort.
There’s a yet missing.
The pinky promise came as Chula Vista’s law enforcement agency and its boosters were making a case recently for expanding the city’s Automated License Plate Recognition program. In time the city will have 150 fixed cameras at “strategic” intersections and thoroughfares monitoring license plates.
The system sifts through plates on vehicles on the road, scanning for ones involved in crimes or reported stolen.
“We do not share data outside of California, and we do not share data with federal agencies,” staff told the city council.
Despite assurances that plate information is kept for a limited amount of time before it’s deleted (When has anything ever truly been scrubbed from the internet or digital archives?) there are no guarantees that the information won’t be passed along through a third party. Or hacked. Or impervious to a subpoena. Or able to withstand political pressure from a determined agency such as Homeland Security under the direction of a democracy-denying authoritarian who under the flimsiest of reasons insists innocuous information is crucial to national security.
Depending on perspective, national security can be tracking individuals intent on overthrowing the United States government and a legitimate election, or, keeping tabs on people who travel to protest on behalf of women’s rights.
The technology and use behind automated license plate readers is focused on criminals. For now. In the future, who knows. The would be criminal could be you driving through the wrong place at the wrong time.
Feel safer yet?
