Proposed rules for license-plate tracking balance privacy with effective law enforcement

Without clear restrictions, license-plate readers could be misused by police.

Privacy advocates have been voicing concerns about automated license-plate readers, which are increasingly used by law enforcement to track drivers’ location via their license plates. These license-plate trackers are small cameras strategically placed on signs, police cars or other objects and can photograph thousands of license plates per minute. With enough cameras, law enforcement can effectively track the location of a given car across long distances.

Being such a powerful tool, this technology could be misused without clear rules limiting how police use them or how long police store the information.

In an effort to prevent abuse, state Rep. Peter Breen, R-Lombard, has introduced a bill regulating how the trackers can be used. The bill, HB 3289, would limit law-enforcement usage of automated license-plate readers to toll, traffic and parking enforcement, as well as ongoing criminal investigations.

Additionally, the bill would require any information collected by license-plate trackers to be disposed of after 30 days, unless the information is necessary to an ongoing police investigation. Violation of the statute would be a Class A misdemeanor.

According to Breen, the law seeks to find a balance between privacy rights and allowing police to effectively solve crime.

“We can allow police to use the most advanced technology … but we absolutely have to preserve individuals’ right to privacy and their ability to travel freely without worry about being tracked,” he said.

This goal makes sense. Police need to be able to use technology to investigate and solve serious crimes; but we also need to limit opportunities for abuse. This bill is a sensible step towards securing both goals.

photo credit: lucky_dog