Posted on 01/26/2018 12:31:20 PM PST by MarchonDC09122009
ICE has struck a deal to track license plates across the US
https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/26/16932350/ice-immigration-customs-license-plate-recognition-contract-vigilant-solutions
Exclusive: ICE is about to start tracking license plates across the US
By Russell Brandom@russellbrandom Jan 26, 2018, 8:04am EST
SHAREMORE
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency has officially gained agency-wide access to a nationwide license plate recognition database, according to a contract finalized earlier this month. The system gives the agency access to billions of license plate records and new powers of real-time location tracking, raising significant concerns from civil libertarians.
The source of the data is not named in the contract, but an ICE representative said the data came from Vigilant Solutions, the leading network for license plate recognition data. Like most other law enforcement agencies, ICE uses information obtained from license plate readers as one tool in support of its investigations, spokesperson Dani Bennett said in a statement. ICE is not seeking to build a license plate reader database, and will not collect nor contribute any data to a national public or private database through this contract. (Vigilant did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)
While it collects few photos itself, Vigilant Solutions has amassed a database of more than 2 billion license plate photos by ingesting data from partners like vehicle repossession agencies and other private groups. Vigilant also partners with local law enforcement agencies, often collecting even more data from camera-equipped police cars. The result is a massive vehicle-tracking network generating as many as 100 million sightings per month, each tagged with a date, time, and GPS coordinates of the sighting.
ARE WE AS A SOCIETY ... WILLING TO LET OUR GOVERNMENT CREATE AN INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WILL TRACK ALL OF US?
ICE agents would be able to query that database in two ways. A historical search would turn up every place a given license plate has been spotted in the last five years, a detailed record of the targets movements. That data could be used to find a given subjects residence or even identify associates if a given car is regularly spotted in a specific parking lot.
Knowing the previous locations of a vehicle can help determine the whereabouts of subjects of criminal investigations or priority aliens to facilitate their interdiction and removal, an official privacy assessment explains. In some cases, when other leads have gone cold, the availability of commercial LPR data may be the only viable way to find a subject.
ICE agents can also receive instantaneous email alerts whenever a new record of a particular plate is found a system known internally as a hot list. (The same alerts can also be funneled to the Vigilants iOS app.) According to the privacy assessment, as many as 2,500 license plates could be uploaded to the hot list in a single batch, although the assessment does not detail how often new batches can be added. With sightings flooding in from police dashcams and stationary readers on bridges and toll booths, it would be hard for anyone on the list to stay unnoticed for long.
Those powers are particularly troubling given ICEs recent move to expand deportations beyond criminal offenders, fueling concerns of politically motivated enforcement. In California, state officials have braced for rumored deportation sweeps targeted at sanctuary cities. In New York, community leaders say theyve been specifically targeted for deportationas a result of their activism. With automated license plate recognition, that targeting would only grow more powerful.
For civil liberties groups, the implications go far beyond immigration. There are people circulating in our society who are undocumented, says senior policy analyst Jay Stanley, who studies license plate readers with the ACLU. Are we as a society, out of our desire to find those people, willing to let our government create an infrastructure that will track all of us?
The new license plate reader contract comes after years of internal lobbying by the agency. ICE first tested Vigilants system in 2012, gauging how effective it was at locating undocumented immigrants. Two years later, the agency issued an open solicitation for the technology, sparking an outcry from civil liberties group. Homeland Security secretary Jeh Johnson canceled the solicitation shortly afterward, citing privacy concerns, although two field offices subsequently formed rogue contracts with Vigilant in apparent violation of Johnsons policy. In 2015, Homeland Security issued another call for bids, although an ICE representative said no contract resulted from that solicitation.
As a result, this new contract is the first agency-wide contract ICE has completed with the company, a fact that is reflected in accompanying documents. On December 27th, 2017, Homeland Security issued an updated privacy assessment of license plate reader technology, a move it explained was necessary because ICE has now entered into a contract with a vendor.
The new system places some limits on ICE surveillance, but not enough to quiet privacy concerns. Unlike many agencies, ICE wont upload new data to Vigilants system but simply scan through the data thats already there. In practical terms, that means driving past a Vigilant-linked camera might flag a car to ICE, but driving past an ICE camera wont flag a car to everyone else using the system. License plates on the hot list will also expire after one year, and the system retains extensive audit logs to help supervisors trace back any abuse of the system.
Still, the biggest concern for critics is the sheer scale of Vigilants network, assembled almost entirely outside of public accountability. If ICE were to propose a system that would do what Vigilant does, there would be a huge privacy uproar and I dont think Congress would approve it, Stanley says. But because its a private contract, they can sidestep that process.
ID2020.org - Global ID initiative and e-Verify to help identify illegals
.gov - tracking all license plates to know where you / er ah illegals are
XLM / Stellar lumen official commercial banking crypto currency
Safety / security first!
Good weapon against illegals, but its a shame it has come to this for the freedom and anonymity of the rest of us.
Official gov source for more privacy impact info:
https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/privacy-pia-ice-lpr-march2015.pdf
https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/privacy-pia-ice-lpr-january2018.pdf
“Good weapon against illegals, but its a shame it has come to this for the freedom and anonymity of the rest of us.”
Had it been obama doing this the reaction around here would have been lock and load, move it on out...
All license plates should have a bar code on them; the DMV will send along a sticker with a bar code representing your plate.
If you think this hasn’t already been going on for more than a decade ... you’re mistaken.
I’ve thought for many years now that each party does things the other wished it could do but couldn’t pull off, especially the GOP. Like the enhanced Bush surveillance after 9/11, for example. That fell into Obama’s lap, with results we are just beginning to discover.
Had it been Obama, it would have been ATF not ICE.
https://www.vigilantsolutions.com/products/license-plate-recognition-lpr/
To understand the power of our LPR solution, it helps to understand our approach to LPR.
Data Capture:
Fixed and mobile license plate recognition (LPR) cameras take photos of license plates capturing date, time and GPS coordinates of where the photo was taken- just like any smartphone camera.
LPR Data Storage:
Each plate image captured, along with the data for that image (date, time, location) is stored in our Virginia database as an LPR record that can be searched only by authorized personnel.
Data Ownership:
Your agency owns the LPR data it generates and you can decide whether you want to share that data with other agencies. And the more data available, the greater chance you have to develop a lead.
Commercial Data:
Even without LPR cameras, you can benefit by using our Commercial Data. Its gathered nationwide in commercial applications such as access control, tolling, asset recovery and more. We are the only LPR provider that can offer over 5 billion nationwide detections and over 150 million more added monthly.
Law Enforcement Agency Sharing
We believe the power of LPR is in the data and analytics. In addition to access to our commercial data, agencies can choose to share with other law enforcement agencies to gain access to another 1.5B detections nationwide. Joining the largest law enforcement LPR sharing networking is as easy as adding a friend on your favorite social media platform.
Powerful Searches:Plate, Partial Plate, Year/Make/Model or Address
Start any point to complete the triangle during an investigation. Between agency resources, like DMV lookup, and Vigilant, we can help you complete the triangle to develop more investigative leads.
Search by Plate:
Search for plates on your hotlist, get alerts when the plate is spotted. Search historical data to find where the plate has been spotted in the past, whether the vehicle was present at the scene of the crime, or identify alibis and witnesses.
Search by Year/Make/Model:
Narrow a potentially massive number of vehicles down to a manageable number, saving you time and resources.
Search by Partial Plate:
Enter a partial plate along with any other data you have like date, location or time and you can search for the full plate number.
Search by Address:
Focus on when and where a crime took place and compare it to historical LPR data to determine what, if any, vehicles were at the location during the time a crime occurred.
Situational Awareness from Every Angle
Scott Dye - Sep 27, 2016
Reinforcing the Thin Blue Line: In the Office and In the Field
Vigilants LPR solution works with you, when and where you need it.
I knew it was done partially through the EZ Pass cameras, and expected that to be co-ordinated. But, I didn't know if it was at a fully national level before, and at what level of government the data was being attended to.
I actually was kind of comforted that the technology was so primitive. I was expecting street mounted sensors to read licence plates, not analysing databases of pictures from various sources.
I fully expect this program to further erode the rights and freedoms of the people — how about ‘no’?
They don’t need all this expensive gear, all they need is a hotline for the citizens to call and enough people to remove the illegal aliens.
We know where they are, even if ICE pretends not to know.
ICE is not seeking to build a license plate reader database, and will not collect nor contribute any data to a national public or private database through this contract.
Snort, snort. ICE can’t find an illegal in a Mexican protest parade so they’re changing their focus back onto US citizens’ travels.
Yo, they can find me at the grocery store on or about 3 pm next Wednesday. They can track me through the aisles on the store camera. I might even squeeze the Charmin to say howdy to the black suit.
You have no anonymity when you are operating a motor vehicle on a public roadway.
There used to be a www.wehireillegals.com where you could report what businesses around your town hired illegals so customers could decided whether to patronize the business. Don’t know what/why it shut down.
If you think this hasnt already been going on for more than a decade ... youre mistaken.
I saw a video on this many years ago. It’s gotten a LOT better.
The day is coming very soon where if you have done anything along the lines of not shown up for a court date, have an expired license or expired tabs, you WILL be nailed within the hour of taking your car out in public in a high population area. The first cop car to get a glimpse of your license plate will absolutely nail you within a second or two of seeing your license plate. It’s just up to the cop to decide whether or not to take any action.
Until and unless there is a major douching of the corruption now existing in the FedMob I am still keeping my powder dry and my head on a swivel in regards to it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.