Institute for Justice Fights Back Against Warrantless Vehicle Tracking

There’s been pushback over the last few years on automated license plate readers, systems that identify, track, and document vehicles as they travel. While they are banned in some jurisdictions and by some government agencies, they persist in much of the country, not only on major throughways but also sold to commercial and residential property management for a monthly fee.

In the latest article from Institute for Justice, these systems are used in nearly 5,000 U.S. communities where private companies like Flock Safety maintain large databases that track vehicles from which they sell access to users including local police departments. They argue that since vehicles are out in the open, this automated system can spy on drivers without any concern for getting a warrant. The Institute for Justice disagrees with this practice and is fighting back with a federal lawsuit in Virginia on behalf of concerned citizens in Norfolk.

For years these systems have created major privacy concerns with the systems being used for abusive and sometimes illegal purposes. One such example was when officials in Kansas were caught using the system hundreds of times to stalk their exes.

With the continuous rise in technology, our civil liberties and privacy are under near-constant threat, luckily our friends at the Institute for Justice are pushing back against the encroachment of government overreach. Please read their article for more information and check them out at IJ.org