This is the text of my speech to the City Council opposing banning Automated License Plate Reader (ALPR) technology.
Note: This is not the audio of my speech to council on October 14. This recording was done later.
Councilors,
I fully understand the concerns with automated license plate reader technology. There are legitimate concerns about big government tracking our movements. Furthermore, there have been documented abuses of ALPR technology. But my point tonight is that the abuse of a thing does not invalidate its proper use.
While the abuse of cameras is concerning, ALPR has been used to rescue kidnapped children, locate stolen vehicles, and apprehend dangerous violent criminals. The cameras have been used to rescue children from sexual predators. These cameras are an indispensable tool for law enforcement to keep people safe from predators.
I think targeting ALPR lacks a sense of proportion given the society we live in today. There is no expectation of privacy in a public place or on a public street. I am under video surveillance every time I pay for my items at the drug store or the supermarket and cameras have become an important security tool for private business. Most of us carry powerful computers in our pockets that track our movements and give that data to multinational corporations. ALPR is small potatoes compared to all of those things.
My suggestion, instead of banning ALPR technology, is to strictly control who has access to license plate data. Perhaps the city could negotiate an agreement where only city law enforcement has access to the data unless there is a court order requiring this data be turned over. Any abuse of the system should then be subject to severe consequences. Increased transparency of who has access to the data and what data is accessed (so long as it does not interfere with a police investigation) would also be a good idea.
Please vote "no" on this ordinance, which needlessly hinders law enforcement from protecting the public. We need controls on the use of this technology to protect the public from abuse, but should not eliminate this tool completely.
The abuse of a thing does not invalidate its proper use
Targeting ALPR lacks a sense of proportion given the society we live in today.
