Automated License Plate Readers Enable Warrantless Surveillance and Misidentification in U.S.
Law enforcement agencies including the FBI are expanding use of automated license plate reader systems to track vehicle movements nationwide without warrants. These systems have caused wrongful criminal accusations through misidentification, and proposed legislative guardrails in Colorado failed to pass despite bipartisan support.
What happened
The FBI is pursuing a nationwide contract to access automated license plate reader (ALPR) systems across the United States, according to procurement documents reviewed by 404 Media. The agency seeks a cloud-based platform allowing agents to search ALPR records using license plate information, vehicle descriptions, timeframes, and geographic locations, with coverage of virtually the entire U.S. including Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and tribal territories, at a projected cost of approximately $36 million.
ALPR systems continuously scan passing vehicles and record license plate numbers, vehicle color, make, model, and time-stamped location data, storing information in networks with nationwide reach searchable by law enforcement without a warrant. A woman in Bow Mar, Colorado was wrongly accused of stealing a package from a porch after her green truck was erroneously associated with the crime through the city's ALPR system.
Reported impact
Sensitive data about where, when, and with whom individuals drive is stored in government databases searchable by law enforcement across the country without warrant authorization. The technology enables mass surveillance of driving habits and vehicle movements throughout the nation.
Misidentification through ALPR systems has led to wrongful criminal accusations against individuals based on erroneous vehicle associations with alleged crimes.
Index analysis
Colorado Senate Bill 26-070 would have required government agencies to obtain a warrant to access ALPR data more than 72 hours old, restricted ALPR data sharing outside Colorado, and limited retention to 30 days, but failed to pass the state Senate despite bipartisan support.
The FBI procurement documents state the agency views ALPR technology as a critical intelligence and investigative tool and seeks data available across major highways and in an array of locations for maximum usefulness to law enforcement, explicitly stating this capability would be available without requiring a warrant.
Governance controls
Current ALPR deployment in Colorado and across the nation operates with limited government oversight, as warrant requirements that apply to other intrusive tech-powered surveillance do not uniformly apply to ALPR data access.
Following controversy over Denver's ALPR contracts, members of Denver City Council called for an ordinance to create safeguards, with local jurisdictions able to implement laws setting commonsense protections independent of state action.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.