In yet another infringement on our liberties, Big Government has been using your car to spy on you, withlittle or no judicial oversight or warrants.
And no, this is not tinfoil hat stuff.
According to a new study by the ACLU, the increased use of automated scanners has amassed a huge data base of digital records on the location and movement of every vehicle with a license plate. Affixed to police cars, bridges or buildings, the scanners capture images of passing or parked vehicles and note their location, cross referencing it with the information the DMV has on you. This normally includes your address, your Social Security number, your fingerprints, a complete physical description as well as your address. Since this is all the information needed to run a complete credit report on you, a trained expert can do a pretty good idea of piecing together your financial information as well.
Not only is your personal data accessible. Th enew technology enables the powers that be to check your habits and your daily routine. They can see which bar someone might be frequenting, whom your friends are whether you're joining a protest, getting medical or mental help, cheating on your spouse spouse and much more. The records can be digitally stored and kept for weeks or years, sometimes indefinitely.
And just like PRISM, the technology casts a wide net. It scoops up records the plates of everyone in the vicinity, not just some one whom might be a suspect under investigation.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that a judge's approval is needed to track a car with a GPS, no such judicial oversight is needed for the plate scanners. There's also nothing stopping the feds or other government agencies from accessing it either, and you can rest assured they have.
Land of the free my eye.
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