Americans Are Taking Aim at License Plate-Reading Cameras

Cases of intentional damage to automated license plate reader systems used by law enforcement have been reported in 36 states, NPR reports.

The methods vary widely, ranging from painting over camera lenses and placing stickers on them to physically destroying the devices, hitting them with vehicles, and shooting at them.

The activity appears to be driven largely by public concerns over privacy. Critics of license plate surveillance worry that collecting data on where vehicles travel could lead to excessive police monitoring and erode civil liberties.

More than 130,000 license plate readers are currently operating across the country, while technology from Flock Safety is used by more than 5,000 police departments.

Flock Safety representatives, however, argue that the cameras are effective tools for recovering stolen vehicles and locating missing people. The company also says it does not own the data collected by its systems and does not sell it for commercial purposes.