{"id":132491,"date":"2026-06-25T05:20:34","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T05:20:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2026\/06\/25\/surveillance-tech-company-is-pitching-an-unholy-alpr-stingray-hybrid-to-law-enforcement\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T05:21:34","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T05:21:34","slug":"surveillance-tech-company-is-pitching-an-unholy-alpr-stingray-hybrid-to-law-enforcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailinvest.blog\/index.php\/2026\/06\/25\/surveillance-tech-company-is-pitching-an-unholy-alpr-stingray-hybrid-to-law-enforcement\/","title":{"rendered":"Surveillance Tech Company Is Pitching An Unholy ALPR\/Stingray Hybrid To Law Enforcement"},"content":{"rendered":"

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from the free-to-go-but-not-free-of-surveillance<\/i> dept<\/h3>\n

Right here\u2019s one thing nobody however cops and the tech corporations that love cops wished: an ALPR<\/a> that may scoop up just about any<\/em> info being broadcasted by automobiles and the units carried by the individuals inside them. As if ALPRs weren\u2019t already controversial sufficient, right here comes a tech firm providing that makes most ALPRs (together with these sold by Flock<\/a>!) look completely innocuous. <\/p>\n

Joseph Cox has the gory details for 404 Media<\/a>: <\/p>\n

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A surveillance firm plans so as to add sensors to computerized license plate readers (ALPRs) that will imply the units, in addition to seize the license plate of passing autos, would additionally sweep up distinctive identifiers of cellphones, wearables, and different Bluetooth-enabled units in these automobiles, doubtlessly letting regulation enforcement establish particular drivers or passengers.<\/em><\/p>\n

The expertise, known as SignalTrace, would flip ALPR cameras from units targeted on monitoring automobiles to ones that may extra readily monitor the placement of explicit individuals.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s some wild stuff! And never in a great way!<\/p>\n

The authorized argument for license plate readers has all the time been this: A automotive touring on a public highway has no expectation of privateness. Certain, ALPRs can generate a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of plate\/location data yearly, however the (clumsy) analogy given to courts is that it\u2019s no totally different than one thing that could possibly be achieved by law enforcement officials who merely wrote down each license plate that handed by their patrol automotive.<\/p>\n

In fact, to duplicate what ALPRs really do, you\u2019d have to really exist in a hypothetical. If one million monkeys with one million typewriters can create Shakespeare<\/a>, certainly one million blue-clad monkeys might generate thousands and thousands of plate\/location knowledge factors with the form of accuracy one would count on from high-speed, high-quality plate reader cameras. <\/p>\n

However we don\u2019t exist within the infinite monkey theorem. That\u2019s a strike towards ALPRs being nothing greater than a \u201cpower multiplier.\u201d <\/p>\n

And there may be presently no<\/em> authorized argument that justifies hoovering knowledge from units and autos, which is one thing the general public actually can\u2019t do. However that\u2019s what surveillance tech firm Leonardo is providing, in response to its own pitch document<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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It bridges license plate recognition knowledge with sensor-captured machine identifiers\u2014akin to these from cellphones, Bluetooth wearables, and car methods<\/strong>\u2014to create a novel, trackable \u2018digital fingerprint\u2019 for investigative use.<\/em><\/p>\n

When a number of units constantly transfer along with a car, SignalTrace\u2019s algorithms hyperlink them to that car\u2019s license plate and time-stamped location knowledge. This correlation supplies investigators with one other layer of actionable intelligence, even when a suspect modifications or removes a plate.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

First off, let\u2019s deal with this a part of Leonardo\u2019s assertion: <\/p>\n

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When a number of units constantly transfer along with a car<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That appears intentionally deceptive. Whereas it\u2019s not illogical to count on surveillance tech to hunt correlations between knowledge factors, you\u2019d need to be intentionally ignorant to consider that knowledge (i.e., captures that don\u2019t embody \u201ca number of units constantly transferring collectively\u201d) gained\u2019t be searchable. Whereas disparate knowledge could also be largely ineffective in investigations, having the choice to look by identifiers apart from license plate numbers<\/em> means cops can monitor individuals and units, reasonably than restrict themselves to the motion of autos. And if you happen to don\u2019t assume this<\/em> will be abused<\/a>, you\u2019re so deep in denial as to be unreachable.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s a lot extra! The Leonardo doc says its tech can seize RFID information from key playing cards, asset tags, and pet microchips. It additionally says it may pull information from car infotainment methods. Whereas this can be restricted to distinctive identifiers that hyperlink the automotive to the machine, these methods include loads of different knowledge that might not be as well-protected as drivers assume \u2014 issues like GPS knowledge, telephone information for each machine that has been paired with the system, in addition to any communications (and connecting telephone numbers) saved throughout hands-free operation. <\/p>\n

Leonardo is angling for federal regulation enforcement contracts. And it actually want to hook up with no matter native businesses it may discuss into paying for its providers. Whereas it\u2019s not clear that anybody is buying Sign hint but, Leonardo is already filling its pockets with federal {dollars}, as 404 Media studies: <\/p>\n

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Its U.S. arm has contracts with U.S. Particular Operations Command and the Common Providers Administration, in response to procurement data maintained by\u00a0the transparency website Widely Reported<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

At this level, there isn’t a widely known authorized argument that helps this form of intrusiveness. Whereas ALPRs get a go as a result of anybody can see automobiles and license plates after they\u2019re touring public roads and the Third Get together Doctrine says practically something \u201cwillingly\u201d handed over to 3rd events doesn\u2019t require a warrant to acquire, that is one thing else fully.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no regulation on the books or courtroom precedent that claims the federal government can, in impact, power units carried by individuals in automobiles to show this information over to the federal government simply because the car occurred to go a SignalTrace-powered digicam. <\/p>\n

That is tech that has no analogue within the public sphere. In different phrases, most of the people doesn\u2019t have entry to tech that may receive this information from different individuals\u2019s units. That was the argument<\/a> used to excuse cops who used an iPhone\u2019s evening pictures choice to \u201csee\u201d by the tinted home windows of a parked automotive. There\u2019s additionally no \u201conly a cop with a pocket book and a pen\u201d equal for this tech, which is what has been argued to route ALPRs across the Fourth Modification. <\/p>\n

Leonardo is establishing store within the unsettled areas of the regulation. That\u2019s not an incredible enterprise mannequin. Even when there\u2019s preliminary curiosity from the federal government\u2019s early adopters, securing sustained income streams would require the Structure itself to be upended. I\u2019m not saying it gained\u2019t<\/em> occur. I\u2019m simply saying I wouldn\u2019t wager my profession on it. <\/p>\n

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\tFiled Underneath: 4th amendment<\/a>, alpr<\/a>, collect it all<\/a>, location tracking<\/a>, plate readers<\/a>, stingray<\/a>, surveillance<\/a>
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Firms: leonardo<\/a>, signaltrace<\/a>\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n