License plate cameras are tracking drivers everywhere
More than 119,000 roadside readers have been mapped across US, raising questions about who can search your driving history
By Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report
One minute, you are driving to the grocery store. The next, a camera above the road photographs your car and adds the sighting to a searchable database. You probably will not hear a click or see a flash. In fact, you may never notice the camera mounted on a pole near the intersection.
Automated license plate readers have quietly spread across the country. As of our reporting, the open-source DeFlock map displayed about 119,000 readers across the United States. DeFlock is a community-powered project that maps reported camera locations using public submissions and data from OpenStreetMap. Because the map relies partly on crowdsourced information, it may miss some cameras or include locations that have changed.
Flock Safety cameras account for about 83% of the mapped total. California has the largest number of mapped readers, with more than 16,000. Major clusters appear around Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Police say the cameras help locate stolen cars and vehicles connected to serious crimes.