A majority of members on the Community Oversight Board on Monday voted against a measure to pass any license plate reader (LPR) bills.
The vote from the group comes as the Metro Council has proposed two separate bills that would allow the cameras to be installed around the city.
LPRs utilize high-speed cameras to take multiple pictures of a vehicle’s license plate, while also recording the time, date, and location of the picture.
Some members of the Community Oversight Board expressed uneasiness over who will have access to the documents once they capture and store the snapshot of the vehicle.
Members also questioned where the cameras would be located and what violations they record.
Other critics of LPRs pointed out that the technology raises severe privacy concerns.
“Automatic license plate readers have the potential to create permanent records of virtually everywhere any of us has driven, radically transforming the consequences of leaving home to pursue private life, and opening up many opportunities for abuse. The tracking of people’s location constitutes a significant invasion of privacy, which can reveal many things about their lives, such as what friends, doctors, protests, political events, or churches a person may visit,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) detailed.
One of the bills considered by the Metro Council would allow LPRs to only “be used for the sole purpose of recording and checking license plates and shall not be capable of photographing, recording, or producing images of the occupants of a motor vehicle” when used by law enforcement.
The other legislation would install cameras to capture and record traffic and parking violations.
Multiple other municipalities around Nashville and Davidson County have already implemented LPRs for similar purposes.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Of they oppose LPR’s. Have to protect their criminal constituents.
You mean like Mayor Cooper and his brother?
LPRs, not written in the article, are invaluable in situations such as Amber Alerts and Silver Alerts. They also have been of law enforcement assistance in kidnappings, car theft and other crimes. This Community Oversight Board is misinformed or terribly ignorant.
The irony of all this is that apps like Facebook and anything Google already violate your privacy as much or even more than license plate readers.
Rarely, do I ever find myself nodding my head in agreement of what the ACLU has to say, but this time I am. From a tax dollar and big government point of view, I’m glad this program isn’t going to see the light of day. The city hires cops for a reason anyway. They can simply continue doing their job by typing or scanning` license plates manually.
John, I am in agreement with your position on the LPR’s but the comment about Facebook anything Google is a little off base. I can choose whether or not to expose my information to those social media disasters. And I have chosen not to do so.
Maybe I am nitpicking but wanted to comment.
83, you need to read a bit on FB’s ‘like’ button. It’s not just counting the likes. It’s more 1984-ish stuff they are doing. And all with one button and hardly with the user’s consent.
John – I do not use those platforms therefore I do not understand how they can harvest my personal information. Please enlighten me.
Might catch to many of the criminal scum they set free! COB the criminal freedom board or the minority democratic political payoff board, buying the minority vote can be hard on the normal citizens, which Commie Cooper cares very little about except for their tax money, he just hopes they live long enough to pay their taxes!