Private companies compile license plate intel. The FBI wants it, too
The FBI wants to track the movement of vehicles across the country without the need for a warrant, and is looking for a private company to provide access to data gathered by license plate readers.
Procurement documents obtained by 404 Media show that the FBI’s directorate of intelligence is seeking a vendor with license plate reader cameras stationed throughout the U.S. mainland as well as in Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“The FBI has a crucial need for accessible LPRs to provide a diverse and reliable range of collections across the United States,” one of the documents says. “This data should be available across major highways and in an array of locations for maximum usefulness to law enforcement.”
The FBI is hoping to find one company that can grant it access to data from all the coverage areas mentioned, but has expressed willingness to split the contract between two vendors if necessary.
Data captured by the license plate reader cameras would allow the FBI to run queries based not just on a vehicle’s license plate number but also on its make, model and color.
The FBI says it’s willing to pay $6 million for each area of interest or $36 million in total for full coverage.
Two companies could provide data
Only a handful of companies, such as Flock Safety and Motorola Solutions, would be able to meet the FBI’s requirements, 404 Media reported.
Motorola Solutions’ database is populated by sources, including license plate reader cameras placed on police vehicles. Flock Safety operates more than 80,000 license plate reader cameras affixed to locations all across the country. Those locations include public streets as well as private property, such as parking lots at big-box retail chains like Home Depot.
In a statement to 404 Media, Josh Thomas, chief communications officer at Flock Safety, declined to “speculate on prospective deals” with the FBI.
“But it’s worth noting that we already work with several federal agencies, all of whom are subject to the same obligations, constraints, and transparency mechanisms that apply to every other Flock customer,” Thomas said. “We also rebuilt our product from the ground up, starting last year, to ensure all local customers could trust that they can use Flock in full compliance with local and state laws.”
The FBI has not commented on the documents detailing its interest in procuring license plate reader data.
Backlash
The procurement documents surfaced amid a growing public backlash against license plate reader cameras. While supporters of the technology say it is a vital tool for law enforcement, critics say such tools are ripe for abuse.
A police officer in Milwaukee, for example, is facing criminal charges after allegedly using data gathered by Flock’s license plate reader cameras to track his then-girlfriend and her ex.
The incident was only uncovered after the officer’s ex-girlfriend used a website called HaveIBeenFlocked to see if her vehicle had ever been queried by law enforcement. The website hosts audit logs obtained from police departments through public records requests that reveal how the technology is used. Several police departments failed to properly redact the audit logs before they became public, allowing numerous abuses to be uncovered.
Flock Safety has sought, unsuccessfully, to have the website taken down. Legislation aimed at blocking the release of audit logs through public records requests was also introduced in Arizona around the same time.
Police departments were also found to be quietly performing searches of license plate reader data on behalf of ICE, despite the federal agency having no formal contract with Flock Safety.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
