[00:00.10]From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.99]this is the Technology Report.
[00:06.55]Law enforcement agencies across the United States
[00:10.45]are using cameras
[00:12.49]to take pictures of automobile license plates.
[00:16.65]The idea is to build a computerised collection of information
[00:23.11]detailing the daily travel of millions of Americans.
[00:28.60]Arlington County Police Detective Mohammed Tabibi
[00:32.50]is with the Automobile Theft Department.
[00:36.21]He uses a license plate readers,
[00:39.65]also known as a LPR to look for stolen vehicles.
[00:46.60]"It has paid dividends.
[00:48.00]We have caught some people involved
[00:49.54]in some serious crimes because of the LPR," said Tabibi.
[00:53.35]The use of LPRs is growing across the United States.
[00:59.00]Some are secured to poles along roadsides,
[01:03.40]others are placed in law-enforcement vehicle.
[01:08.40]Privacy groups are concerned about the growing use of these devices.
[01:15.91]They say the information collected is stored on computers
[01:21.61]and shared with other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
[01:29.17]Jay Stanley is with the American Civil Liberties Union(ACLU).
[01:35.03]"What they are also doing is storing everybody's time,
[01:37.68]place, and location.
[01:38.74]And many police departments are holding that information indefinitely.
[01:42.02]You know in our society,
[01:44.23]the government doesn't follow you and invade your privacy
[01:46.77]and track you unless it has a specific reason
[01:48.61]that you are involved in wrongdoing," said Stanley.
[01:50.72]Until recently, Kevin Rearden
[01:54.04]served as Captain of the Arlington County Police,
[01:58.30]he also headed the county's Homeland Security Department before he retired.
[02:06.06]Mr Rearden said, county policy
[02:10.02]calls for the LPR information to be kept for six months.
[02:16.94]"We originally had a two-month period,
[02:18.75]and the detectives requested the chief extend it to six months
[02:21.71]because they found in so many investigations,
[02:23.46]keeping it for two months wasn't long enough," said Rearden.
[02:26.27]But he said, other law enforcement agencies
[02:30.02]that use the county's information may store it for unlimited periods of time.
[02:37.62]Supporters of privacy rights say they have no problem with police departments
[02:44.70]taking pictures of license plates to investigate crimes.
[02:49.75]But Jay Stanley says,
[02:51.90]they're against storing the information for long periods of time.
[02:57.60]"...Once you are past a certain periods of time,
[03:00.58]it is very unlikely it is going to be useful.
[03:02.59]Meanwhile we are creating this giant infrastructure
[03:05.54]for tracking everybody all the time," said Stanley.
[03:07.65]Retired Arlington country Captain Rearden disagrees.
[03:11.70]"They keep bringing up the word tracking.
[03:13.45]And if I went out and ran your tag in our server,
[03:17.31]I would not be able to track you.
[03:18.81]I would be lucky if I could put [you in]
[03:21.27]a few places in Arlington in a particular time.
[03:23.61]By no stretch of the imagination would I be able to track you," said Rearden.
[03:28.06]The ACLU says Americans need to know how federal officials
[03:33.27]are using the information collected from LPR cameras,
[03:39.12]the group has brought federal charges
[03:41.63]against the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security.
[03:47.83]And that's the Technology Report from VOA Learning English.
[03:53.03]I'm Milagros Ardin.