- Dozens of hidden plate readers line Southern California highways.
- Privacy groups say federal agencies are sidestepping state law.
- Caltrans approved permits but says it does not control the data.
Border Patrol has a tough job to do, and now it is leaning on technology to help shoulder the load. The difficult part is that hiding surveillance cameras in public looks a bit sketchy. Now, one man’s curiosity has sparked a deeper investigation and uncovered a network of cameras tracking drivers all over California’s southern highways.
San Diego County resident James Cordero stopped to check out what appeared to be an abandoned trailer. Instead, what he found was a sophisticated setup with an automatic license plate reader (ALPR), power, and likely the ability to transmit data to the cloud. After that discovery, Cordero began spotting other cameras with even more convincing disguises.
The hardware itself isn’t exotic. ALPRs are widely used across the country. Police departments mount them to cruisers. Cities install them at intersections. Private companies operate massive plate databases. What makes this situation different is who appears to be running these units, how they’re hidden, and how little information is available about them…