A controversial tool police say helps catch stolen cars and dangerous drivers could become a common sight on Island roads.<\/p>\n
But civil liberties advocates worry that automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) technology lends itself too easily to misuse and abuse.<\/p>\n
The technology has been eyed by police on the mainland since 2006, but this year, Island district RCMP brought a SUV-mounted ALPR system over for five trial sessions.<\/p>\n
The new mid-Island Integrated Road Safety Unit, unveiled in December and starting work this month, has one unit.<\/p>\n
On average, the system was flagging one out of every 100 cars for offences ranging from expired validation tags to prohibited drivers to stolen vehicles, said RCMP Insp. Ted Smith, commander of Island district traffic services.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople that are prohibited drivers are prohibited because the courts or the Superintendent of Motor Vehicles have recognized they\u2019re bad drivers, they shouldn\u2019t be there,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIf it\u2019s an uninsured vehicle, let\u2019s say you or I are involved in a collision with that person, they have no insurance to pay for our damages if they\u2019re the cause.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stolen cars speak for themselves. It enables us to query 1,000 vehicles an hour, which is way faster than any one, two or 10 people can do visually on a keyboard.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Smith acknowledged police themselves have identified privacy issues over how long data captured from the camera should be retained.<\/p>\n
The system automatically takes two pictures of every license plate that it spots. If the computer doesn\u2019t find a match to plates in police or ICBC databases, the photos are immediately deleted, Smith said.<\/p>\n
Police are working with B.C Information and Privacy Commissioner David Loukidelis to determine how long and for what purposes data from positive hits should be kept. Once that determination has been made, Smith expects to field five ALPR systems on the Island after February.<\/p>\n
But data retention isn\u2019t the most worrying problem, according to B.C. Civil Liberties Association policy director Micheal Vonn.<\/p>\n
In the U.K., the technology was used earlier this year to flag and intercept anti-war protesters planning a legal demonstration in London, Vonn said.<\/p>\n
While police are promoting the technology as a tool to catch stolen cars during the pilot phase, that sort of usage creep is likely to follow if ALPR is approved for wider use, she argued.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt simply becomes irresistable once you have the technology to be able to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A controversial tool police say helps catch stolen cars and dangerous drivers could become a common sight on Island roads. But civil liberties advocates worry that automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) technology lends itself too easily to misuse and abuse.<\/p>\n