Maine Considers Banning AI-Powered License Plate Cameras Over Privacy Concerns

There are estimated to be more than 100 thousand AI-powered automated cameras that record license plates across the country but there is a growing movement to force their removal.Police departments have been rapidly buying the surveillance technology, but critics say they are an invasion of privacy and ripe for abuse. A Maine lawmaker has proposed a bill to ban them. State representative David Boyer says people are tired of being surveilled. “We’re one of the safest states in the country. How many more liberties and freedom should we give up to feel safer-ist,” Mr. Boyer told The New York Sun.The Alliance for Secure AI says the cameras have no place anywhere that they can surveil innocent Americans. The group’s social media manager, Dylan Oliver, says it is a constitutional issue. “We view that as a blatant act of government overreach and a violation of Fourth Amendment rights,” Mr. Oliver told the Sun.“We’re looking at these AI-powered cameras that are able to not just scan license plates but they’re able to scan and track identifying features of vehicles, whether it be roof racks or even as simple as bumper stickers, to pinpoint and to track and follow people’s movements based on where they are going,” Mr. Oliver said.Mr. Oliver says there are a lot of cases of misuse of the camera data. In one case, a police chief in Kansas used the cameras to track his ex-girlfriend on 164 occasions over a four-month period.“We’re seeing that there is some negative pushback that is coming back here. There is some misuse within the system, as well, and people really need to know about that,” Mr. Oliver said.Mr. Oliver says Congress has been slow to react so state and local lawmakers are starting to take action. He says at least 45 cities across the country have removed AI cameras and ended their contracts. Flock Safety is the most widely known company offering AI-enabled camera systems.The city council at South Portland, Maine voted last week to immediately stop using the automatic license plate reader cameras and immediately terminate a contract with Flock. Citizens at Auburn, Maine also want them gone. Mr. Boyer said a petition to put it on the November ballot already has more than a thousand signatures.“This is like the ring of power in “Lord of the Rings.” It’s too attractive, no matter who is in control of it. We shouldn’t give anybody this much power,” Mr. Boyer said.Mr. Boyer, a Republican, is getting bipartisan support for his proposed statewide ban and a Democratic colleague is interested in signing on as a co-sponsor.“My friends on the left have concerns about ICE working with Flock, which they do. They have concerns about abortion rights. Down in Texas, I think these cameras were used to enforce abortion laws. Could they be used to show that someone from Texas came to Maine?” Mr. Boyer said. He says his friends on the right are worried about turning into a surveillance state.“These Flock cameras track bumper stickers. It’s pretty easy to determine if someone’s left or right based on their bumper stickers,” Mr. Boyer said. “You can make some nice databases just from these Flock cameras and bumper stickers. So my friends on the right are concerned about that,” he added.“There’s not that many bipartisan issues these days, so you’re almost required to kind of lean in and do the work when there is,” Mr. Boyer said.“Everybody from all walks of life from different sides of the aisle coming together on AI, which I think is very rare because you really don’t see bipartisan support for too many issues,” Mr. Oliver said.ACLU Maine is also against the cameras saying they are a “significant threat” to constitutional rights. It says Flock has launched intensive marketing campaigns to town officials throughout the state to purchase its surveillance products and services. “Flock is offering free trials and steep discounts to entice municipalities to purchase its surveillance product and participate in its data sharing scheme – all with limited safeguards,” according to the organization.“Flock supports legislation that creates guardrails for how license plate recognition data is used and shared, while preserving the effectiveness of this important public safety tool,” the company said in an emailed statement. “Flock is strongly in favor of common-sense regulation that preserves the ability of law enforcement to use these highly effective technologies, while requiring the sorts of safeguards and accountability mechanisms communities expect,” it added.“We’re still one of the safest states in the country. It’s not because of cameras. It’s because of the type of people we are, and the values we have,” Mr. Boyer said. “If we want complete safety, we could put cameras in everyone’s house.”

Maine Considers Banning AI-Powered License Plate Cameras Over Privacy Concerns

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