One of the privately owned Flock cameras in Albany, as seen back in April.
There seems to be much anxiety in Albany, and around the country, about Flock Safety and other automated cameras that record license plate numbers. What’s the reason for this sudden angst?
A parade of speakers have told the Albany City Council at recent meetings that the cameras are a threat to people’s privacy and liberty. The council has stopped the use of one such camera by the police.
Council member Carolyn McLeod, who is running for mayor, wanted the city to ban the use of license plate readers by private parties as well. She dropped that proposal Wednesday after the city attorney said such a ban, if challenged in court, would be difficult and costly to defend.
But the council plans to consider McLeod’s alternative proposal, which is to require signage where private license plate readers are in use.
License plate numbers are publicly visible, obviously. So how does taking their picture invade the privacy of whoever is driving or is sitting in the car? Even if the person is somehow identifiable in the image the camera takes?
When Oregon starts taxing all vehicles by how many miles they are driven on public roads — if this ever happens — a system will be needed to track all vehicles. Then, privacy concerns will be justified.
But license plate readers don’t track where people go. They show only that vehicles are in particular places at particular times. How that’s useful to a store, for instance, I don’t know.
After all, the store most likely already knows that you were there. Not only that, but the store probably knows where you live, what you look like, how old you are, and of course what you bought.
In the age of AI along with face-recognition software, and transactions being done online, signs to protect privacy would have to say something like this:
“Stay off the Internet, make no electronic payments, use no apps, and don’t show your face in public or anywhere else a camera might see you.”
In today’s world, the odd license plate reader in a parking lot doesn’t tell them anything they don’t already know. (hh)
Amen, Hasso. I agree.
The reason people are so fussed about the cameras is that it is a Republican thing to oppose them and more than half the people in this country are Republicans!! or vote Republican. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have DJT in the White House planning his next redecorating venture. At least that keeps him occupied (like giving a fussy baby a toy). We don’t need him starting yet another war. He has a new “forever” war with Iran. Keep him busy with his super glue and his golden geegaws that he is pasting on the White House walls.
Safety and security in communities is a “Republican thing”? Amazing. Powerful TDS on display. I think Safety and Security is an AMERICAN thing. It is right in the Declaration of Independence Preamble: we have natural and unalienable rights – “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”. No one can live and no one can pursue happiness if fearful for their lives. Those who are operating outside the law, the law that keeps all of us safe, SHOULD be fearful of being caught. It is pretty simple.
Gawd! Someone mentions Trump and you MAGA acolytes again and again bring up TDS…Trump Derangement Syndrome. Yes, we should all have TDS!!!! Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness you also bring up? What in hell does that have to do with a few license plate readers?
You are correct, Brian.
Every Democrat, I know supports license plate readers.
Emotion vs Facts. The lower brain stem wins again. Toss in the politics and there is no hope for my species. Get me off this planet
The decision by city council was very short-sighted and politically driven. I understand the fear that people have but this is one of the most regulated technologies in the state for law enforcement and the proven cases of misuse are less than .0001%.
License plate reader technology is not a tool for mass surveillance; it is a precision instrument for solving crime. In cases of vehicle theft, violent crime, and the search for missing or endangered persons, the objective evidence provided by these cameras often makes the difference between an open investigation and a closed case.
The primary role of local government is to ensure the safety and security of its citizens. By removing this tool, the Council has voluntarily stripped our police department of a proven “force multiplier.”
Strict Data Retention Policies: Limiting the storage of non-hit data to a very short window (e.g., 30 days) to address privacy concerns.
Defined Use-Cases: Restricting access to the system solely for the investigation of specific, serious crimes, rather than general monitoring.
Community Oversight: Establishing an annual, public audit report that details exactly how the technology is being used and what the results have been, ensuring full transparency.
I believe there is a middle ground that respects individual privacy while fulfilling the government’s fundamental duty to protect its people.
Most of you are paranoid for no reason, it’s just your instincts to be recalcitrant and some of you actually have something to hide. That about covers it. Did I leave anyone out?
The city council members seem to me, to be all liberals 
* The paranoia started spreading after Eugene raised an uproar that the readers might be catching criminal illegal aliens. 

WATCH THE NEWS REGULARLY AND YOU WILL OFTEN SEE HOW LICENSE PLATE READERS HELPED CATCH INDIVIDUALS SUSPECTED OF VIOLENT CRIMES. 
Oops! I’m wrong. It isn’t Republicans, or Democrats, exclusively who are fussing about license plate cameras. It can’t be categorized as either of the two major political parties.
It always blows me away about how upset people get about flock cameras but they still use their cell phones! Cell phones track everything where you live, where you travel, what you look like, what you buy, what games you play, and there’s so much more. But flock cameras oh no they might actually help find somebody that’s been kidnapped or somebody that robbed a store!
Thank you for expressing my sentiments. For anyone who carries a cell phone, uses Siri or Alexis, or drives a newer car with GPS . . . all all actively tracking your movements and locations. If you aren’t breaking the law, what difference does it make if you are being seen?
I do not agree that Flock cameras are analogous to cell phones. I voluntarily carry a phone and it’s FAR more likely to solve a crime or save my life than any government camera. Plus, the phone is NOT directly connected to the police.
Hering is saying that creeping government spying on citizens is no big deal and we should all relax. Not unlike Chamberlain’s assertion that “peace is at hand.”
Just yesterday, Hering complained about the government’s potential for interference with citizens when he wrote about the styrofoam cowboy/donkey fixtures on a different building. “Who is so concerned about these weird creations that he’s worried whether they comply with the building code? ”
Apparently Hering believes the government ought not be concerned with this private entity doing what it damn well pleases. But when anyone objects to the intrusiveness of Flock cameras, Hering indicates “there’s nothing to see here, folks.” attitude. The inconsistency is the problem. The conclusion? Hering favors spying on citizens, just not business entities.
Because of your phone, they know where you are at all times if they ever want to or need to (at least where your phone is). So you’re worried about a camera that can only tell them where your car is at that precise moment? Talk about a false sense of privacy. And before long, those cameras will be so small you won’t even know they’re there.
Great points HH
thank you for that.
Soon they will tax us for how far we walk in Albany, let alone breath.
Your comment seems to contain some internal contradiction, or at least tension.
I don’t get it. The reading of license plates is for the protection of the community. Rapists and murderers can be stopped in their tracks before they commit another crime. This concern for illegal immigrants is very misplaced. How many illegals have purchased cars that are registered in their own names? Not many. Oregonians and Albanyites should start worrying about the safety and security of their own families, first.
I attended the Council meeting when McLeod made and defended that proposal. It shocked me then as a lunatic idea. Thanks hh for educating readers; so voters might recognize she is unqualified to be Mayor of Albany.
With that idiocy she is running for Mayor…
Patrick Henry would roll over in his grave if he knew the government and private businesses were colluding to install devices that can track the identity, movement, communications, and behavior of every citizen, all the time. McCleod is right on this issue and the rest of the council–including the mayor, was right to agree with her signage idea. Have the guts to say NO to more surveillance! Live Free or Die!
The decision by city council was very short-sighted and politically driven. I understand the fear that people have but this is one of the most regulated technologies in the state for law enforcement and the proven cases of misuse are less than .0001%.
License plate reader technology is not a tool for mass surveillance; it is a precision instrument for solving crime. In cases of vehicle theft, violent crime, and the search for missing or endangered persons, the objective evidence provided by these cameras often makes the difference between an open investigation and a closed case.
The primary role of local government is to ensure the safety and security of its citizens. By removing this tool, the Council has voluntarily stripped our police department of a proven “force multiplier.”
Strict Data Retention Policies: Limiting the storage of non-hit data to a very short window (e.g., 30 days) to address privacy concerns.
Defined Use-Cases: Restricting access to the system solely for the investigation of specific, serious crimes, rather than general monitoring.
Community Oversight: Establishing an annual, public audit report that details exactly how the technology is being used and what the results have been, ensuring full transparency.
I believe there is a middle ground that respects individual privacy while fulfilling the government’s fundamental duty to protect its people.
Most of you are paranoid for no reason, it’s just your instincts to be recalcitrant and some of you actually have something to hide. That about covers it. Did I leave anyone out?
The city council members seem to me, to be all liberals
* The paranoia started spreading after Eugene raised an uproar that the readers might be catching criminal illegal aliens.
WATCH THE NEWS REGULARLY AND YOU WILL OFTEN SEE HOW LICENSE PLATE READERS HELPED CATCH INDIVIDUALS SUSPECTED OF VIOLENT CRIMES.
“The decision by city council was very short-sighted and politically driven. I understand the fear that people have but this is one of the most regulated technologies in the state for law enforcement and the proven cases of misuse are less than .0001%. ”
Less than .0001%? HOW could you possibly know that other than pulling it out of a body orifice?
DNA tests from “ancestry/genealogy sites promised privacy, yet the govt. has tracked down sex offenders with this “PRIVATE” info.
EXPLAIN how that can happen. You are simply delusional.
So if I took my Go-Pro out to Queen Ave & was filming cars going by I’d be threatening your safety & security…… Get real you mamby pamby’s. And I’m not big brother. If you’re not doing anything wrong (i’e’-leaving a hit & run, mowing down a bike rider) just be happy & don’t worry. And, I’m not voting for McLeod. These people that want to take away safety measures….so when is she gonna come after my gun’s???!!!
I don’t care if you film in public with your camera. However, I AM NOT going to pay you to do it, and I assume you don’t have the legal power to stuff me in a cage any time you want. I also assume you lack the backing of massive and heavily armed local, state, and federal governments with unlimited resources to prosecute anyone for whatever you want.
“But license plate readers don’t track where people go. They show only that vehicles are in particular places at particular times. How that’s useful to a store, for instance, I don’t know.”
Inside store cameras take pictures of shoplifters. Outside cameras show what car/license plate they got into.
The smart cameras at large businesses are not there just for security. Shoplifting is not the problem (if it was, stores would report shoplifters, try to stop them, prosecute them, and stop installing self-checkout lanes). Smart cameras will identify you and track you around the store. They can automatically watch you when you look at your phone (these cameras can record your PIN as you unlock your phone and see what’s on your screen). When the business builds a database on your shopping, they can share/sell it to other businesses and the government. If you buy guns, the smart cameras can easily record the transaction, your details, and everything else. Of course, I’m sure we’re all confident that the government would NEVER abuse its power by getting ahold of those records. A simple Google search reveals many good sources reporting the abuse of Flock cameras by authorities.
No one believes that we aren’t already under surveillance, so please, for the love of God, stop dragging out that straw man.
The reason people of all political stripes are angry about Flock (and similar) cameras is that we’ve reached a breaking point. This far, and no more. The cops have enough tools to solve crimes: as of now, they have stuffed about two million Americans into cages (the most in the world, by far!) and conviction rates are well over 90%. Crime rates are low–far lower than they were in the 1970s. The data is easy to find.
On top of all that, Flock cameras are very easy to evade if you are a criminal. Wear big sunglasses, position a leaf or a little mud to obscure your plate, find out where the cameras are located and avoid them, drive someone else’s car, use old plates bought on the internet, shoot the cameras with paintball guns. Hack into the cameras (it’s already been done many times). All are easy for a criminal but a real pain in the butt for the rest of us. Come to think of it, I see expired or missing license plates all the time and the police don’t seem to do anything about it.
If you don’t like the stores that have the flock cameras,
Do not support them. If everyone did that they would eventually
Either go out of business or take them down
There is a difference between *A* picture and pictures everywhere you go, correlated, and sold. Not just to the single store, but to anyone who wants it. Quantity has a quality all its own when it comes to surveillance.
The vote for mayor in Albany this year will be a barn burner….First one to say orange man bad will win….maybe no kings…the over 70 crowd will carry the vote..
It’s fear mongering.
There are cameras EVERYWHERE. You walk into just about any business…food, beverage, clothing, grocery, hardware…SMILE, you’re on camera. Go to WalMart, not only are you recorded IN the store, but you’re recorded outside of the store.
So why aren’t you all whining 7-11 recording you, or WalMart recording you or Comcast recording you?
I agree with Brian and Kent.. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Slippery slope logic that is inevitably leading us into a surveillance state with laws enforced automatically by AI. All of these silly facial arguments about safety and efficiency I’m sure are causing the founding fathers and generations of patriots that came before us to roll in their graves. Slowly but surely eroding our liberties to the point that we won’t recognize America anymore. “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety”. Benjamin Franklin