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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

Location Privacy: The Purview of the Rich and Indigent

Summary: A Krebs on Security reporter observed a dark green minivan with two roof-mounted cameras photographing every license plate in the covered garage at Reagan National Airport, and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority confirmed the imaging was handled by third-party firm HUB Parking to help returning passengers locate their cars. The piece notes that automated license plate reader systems are widely deployed by municipalities, police and repo firms, that a 2014 ABC News investigation in Los Angeles found little or no restriction on private sale of time- and location-stamped plate data to insurers, banks and law enforcement, and that in Texas agencies get free readers and access to Vigilant Solutions' LEARN-NVLS system - which the company says holds more than 2.8 billion plate scans and grows by over 70 million a month - in exchange for taking on-the-spot fine payments with a 25 percent processing fee going to Vigilant.

Key Takeaway: Vigilant keeps the plate data even after a state contract ends, and can sell or license it onward - so a database growing by 70 million scans a month outlives any single agency's oversight, and the EFF notes such records can reveal where you work, live, worship and who your friends are.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Data Breaches
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