TheNewspaper.com reports:
Police use of automated license plate readers (ALPR or ANPR) to track motorists may soon come to an end in Virginia. The state Supreme Court on Thursday took a big step toward finding that the devices may violate state laws governing data privacy.
Motorist Harrison Neal filed a complaint against the Fairfax County police after he obtained evidence that the department’s plate readers had tracked and photographed his car, even though he was never suspected of any criminal activity. Neal’s car had been swept up in “passive” ALPR surveillance, and civil rights groups including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) and Rutherford Institute took up his case, which took advantage of a 2013 state attorney general ruling finding such surveillance illegal (view ruling).
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