Does your community have ALPRs?
Across the state, dozens and dozens of communities, large and small, are installing automated license plate readers (ALPRs) to track motorists, posing serious new privacy and security threats.
ALPRs are not speed cameras. They are not "red light" cameras. In fact, they're worse.
ALPRs are cameras used on Iowa roads that take thousands of photos of license plates from every car that drives by. That information can then be fed into a network of nationally shared databases that has too few privacy protections and is subject to abuse. Law enforcement is not required to get a warrant to use these databases to target or track people
Are there ALPRs in your community? Here's how to find out:
- Check out our online map of Iowa communities with ALPRs.
- Check out our online listing of the communities and law enforcement agencies using ALPRs.
- You can also check out one of the many websites created to help the public find out if they are being spied on by ALPRs. They include deflock.me, stopflock.com, alpr.watch, atlasofsurveillance.org, and one specific to Cedar Rapids, which has an exceptionally large number of ALPRs, eyesoffcr.org.
