Broadband Tech > Security > Security > Canada RCMP program to log and track all drivers is underway

The categories of people that generate alerts or "hits" in the ALPR system, alongside car thieves and child kidnappers, are much broader than has ever been disclosed publicly.

And information on these people’s movements is being retained in a database for two or more years. For example, though you may not be stopped, your car is a "hit" and its movements are tracked and recorded if you're on parole or probation or, in some cases, you've simply been accused of breaking a criminal law, federal or provincial statute, or municipal bylaw.

You're also a hit if you
• ever attended court to establish legal custody of your child,
• if you've ever had an incident due to a mental health problem which police attended, or
• if you've been linked to someone under investigation.

The list of hit categories continues through three more pages, and a fourth page that the RCMP completely redacted.

Meanwhile, according to the Privacy Impact Assessment, the RCMP is also keeping records for three months on the whereabouts of everybody else's cars, too-this is called "non-hit" data.

What, our team asked, did keeping massive databases of records on everyone’s movements have to do with catching stolen vehicles or uninsured drivers? Kevin McArthur suggested: "[ALPR] is not intended to be a police cruiser improvement and efficiency tool, but to be a surveillance tool."

Why just sop on the license plates? Let's put barcodes on our foreheads. Then optical recognition technology will track everyone everywhere. Let's protect out children from ... everything. That's the ultimate goal. Right?

Why just sop on the license plates? Let's put barcodes on our foreheads. Then optical recognition technology will track everyone everywhere. Let's protect out children from ... everything. That's the ultimate goal. Right?