ICE can now track license plates all over America


The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has apparently entered into a contract with Vigilant Solutions, giving ICE agents access to data on more than 2 billion license plates, an agency representative told The Verge.
Vigilant Solutions is a private company that uses partnerships with local law enforcement agencies to gather data from police car cameras, resulting in some 100 million recorded license plate sightings a month. That plate information comes tagged with "a date, time, and GPS coordinates," The Verge writes, meaning that with its contract, ICE can search the database to find "every place a given license plate has been spotted in the last five years." Additionally, if ICE agents want to track a particular car, they can receive phone or email alerts whenever that specific plate is spotted on a Vigilant Solutions-partnered camera.
An assessment by the Department of Homeland Security found that such a database is important for ICE because when "other leads have gone cold," information about the "previous locations of a vehicle can help determine the whereabouts of subjects of criminal investigations or priority aliens to facilitate their interdiction and removal."
Of course, Vigilant Solutions is also pulling in data on billions of license plates that don't belong to undocumented immigrants. "Are we as a society, out of our desire to find those people, willing to let our government create an infrastructure that will track all of us?" asked ACLU policy analyst Jay Stanley.
Read more about the implications of the partnership between ICE and Vigilant Solutions at The Verge.
Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.
-
The allegations of Christian genocide in Nigeria
The Explainer West African nation has denied claims from US senator and broadcaster
-
The best sherries to try this autumn
The Week Recommends The warming tipple from sunny Spain is an underrated cold-weather staple
-
London’s best breakfasts and brunches
The Week Recommends However you like your eggs in the morning, these memorable restaurants have you covered
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditions
Speed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billion
Speed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on record
Speed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homes
Speed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creature
Speed Read