Media: Americans target license plate recognition cameras

An increasing number of Americans are combating Flock Safety technology – license plate recognition cameras in both legal and illegal ways, NPR reports.

The report said Flock cameras have been vandalised in at least 36 states.

People have stolen the cameras, sawed them down, crashed into them with cars, covered them in paint and stickers, and shot at them.

Methods also range from painting over lenses and placing stickers on cameras to running over the devices and shooting at them.

Social media is filled with tongue-in-cheek how-to videos, instructing viewers on things like how to discreetly saw through a metal pole.

Experts link the activity to public concerns over privacy. Critics of surveillance technology warn that collecting data on vehicle movements could lead to excessive police monitoring and restrictions on civil liberties.

More than 130,000 scanners are currently operating across the country, while Flock Safety technology is used by more than 5,000 police departments.

The company maintains that its systems help locate stolen vehicles and missing people, and that the data collected does not belong to Flock Safety and is not used for commercial purposes.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov