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Few notice the “spotter car” from Manny Sousa’s repo company as it scours Massachusetts parking lots, looking for vehicles whose owners have defaulted on their loans. Sousa’s unmarked car is part of a technological revolution that goes well beyond the repossession business, transforming any industry that wants to check on the whereabouts of ordinary people.
An automated reader attached to the spotter car takes a picture of every license plate it passes and sends it to a company in Texas that already has more than 1.8 billion plate scans from vehicles across the country.
These scans mean big money for Sousa — typically $200 to $400 every time the spotter finds a vehicle that’s stolen or in default — so he runs his spotter around the clock, typically adding 8,000 plate scans to the database in Texas each day.
“Honestly, we’ve found random apartment complexes and shopping plazas that are sweet spots” where the company can impound multiple vehicles, explains Sousa, the president of New England Associates Inc. in Bridgewater. But the most significant impact of Sousa’s business is far bigger than locating cars whose owners have defaulted on loans: It is the growing database of snapshots showing where Americans were at specific times, information that everyone from private detectives to insurers are willing to pay for.
... But the most significant impact of Sousa’s business is far bigger than locating cars whose owners have defaulted on loans: It is the growing database of snapshots showing where Americans were at specific times, information that everyone from private detectives to insurers are willing to pay for.
And people are worried about the NSA :-) The Gov't Beauracracy is nothing compared to the creativity of someone who can make money at it.
The solution is to take the tin foil off your head and put it on the license plates.
There is a lot of info tied to a license plate, furthermore when it is kept in a database and cross referenced with more info then it could get really scary......
Plate, tied to Drivers License containing DOB, address and possible criminal past. Now lets cross check the address, leading to mortgage/insurance info and since the car was at a business then lets see if John Doe works there because he has a LinkedIn acct etc..... Doesn't bother me, I drive a company car!
While I can see why this is upsetting to many I just refuse to get all worked up when there are so many other problems. I'm never in a place that I shouldn't be. So if you aren't doing anything wrong then you have nothing to worry about is pretty much how I live my life.
I'm confused on trying to think of why an insurance company would want it? I don't get the being somewhere your not supposed to be, wtf does that mean? If it's a married husband or wife at "someone" else's house, then you got bigger problems then some license scanner. The guy above me says it perfectly.
I'm confused on trying to think of why an insurance company would want it? I don't get the being somewhere your not supposed to be, wtf does that mean? If it's a married husband or wife at "someone" else's house, then you got bigger problems then some license scanner. The guy above me says it perfectly.
article notes people that insure cars in cheaper areas (live in NY, register/insure car in Florida because you own a condo there). Lets say for argument you live in a wonderful area with low crime but you drive to work in a very high crime area, insurance company figures this out with tag scans and raises your rate since it is higher risk for them. Now because of a plate scan you are paying $400 a year more for insurance..... I would bet you would be outraged despite your precious car being garaged safely at home every night!
I have no issue with the plate scan looking for repo cars or cops using it for criminals/violations but the issue for me is the upload to a database and then selling the info to 3rd parties. Scan all you want but the upload is wrong on many levels. Also note the article said certain neighborhoods (low income) were jackpots for repos.....while it may be correct, this is 100% profiling and if I was a bill paying minority I would be upset with camera cars roaming my specific area all day/night due to the "high jackpot ratio!"
Even worse, if you try to conceal your identity from these snoops, the police will arrest you within minutes and fine you hundreds of dollars for failure to display.
Another opportunity for me to repeat: You surrender nearly all your constitutional rights, the minute you slip into the drivers sear of a car. Example: The Repo Man has a legal right to tow away your car, and "Due Process" places the burden of proof on you to prove your innocence, and pay all the costs associated with establishing that proof and repairing any harm.
If you live in a state with rear-only license plates, get into the habit of backing into parking spaces.
Here in Texas, you can have your license plates made by a private company. Plates could be made like those security boxes on website signups, with jumbled numbers and letters that can only be read by humans, and would be incomprehensible to a scanners. But then, the government would not allow it, arguing for scannable license plates, in the words of the founders, "being necessary to the security of a free state".
License plates on your car are a giant step toward a microchip in you neck. Throughout history, every police state arrived with the gratitude of the citizenry. It's the Iron Law of Oligarchy.
Last edited by jtur88; 03-06-2014 at 08:26 AM..
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I would bet you would be outraged despite your precious car being garaged safely at home every night!
