DHS and a National License Plate Tracking System: Gearing up For A Monumental Database

It looks like the Department of Homeland  Security  is moving quickly toward adopting “recognition technology” throughout its various agencies. In our last post we discussed how its research arm, the DHS Science & Technology Directorate, was in the midst of a project to determine how and what type of Facial Recognition Technology could best serve U.S. airports and other high risk venues.  Well now we see that another DHS agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),  is moving forward with implementing License Plate Technology (LPR).

Last month, ICE issued a request for bid for a national license plate tracking system. They are looking for a private company that will be able to compile and store a data base containing copious amounts of information culled from license plate readers used by police departments, parking violations bureaus, and car repossession companies nationwide.

A typical License Plate Recognition system consists of

• ·         A high speed digital camera such as an IP camera with a fast shutter speed to minimize blur.
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• ·         Infrared (IR) light, since it can illuminate the license plate day and night yet remain invisible to the eye.
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• ·         A computer to run the LPR software
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• ·         LPR software with algorithms that dictate a sequence of instantaneous processes starting with seeking out the license plate from all the other shapes of the vehicle, isolating the characters, and finally translating them into an alpha-numeric form the computer can recognize (Optical character recognition).

According to The Washington Post, the bid specified that

 “The government would prefer a close-up of the plate and a zoomed-out image of the vehicle”   which would go into a case file report that would include maps and registration information, as well as the car’s make and model.”

When the proposed database is in place, all an ICE agent  need do is snap a shot of a license plate with his smartphone to gain immediate 24/7 access to information which can link the plate to relevant lists and information concerning the car and its owner.  Since a database linked to a national license plate tracking system  could ostensibly contain upwards of one billion records,  it has raised privacy concerns.

 ICE emphasizes that the use of the database will reduce the time it takes to conduct  manned surveillance operations and will be strictly limited to cases under ongoing investigation or to searches for wanted individuals. DHS hopes that the way the system will function, with a commercial entity doing the actual data collection and storage rather than a law enforcement or government agency will further assuage privacy fears.

If you’d like to read more on the subject of License Plate Technology, head on over to Technology Notes Kintronics' monthly e-newsletter and check out

  License Plate Technology, a Twenty-First Century Way of Life 

and 

Speed Cameras, There’s More Than Meets the Eye.

If you're in the market for recognition technology or an IP camera, please call and talk to a Kintronics sales engineer who will be glad to answer all your questions. Call Kintronics at 914-944-3425 or fill out an information request form and we’ll get right back to you.