Scan license plates, but proceed with caution

The use of high-tech surveillance by law enforcement has become an established fact of American life. In one small glimpse of it, village police departments in Nassau County in recent months have installed nearly 70 automatic license plate readers for the stated purposes of finding suspected criminals and responding knowledgeably to emergencies.

Nobody seems to have an exact count of the number of these devices in use across Long Island or New York State, since different jurisdictions deploy them depending on their circumstances. Last year, Stu Cameron, Suffolk’s retired acting police commissioner, became chief of Old Westbury’s police department in Nassau County, which bought 34 license plate readers using a state grant. Others have cropped up in nearby communities.

"It’s like having a police officer on every corner," Cameron told Newsday.

The increasing creep of surveillance technology seems inevitable. There are more drones over our heads and hidden cameras keeping track of our comings and goings. We willingly surrender much of our privacy to location apps and other digital platforms. Yet, we must insist that guardrails be in place to ensure this tracking data is not abused.

One feature of this particular crop of plate readers is their presence in low-crime villages with well-appointed residences. Today’s digital advances allow the plate readers, often inconspicuously placed on posts at key intersections, to cross-reference what they "see" with other databases. The information is most likely shared with other police agencies. Plate readers are used at entrances to tolled crossings and their stepped-up usage may be enhanced by cracking down more effectively on altered or phony license plates.

In a world where personal privacy in public places is disappearing, civil libertarians warn that effective safeguards have yet to be developed in tandem with this expanded surveillance. Susan Gottehrer, the New York Civil Liberties Union's Nassau County director, says the latest installations here threaten to give "police, government bodies and corporations unchecked access to information about where we work, who we meet, where we pray and even which doctors we visit."

All the more reason lawmakers at the local, state and federal level should be clear about the potential downsides. That would stimulate public discussion about finding ways to use the surveillance constructively while also limiting potential harm to individuals. One sensible measure would be researching and deciding limits on the time period during which the gathered information can be stored and to whom it can be made available.

How common is it — or will it be — for private companies or individuals to get hold of the data and for what purpose? Is it subject to freedom of information laws or obtainable as evidence in a contested divorce?

As long as they’re used the right way, license plate readers can be a boon to law enforcement at a time when driving is wilder and public resources are stretched. Let’s just proceed with caution.