- Florida has revoked permits for license plate readers installed along state highways.
- Police have 30 days to remove affected cameras before FDOT removes them itself.
- Some agencies are going further and abandoning their Flock programs entirely.
Automated license plate readers have spread across America with remarkable speed. Now, Florida is putting some of that expansion into reverse. The state has ordered police agencies to remove license plate readers from state highway rights-of-way, citing everything from privacy concerns to reports of outright misuse. And while the order isn’t a statewide ban on the technology, some police agencies have decided that’s effectively where they’re headed anyway.
The Florida Department of Transportation issued the directive on August 31, revoking existing approvals for automated license plate recognition systems installed by local law enforcement agencies along roads in the State Highway System. FDOT will also stop issuing new permits for the systems under its jurisdiction.
Read: Why More Cities Are Suddenly Pulling The Plug On Flock Safety Cameras
“While Florida law limits the issuance of permits for LPR systems to law enforcement agencies, the recent exponential increase in deployments along our roadways, coupled with concerning reports of misuse, data privacy concerns, and surveillance schemes merit immediate action,” FDOT Chief Operating Officer Will Watts wrote in the memorandum. Agencies have 30 days to remove the affected equipment. Anything left afterward can be removed by FDOT itself.
Some important details that stand out from this news. First, the shift doesn’t just cover Flock Safety cameras. That particular company is perhaps the nation’s most well-known ALPR company, but others like Axon and Motorola provide similar technology with the same potential for misuse and abuse. Secondarily, the direction from FDOT has no effect on ALPRs on city or county roads where local authorities allow them.
Still, the fallout is already spreading beyond those boundaries. Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood announced that his agency would shut down its license plate readers entirely. Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters similarly announced that his department would discontinue LPR technology throughout Duval County, while Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith also ordered his department to stop using the systems countywide. The debate about safety versus privacy will no doubt continue for some time, but what once appeared to be an unstoppable expansion of ALPR networks now looks a little less inevitable.
