And now private enterprise is in this game too

Mass surveillance continues…

Actually, this is a somewhat old story. We posted it a few years ago.

What you might not know – and what we only just learned – is that private companies are using this technology too.

The system costs about $10,000 to $17,000.

While its use by police is under some scrutiny, private company use of this data (repo men use it to help them find property to seize), its use by private companies is off the radar and unregulated.

At least 10 repo companies in Massachusetts are using the technology and Digital Recognition Network of Fort Worth, Texas, says they’ve assembled a database of 40 percent of all US vehicles.

The Massachusetts legislature is looking at a bill to ban the use of this form of data collection by private companies.

Good!