Lawyer: Cop scanner ‘crosses line’
Civil libertarians are raising the alarm over the state’s plans to create a Big Brother database that could map drivers’ whereabouts with police cruiser-mounted scanners that capture thousands of license plates per hour — storing that information indefinitely where local cops, staties, feds and prosecutors could access it as they choose.
“What kind of a society are we creating here?” asked civil rights lawyer Harvey Silverglate, who along with the ACLU fears police abuse. “There comes a point where the surveillance is so pervasive and total that it’s a misnomer to call a society free any longer.”
The computerized scanners, known as Automatic License Plate Recognition devices, instantly check for police alerts, warrants, traffic violations and parking tickets, which cops say could be an invaluable tool in thwarting crime. The Executive Office of Public Safety has approved 27 grants totaling $500,000 to buy scanners for state police and 26 local departments. The purchases are on hold while state lawyers develop a policy for the use of a common state database all the scanners would feed.
Some ALPR scanners already are deployed on Massachusetts roads. State police have two. Several cities use them for parking enforcement. Chelsea has four scanner-mounted cruisers.
“It’s great for canvassing an area, say after a homicide if you are looking for a particular plate,” said Chelsea police Capt. Keith Houghton. “You can plug it in, and drive up and down side streets. It sounds an alarm if you get a hit.”
He said Chelsea’s information is overwritten after 30 days and is not shared with the state.
EOPS spokesman Terrell Harris said the state wants the scanner information fed into the Public Safety Data Center, where local, state and federal authorities could access it.
“We’re currently working to develop a policy that balances the effective use of this powerful law enforcement tool with the privacy concerns we’re keenly aware of,” Harris said.
The ACLU’s Kade Crockford said the technology, which just allows a faster version of what police do now in running plates, is less of a concern than the state’s plans to store information on average, law-abiding citizens.
“People who aren’t wanted for a crime, all of their information is stored in a database that is shared with another government agency,” Crawford said. “The potential for abuse is very big. We don’t think people who haven’t committed a crime should be tracked by law enforcement.”
The two state police cruisers equipped with scanners patrol the metro Boston area, state police spokesman David Procopio said. He defended police use of the new technology.
“What about the rights of someone who is already a victim to have their assailant brought to justice?” Procopio asked. “There’s a freedom to being able to live your life not worried about being the victim of crime that’s also a freedom worth protecting.”
Silverglate countered, “If you have cameras everywhere, of course you’re going to reduce the crime rate, but you’re not going to have a society worth preserving. To the American people, freedom means something. There is a line to draw in the sand, beyond which you don’t want the government poking its nose. This crosses the line.”
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1353264
TSA says it's making airport screening more 'private'
The Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday that it has begun installing software to give passengers more privacy when they're screened by some of the full-body scanning machines at airport checkpoints.
The TSA says the software for millimeter-wave body-scanning machines, which use electromagnetic waves to screen passengers, replaces a passenger's image with a generic one that will still expose any dangerous items that could be hidden.
It also says that the software's automatic detection capability eliminates the need for a TSA agent to look at a passenger's image in a viewing room.
Many fliers have objected to having their "naked" images viewed by TSA personnel.
"This software upgrade enables us to continue providing a high level of security through advanced imaging technology screening, while improving the passenger experience at checkpoints," TSA Administrator John Pistole said Wednesday.
The TSA says it expects all 241 millimeter-wave machines at 40 U.S. airports to be upgraded by the end of the year.
The agency plans to test similar software in the fall for its 247 body-scanning "backscatter" devices, which use high-speed X-rays and emit a low dose of radiation. The backscatter machines are at 38 airports.
The move doesn't appease some consumer and privacy advocates who say the machines are a waste of money and represent an unlawful, virtual strip search of passengers. They also are concerned that radiation from the X-ray devices could be harmful.
"The machines are not effective, so the new software is throwing money at a solution that's not a solution," says Kate Hanni, executive director of FlyersRights.org. "The machines won't find low-density powdered explosives, liquid explosives — or much more than the old metal detectors."
TSA spokesman Nicholas Kimball says the machines "are the best technology currently available to detect well-concealed non-metallic explosives, which are among the most significant threats to our national security today."
Ginger McCall of the Electronic Privacy Information Center — a group that focuses attention on civil liberties issues — says it's unclear whether the new software will eliminate privacy concerns. She says the TSA must be more transparent about the capabilities of the software.
"If the software is simply an overlay which still permits the machines to capture, store or transfer the graphic naked image, then it doesn't solve the privacy problems created by these machines," says McCall, a lawyer for the group.
http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/story/2011/07/TSA-says-its-making-airport-screening-more-private/49540660/1
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