Bloomberg Businessweek October 5, 2020 pp26 |Technology| “License Plate RE4D3R5 for all”. “Cheap scanning technology raises concerns over invasions of privacy”. “THE BOTTOM LINE License plate reader technology, which had largely been the preserve of police, is now being marketed to everyday users and businesses, raising privacy concerns.”
Image Rekor.ai
Rekor Systems, inc. is now selling “home video surveillance software through a service called Watchman, starting at $5 a month.”
What are the functionalities?
Read a license plate
Record a vehicle’s make, color and body type
Mobile App enables users to scan license plates with their Smart Phone camera
What are the likely applications?
Schools ID cars in “student pickup lines”
Manage cars in parking lots-access
“Streamline transactions” to buy gas or order/pay for pick-up food or services-touchless no less
What are the concerns?
Privacy-track “how someone’s living their life”
Largely unregulated
Racial profiling
Databases-permanent stash of your information on private and government servers
What other companies are in this arena?
Motorola Vigilant Solutions
Leonardo SpA (Rome, Italy)
Other “more established companies with stronger links to police departments or the defense industry.”
Early partners with these technology companies include Mastercard, Inc. and Whitecastle