Automatic License Plate Recognition

[KW4MW]

Automatic License Plate Recognition

Is it a good thing? #

ALPR (http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?rurl=video.google.com&oid=506bb52c7ec16a66&)

Give the video a few secs to start.

[n1ydx]

Excellent use of technology. Of course, it will keep some officers very busy since it checks a great variety of hits.

Hope they have backup to follow through on the less criminal aspects.

N1YDX - Lee

[KD6NIG]

Don't they already have this technology in Europe?

I seem to recall reading an article about a speed enforcement van they use that takes a picture of the car, issues the ticket, and then about a mile up the road it lights up a readerboard that states the plate number and the violation. I seem to recall it stating the speed the ticket was "written" for also.

So its probably just migrating its way over here.

[n2ize]

On the surface it is great. It makes it easier for the police to find and recover stolen vehicles as well as capture bad guys who may endanger others, i.e. robbers, murderers, etc. Used as shown in the video it is a great thing.

What is a bit scarier are the so called "future uses" of this technology. What else will it be used for ? What other things will it be built to recognize ? Who will be tracked by it and why ? Recognition software is nothing new. Voice, facial, biometric recognition is becoming cheaper, easier and more and more foolproof by the day. Used to apprehend dangerous people it can be a great thing. On the other hand it can also be one big giant step into a police state.

[N2RJ]

Quote[/b] (n2ize @ Jan. 24 2007,15:09)]What is a bit scarier are the so called "future uses" of this technology. What else will it be used for ? What other things will it be built to recognize ? Who will be tracked by it and why ? Recognition software is nothing new. Voice, facial, biometric recognition is becoming cheaper, easier and more and more foolproof by the day. Used to apprehend dangerous people it can be a great thing. On the other hand it can also be one big giant step into a police state.
I will answer that.

It can be used to track illegal alliens and criminals.

Happy now?

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[K8TEK]

How could this be a bad thing? Don't be an idiot and break the law by stealing cars and driving without insurance and you have nothing to worry about.

[WS2L]

For the uses they are using it for now is great. The ability to scan up to 3,000 license plates an hour is awesome. As long as you keep clean then you have nothing to worry about. It's the law breakers who have to worry and let them worry. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[n2ize]

Quote[/b] (AB2MH @ Jan. 24 2007,13:14)]Quote[/b] (n2ize @ Jan. 24 2007,15:09)]What is a bit scarier are the so called "future uses" of this technology. What else will it be used for ? What other things will it be built to recognize ? Who will be tracked by it and why ? Recognition software is nothing new. Voice, facial, biometric recognition is becoming cheaper, easier and more and more foolproof by the day. Used to apprehend dangerous people it can be a great thing. On the other hand it can also be one big giant step into a police state.
I will answer that.

It can be used to track illegal alliens and criminals.

Happy now?

http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Yes, and I think I clearly stated that tracking dangerous criminals can be a good thing. Illegal aliens ? I don't know how effective it will be unless they don't have drivers licenses and drive stolen or uninsured cars. By the time it is used to track illegal aliens who don;t drive cars it will likely be using biometric data in which case it will be tracking each and every one of us. Used properly and with limitations = good. Misused and with no restrictions = might not be so good. It might be great for marketers too. They can scan the plate of every person driving into a mall parking lot or scan the face of everyone entering a store, query them against a database, pull up the persons buying habits etc. It might be great for sales.

More interesting, since these technologies are cheaper and readilly available they are no longer out of reach of the average person. The typical American has far more computing power in his pocket nowadays than was found in entire government offices and universities in years gone by. It is not improbable for someone to build a huge database of their own, complete with biometric data and the tools to scan and query . What it is used for beyond that is up to the imagination.

[kg4kww]

Well this would mean no more out running the cops to avoid a speeding ticket.

The Dukes of H are not happy

[AE6IP]

Quote[/b] (K8TEK @ Jan. 24 2007,12:40)]How could this be a bad thing?
Well, K3IBK, it can be a bad thing by way of false positives.

Professional auto thiefs who expect the car they just stole to remain on the street for a while have a simple expediency: They swap the plates with those from another vehicle. It's amazing how seldom we pay attention to the plates on our own cars.

OCR systems can do to license plate numbers what I did to your call sign. Plates get dirty, banged up, deliberately defaced, et cetera.

Systems can be abused. People with access to the data can use it to illegally track others on legitimate business.

This is not to say that such systems should never be used. Rather it is to remind us that technology is very fallible and that the best reason for presumption of innocence and due process is to avoid mistakes.

[G4ZMY]

They have them here indeed.
Used for checking out known crims' vehicles, unlicensed,stolen etc etc.
We quite regularly have a unit here usually early in the morning or sometimes during rush hour. Normally attended by a couple of cop cars & about 6 motorbikes.
The odd thing is that the one here doesn't have a speed camera on board, even though you see the thing and slam on the brakes in case you think you may be going too fast anyway.

[KA2P]

One problem I see with these things is that since they cost money, the folks who paid for it are going to look at ways to recoup their expenses. And that means a lot of speeding tickets.

[KD6NIG]

Ok, I guess most of the cameras are not plate recognizers yet, but you definetely have some speed cameras over there. So far we only mostly have them for red light enforcement.

But you guys definetely don't like them much, do you? (http://www.speedcam.co.uk/)

I guess some people aren't too happy with them if they are destroying them with fire, eh?

They also have portable vans they set up for enforcement that they refer to as...."Talivans"?

Nice. And they have plenty of photos of them parked illegally too! I guess in the name of speed enforcement no parking zones can be ignored?

Classic http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[KD6NIG]

On "TALIVAN PAGE 3" on the page I posted above, about 3/4 of the page down....

Aha! Plate recognition, but only to check for tax and if its stolen. But in use http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

I wonder if the company there that came up with it is helping to get the technology going here?

[K8TEK]

Quote[/b] (KA2P @ Jan. 27 2007,10:13)]One problem I see with these things is that since they cost money, the folks who paid for it are going to look at ways to recoup their expenses. And that means a lot of speeding tickets.
The system isn't being used to issue speeding tickets. Quit bitching and don't break the law. You have nothing to worry about.

[NC5P]

I heard Mexico was going to put RFID tags on their license plates. I don't know if they actually did. I suspect the Mexicans, being rather resourceful, probably put them in the microwave!

[AE6IP]

Quote[/b] (K8TEK @ Jan. 27 2007,14:17)]Quote[/b] (KA2P @ Jan. 27 2007,10:13)]One problem I see with these things is that since they cost money, the folks who paid for it are going to look at ways to recoup their expenses. And that means a lot of speeding tickets.
The system isn't being used to issue speeding tickets. Quit bitching and don't break the law. You have nothing to worry about.
I always recommend the movie Brazil to people who suggest that technology in the hands of bureacracy is "nothing to worry about."

[ka5piu]

Quote[/b] (NC5P @ Jan. 27 2007,17:39)]I heard Mexico was going to put RFID tags on their license plates. #I don't know if they actually did. #I suspect the Mexicans, being rather resourceful, probably put them in the microwave!
Hello.

In Texas, the standard is to put your drivers license in the microwave.
The new plates come with the barcode, but the plastic lump is gone.
The state had gone to RFID a while back, this was in the area of the word Texas, putting that in a metal frame would obscure the signal, so a state law was passed against same.
Once people figured it out, microwave a la license plate.
Is RFID still on Texas plates? only my microwave knows for sure.
Texas leads the nation in people attacking the traffic control systems.
The opticom transmitters can be had at just about any car show.
Wink-bashers and speed bashers are quite common, Austin no longer runs RADAR but LASER as this is so common.

[N0WVA]

Quote[/b] (WS2L @ Jan. 24 2007,13:44)]For the uses they are using it for now is great. The ability to scan up to 3,000 license plates an hour is awesome. As long as you keep clean then you have nothing to worry about. It's the law breakers who have to worry and let them worry. #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif
And you can rest assured that your ss# will never be used as a means of identification......