Federal program aggregates city license plate reader data

A federal anti-drug trafficking program has been quietly requiring cities to share their automated license plate reader (ALPR) data with national surveillance centers, according to 404 Media. Local cops feed millions of plate scans from vendors like Flock into the federal HIDTA system, where it can then be accessed by federal, state, and local law enforcement — and even funneled to the DEA's national database. Critics say this setup sidesteps local oversight.

• Cities compelled to share ALPR data with HIDTA
• Data funneled to federal and DEA systems
• Collection includes Flock, Axon camera networks
• Local restrictions can be bypassed
• Privacy advocates flag lack of oversight