Massachusetts’ highest court will soon review the legality of controversial surveillance technology that state and local law enforcement use to track vehicles in real time, collecting voluminous data on motorists not suspected of any crime.
Police departments in Massachusetts in recent years have installed an undisclosed number of cameras across the state that automatically photograph the license plate of each passing vehicle, and compile data, including the location date and time, in a massive database — all without obtaining warrants or court orders.
The practice has raised a host of legal and privacy concerns, along with questions about how the data is used and stored. Plate reader technology has proliferated across the country in recent years, and remains unregulated in many states, including Massachusetts. Now, the matter is headed for a showdown in the Supreme Judicial Court.
