As Axon eyes entry into Automated License Plate Reader market, Ethics Board calls for industry-wide regulation

October 24, 2019 - Axon, a leading manufacturer of policing technologies, just announced its intention to produce and distribute Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) camera systems. In response, the company’s independent Ethics Board is calling for increased regulation of the ALPR industry by both private and public actors.

In a report released today, Axon’s independent AI and Policing Technology Ethics Board examined law enforcement’s use of ALPRs, the resulting threats to civil liberties and racial justice, and the possibility for the rise of pervasive surveillance systems. The Board concluded that the growing availability of low-cost ALPR systems, which would be further propelled by Axon’s entry into the ALPR market, has the potential to increase dramatically law enforcement’s use of the technology. The Board further concluded that the use of ALPRs is precariously unregulated or under-regulated in many jurisdictions.

The Board offered specific recommendations for Axon, as well as the broader ALPR industry, law enforcement, concerned communities and governments. Broadly, these recommendations include:

  • A call for immediate democratic regulation of ALPRs by communities and governments;

  • Industry-wide self-regulation;

  • Vendors, including Axon, design their products in ways that facilitate accountability and transparency, include measures to reduce the risk of false positives, and encourage police departments to generate usage reports for public review to raise awareness if there are racial or socio-economic disparities; and

  • Further study to determine the shortest possible retention periods for ALPR data to address concerns of historical tracking of drivers who have committed no offenses.

“ALPR usage today is pervasive, and growing rapidly,” said Ethics Board member Barry Friedman, founder of the Policing Project at the New York University School of Law and the Jacob D. Fuchsberg Professor of Law at New York University. “Government, policing agencies and the policing technology industry itself have completely abdicated their responsibilities by not regulating the use of ALPRs. This is a dangerous trend. ALPRs have the potential to threaten everyone’s privacy and worsen racial and socioeconomic disparities in the criminal justice system, especially if used to enforce low-level traffic offenses or generate revenue in the form of fines and fees.”

  • The Board found that although ALPRs can aid law enforcement and efficiently fight crime in important ways, there are serious concerns regarding their unregulated use, including:

  • The potential to exacerbate enforcement of low-level offenses, including fines and fees enforcement;

  • Evidence this enforcement falls disproportionately on low-income individuals and communities of color, much of which occurs out of the view of the public and with minimal democratic input or community education;

  • The possibility of false positives, which can cause police to stop the wrong vehicle or wrong person, potentially leading to dangerous situations; and

  • The retention of long-term data with identifiable information, which can be used to piece together the private habits and patterns of innocent drivers.

ALPRs are camera systems that record license plates, as well as the time and place of where the license plate was scanned. ALPRs often are capable of recording much more than license plates, including the surrounding scene, and even images of drivers and passengers. ALPRs are used by law enforcement to investigate serious offenses like auto theft, but at times they are also used to enforce civil infractions and collect fines and fees. ALPRs are also used by private actors, such as repossession companies, to track down people with unpaid debts. ALPRs have the potential to be a technologically advanced and efficient crime-fighting tool, and in addition to ethical usage, the board encourages community education to build awareness and understanding of how ALPRs are being deployed in neighborhoods across the country.

Although ALPR technology has been used by law enforcement for over 30 years, its use has expanded rapidly within the last two decades due to advances in technology that have lowered purchasing costs.

“The unregulated use of ALPRs is like the Wild West,” said Jim Bueerman, Ethics Board member, former president of the National Police Foundation and former chief of the Redlands, California Police Department. “ALPRs have an important place in law enforcement, but there has been sprawl well beyond those appropriate uses. Most concerning is the use of ALPRs to collect fines and fees or for low-level enforcement.”

“ALPRs have been in use since the 1990s, beginning in London, but the growth has been astronomical.” said Kathleen O’Toole, Ethics Board member and former chief of the Seattle and Boston Police Departments. “Without sound regulation, the use of ALPRs can cause communities to lose trust in their law enforcement agencies. We hope Axon will follow our recommendations to design a product that leads the industry toward ethical usage.”

“It is essential that the unchecked use of ALPRs is regulated,” said Mecole Jordan, Ethics Board member, former executive director of the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations, and former coordinator of the Grassroots Alliance for Police Accountability in Chicago. “The police lose legitimacy when surveillance tools create disparate burdens for people already struggling to make ends meet. We learned of many troubling practices while discussing this issue. We have made very specific recommendations to assure equity and protection for individual rights in the use of ALPRs.”

Axon’s AI and Policing Technology Ethics Board, founded in 2018, operates independently from the company and is made up of experts in the fields of AI, computer science, privacy, law enforcement, civil liberties and public policy. The Board advises Axon around ethical issues relating to the development and deployment of AI-powered policing technologies and works to ensure these technologies ultimately serve the communities where they will be used. The Board released its first report, on face recognition technologies and body cameras, in June 2019.

Helping lead the Board is the Policing Project at New York University School of Law, a nonprofit organization that partners with communities and the police to promote public safety through transparency, equity and democratic engagement. The Policing Project works with the Board to facilitate its meetings and publish the Board’s conclusions and recommendations.

The full report of the Axon AI & Policing Technology Ethics Board is available at https://www.policingproject.org/axon-alpr.

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