The Wall Street Journal reports on the rise of license-plate tracking technology, noting it “is a case study in how storing and studying people’s everyday activities, even the seemingly mundane, has become the default rather than the exception.” The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded more than $50 million in federal grants to law enforcement agencies during the past five years for the technology, and at least two private businesses using the technology have been identified, the report states. Former DHS Chief Privacy Officer Mary Ellen Callahan, CIPP/US, once said such private databases could become the nation’s largest collection of people’s movements. Meanwhile, privacy advocates are concerned that new forms of car insurance discounts are potentially privacy-invasive. (Registration may be required to access this story.)
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