In response to an open records request, the Pittsburgh Parking Authority (PPA) will tighten its license plate scanning policy and regularly delete scanned photos from its database, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Over the last eight years, the authority has taken millions of photos of parked vehicles and stored the data for up to 30 days in a database that potentially can be used to track a vehicle’s movement around the city, the report states. In a letter, PPA Executive Director David Onorato wrote, “This type of information will no longer be accessible, except with respect to vehicles that have outstanding parking tickets.” The Pennsylvania chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union applauded the move, with one representative saying, “It is really creepy when you can say, ‘You were at the Giant Eagle at such and such a time.’”
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