Texas Pulls Back on License-Plate Cameras as Privacy Concerns Grow

AUSTIN, Texas — Texas is putting the brakes on the expansion of automated license-plate surveillance, raising new questions about how far law enforcement should be allowed to go in tracking vehicles traveling across the state.

Gov. Greg Abbott has directed state agencies to stop spending state money on additional automated license-plate reader cameras operated by Flock Safety, a technology company whose camera systems have become increasingly common among police departments and other law-enforcement agencies. The decision follows growing scrutiny over the size of Texas' camera network and concerns about how the information it collects can be used.

Automated license-plate readers are relatively simple in concept. Cameras positioned along roads photograph passing vehicles and record information such as license-plate numbers, vehicle characteristics, location and time. Police can then search that information while investigating stolen vehicles, missing persons and other crimes.

Supporters consider the technology a powerful investigative tool. Instead of relying solely on witnesses or traditional surveillance, investigators can potentially determine whether a particular vehicle traveled through an area at a specific time.

But the same capability has generated a larger debate over privacy.

Unlike a traditional police investigation focused on a particular suspect, automated cameras can collect information about enormous numbers of ordinary motorists who are not suspected of committing crimes. When networks become large enough, critics argue, they can potentially create detailed records of people's movements.

Texas has invested heavily in the technology. Reporting by The Texas Tribune found that the state had committed at least $30 million toward developing a large license-plate surveillance network. Abbott's order prevents state agencies from using additional state funds to purchase more Flock cameras.

The order, however, does not dismantle the existing network.

The Texas Department of Public Safety continues to use cameras already deployed, and local law-enforcement agencies may operate their own systems. That distinction means automated license-plate readers are unlikely to disappear from Texas roads anytime soon.

Flock Safety says its technology is designed to help communities fight crime while incorporating safeguards around data access and retention. The company has also maintained that its cameras are not facial-recognition systems and do not continuously track individuals in the manner of traditional video surveillance.

The controversy nevertheless represents a broader problem governments across the country increasingly face: technology is advancing faster than many of the laws governing its use.

Artificial intelligence, facial recognition, drones and automated surveillance systems have given law enforcement capabilities that would have been extraordinarily expensive—or technologically impossible—only a generation ago.

For Texans, the debate ultimately involves competing interests.

Police want tools capable of finding suspects quickly and solving crimes. Residents also have an interest in ensuring that government does not quietly construct a system capable of recording where millions of innocent people travel.

Abbott's decision does not settle that debate.

Instead, it may move the issue directly toward the Texas Legislature, where lawmakers could eventually determine who may access license-plate data, how long it can be stored, when it can be searched and whether warrants should be required in certain circumstances.

Texas isn't abandoning automated surveillance.

But for the moment, the state appears to be asking an increasingly important question: When does a tool designed to find criminals become a system capable of watching everyone?