A year after DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson canceled a plan by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to create a national license-plate tracking system due to a large outcry from civil liberties advocates, DHS is seeking to reinitiate its creation.
The Department of Homeland Security now feels that they can properly address concerns raised by privacy advocate groups about the warrantless tracking of Americans through creation of functionality that permits law enforcement to access an existing database containing billions of records detailing citizen whereabouts.
In a privacy impact assessment issued Thursday, the DHS says that it is not seeking to build a national database or contribute data to an existing system.
Instead, it is seeking bids from companies that already gather the data to say how much they would charge to grant access to law enforcement officers at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a DHS agency. Officials said they also want to impose limits on ICE personnel’s access to and use of the data.
“These restrictions will provide essential privacy and civil liberty protections, while enhancing our agents’ and officers’ ability to locate and apprehend suspects who could pose a threat to national security and public safety,” DHS spokeswoman Marsha Catron said in a statement. The solicitation was posted publicly Thursday.
Privacy advocates who reviewed a copy of the privacy impact assessment said it fell short.
“If this goes forward, DHS will have warrantless access to location information going back at least five years about virtually every adult driver in the U.S., and sometimes to their image as well,” said Gregory T. Nojeim, senior counsel for the Center for Democracy & Technology.
Commercial license-plate tracking systems already are used by the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, as well as some local and state law enforcement agencies. Law enforcement groups say the fears of misuse are overblown. But news of the DHS solicitation triggered a public firestorm last year, leading Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to cancel it and order a review of the privacy concerns raised by advocates and lawmakers.
Over the following months, ICE and DHS privacy officials developed policies aimed at increasing “the public’s trust in our ability to use the data responsibly,” according to a senior DHS privacy officer. The DHS is the first federal agency, officials said, to issue a privacy assessment on such a solicitation.
Commercial license-plate-tracking systems can include a variety of data. Images of plate numbers are generally captured by high-speed cameras that are mounted on vehicles or in fixed locations. Some systems also capture images of the drivers and passengers.
The largest commercial database is owned by Vigilant Solutions, which as of last fall had more than 2.5 billion records. Its database grows by 2.7 million records a day.
DHS officials say Vigilant’s database, to which some field offices have had access on a subscription basis, has proved valuable in solving years-old cases. Privacy advocates, however, are concerned about the potential for abuse and note that commercial data banks generally do not have limits on how long they retain data.
NOOOOOOO
Paging George Orwell – time to line up for your microchip…
scary!
I SAY NO OBAMA ..WHERE CAN I GET ONE
good way to get an enemies list so they know who to send to the fema camps first
they probably did it —just not telling
they cannot be trusted. it’s been proven time and time again.
Written by Mike Gallagher .
President Obama : This is why you didn’t go to France.
It was you who on ABC News referenced – “My Muslim faith.”
It was you who gave $100 million in U.S. taxpayer funds to re-build foreign mosques .
It was you who wrote that in the event of a conflict – “I will stand with the Muslims.”
It was you who $#%&!@*ured the Egyptian Foreign Minister that – “I am a Muslim.”
It was you who bowed in submission before the Saudi King.
It was you who sat for 20 years in a Liberation Theology Church condemning Christianity and professing Marxism .
It was you who exempted Muslims from penalties under ObamaCare that the rest of us have to pay.
It was you who purposefully omitted – “endowed by our Creator” – from your recitation of The Declaration Of Independence.
It was you who mocked the Bible and Jesus Christ’s Sermon On The Mount while repeatedly referring to the ‘HOLY’ Quran .
It was you who traveled the Islamic world denigrating the United States Of America.
It was you who instantly threw the support of your administration behind the building of the Ground Zero Victory mosque overlooking the hallowed crater of the World Trade Center .
It was you who refused to attend the National Prayer Breakfast, but hastened to host an Islamic prayer breakfast at the WH.
It was you who ordered both Georgetown Univ . and Notre Dame to shroud all vestiges of Jesus Christ BEFORE you would agree to go there to speak, but in contrast, you have NEVER requested that the mosques you have visited adjust their decor .
It was you who appointed anti-Christian fanatics to your Czar Corps.
It was you who appointed rabid Islamists to Homeland Security.
It was you who said that NASA’ s “foremost mission” was an outreach to Muslim communities.
It was you who as an Illinois Senator were the ONLY individual who would speak in favor of infanticide .
It was you who were the first President not to give a Christmas Greeting from the WH, and went so far as to hang photos of Chairman Mao on the WH tree.
It was you who curtailed the military tribunals of all Islamic terrorists.
It was you who refused to condemn the Ft . Hood killer as an Islamic terrorist.
It is you who has refused to speak-out concerning the horrific executions of women throughout the Muslim culture, but yet, have submitted Arizona to the UN for investigation of hypothetical human-rights abuses.
It was you who when queried in India refused to acknowledge the true extent of radical global Jihadists , and instead profusely praised Islam in a country that is 82% Hindu and the victim of numerous Islamic terrorists $#%&!@*aults.
It was you who funneled $900 Million in U.S. taxpayer dollars to Hamas .
It was you who ordered the USPS to honor the MUSLIM holiday with a new commemorative stamp.
It was you who directed our UK Emb$#%&!@*y to conduct outreach to help “empower” the British Muslim community.
It was you who embraced the fanatical Muslim Brotherhood in your quest to overthrow the Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak .
It was you who funded mandatory Arabic language and culture studies in Grammar schools across our country.
It is you who follows the Muslim custom of not wearing any form of jewelry during Ramadan .
It is you who departs for Hawaii over the Christmas season so as to avoid past criticism for NOT participating in seasonal WH religious events—while keeping all those who have to travel and protect you from spending the season with their families.
It was you who was un -characteristically quick to join the chorus of the Muslim Brotherhood to depose Egypt’ s Hosni Mubarak , formerly America’ s strongest ally in North Africa; but, remain muted in your non-response to the Brotherhood led slaughter of Egyptian Christians.
It was you who appointed as your chief adviser, Valerie Jarrett , who is a member of the Muslim Sisterhood , an off-shoot of the Muslim Brotherhood
Remember, Distribute far and wide.
Time to take our opinions underground so the government can’t track us as easy.
It’s already defunct. Being used against Americans…not FOR Americans.