Law Enforcement is Using License Plate Readers to “Grid” Entire Neighborhoods
By guest writer Joe Cadillic of the MassPrivatel Blog Editor’s Note: This post originally appeared as NMA E-Newsletter #554 from August 2019. If you would like to receive our weekly Email Newsletter, please join the NMA today and help us fight automated license plate readers or ALPRs wherever they might be. Since April 2020, guest writer […]
Understanding Traffic Stop Data and Police Racial Profiling
By Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director A fascinating study released recently by Stanford University took issue with the ‘veil of darkness’ in traffic stops. Researchers found that black drivers, who are pulled over by police more frequently during the day, are not necessarily stopped as much after sunset. This largest-ever study found that this was […]
Contact Tracing in the Time of COVID-19 Crisis
Written by Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director with Joe Cadillic, MassPrivatel Blog The Street Surveillance Watch Blog comes to you biweekly on the National Motorists Association Blog. If you have comments or suggestions, write a comment after this blog or contact us at nma@motorists.org. Contact Tracing in the Time of COVID-19 Crisis Disturbing surveillance trends […]
Roadblocks and Checkpoints during the COVID-19 Crisis: Driving in America Blog for April 3, 2020
By Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director In my position as the NMA Communications Director, I skim or read hundreds of motoring news stories every day to bring you the news and to share trends and perspectives. Up until this week, I rarely ran across articles about checkpoints and roadblocks. The COVID-19 crisis is scary enough, […]
Driving in America: An Out-of-State Speeding Ticket –Has this Happened to You?
The NMA Office receives numerous calls throughout the year from members asking how to defeat a speeding ticket they happened to receive driving in another state. Unfortunately, these are rather difficult to fight because many small towns and counties target out-of-state drivers. After all, authorities know they won’t come back to fight the ticket. Ticketing […]
A Car’s Black Box and a City’s ALPR Program Put to the Test in two Different Courts: NMA E-Newsletter #566
Two motorists recently won Fourth Amendment decisions. Both cases will likely be appealed, and will have major privacy rights implications for how and where we drive our vehicles. ALPRs in Florida Raul Mas Canosa was mad and decided he wasn’t going to take it anymore. The city where he lives, Coral Gables, Florida, tracked his […]
ATE Racket Report for November 11, 2019
Curated by Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director The ATE Racket Report is a weekly feature of the NMA blog. We want to bring the issues of automated traffic enforcement to our supporters in a more coherent up-to-date fashion. We love to hear from you about the report. Please feel free to comment below the […]
Profound Privacy Risks without our Consent
By Shelia Dunn, NMA Communications Director Editor’s Note: This piece was first posted in June 2019 as NMA E-Newsletter #545. GeekWire posted last month that Portland, Oregon quietly launched a controversial mobile location data project with partner Sidewalk Labs (a subsidiary of Alphabet–which is the parent company of Google). In this year-long pilot program, the […]
Law Enforcement is Using License Plate Readers to “Grid” Entire Neighborhoods: NMA E-Newsletter #554
By guest writer Joe Cadillic of the MassPrivatel Blog What does gridding mean? The Arizona Mirror recently described it this way: “As part of the training for the ALPR (automated license plate readers) systems, Chandler police officers are taught to “grid” neighborhoods during their downtime – systematically driving up and down every street in an area, indiscriminately […]
Profound Privacy Risks without our Consent: NMA E-Newsletter #545
GeekWire posted last month that Portland, Oregon quietly launched a controversial mobile location data project with partner Sidewalk Labs (a subsidiary of Alphabet–which is the parent company of Google). In this year-long pilot program, the city has authorized that people, who have smartphones, will be tracked without their consent or knowledge. Portland is using software […]