Overview
- Sen. Ed Markey sent a letter seeking details about Border Patrol’s predictive license-plate network and called it an invasive surveillance system.
- Rep. Dan Goldman and Sen. Mark Warner publicly questioned the constitutionality of detaining drivers based on algorithmic flags rather than individualized suspicion.
- An Associated Press investigation reported that cameras collect plate data nationwide and an algorithm flags vehicles by origins, destinations and routes.
- The reporting found some readers were concealed in ordinary traffic equipment and that Border Patrol draws on data from government agencies and private vendors.
- CBP says the tools help identify threats and are governed by policy and law, while legal scholars note courts are increasingly scrutinizing pervasive location tracking.