Virginia’s reliance on surveillance tech raises data privacy questions

Surveillancetechnologylikeautomatedlicenseplatereadershasbecomecommonplaceinpolicing.Federaldatashowsthatmostlargedepartmentsusethesystems,whichrecordimagesoftraffic24hoursadaywhereverthecamerasarestationed. They’vemadeiteasiertolocatestolenvehiclesandtracksuspects,butthey’vealsoraisedconcernsaboutcivilliberties.ArecentinvestigationbyCardinalNews,aVirginianonprofit,foundthat81of100agenciesinthesouthernpartofthestateusesomekindofpublic-facingsurveillancetech. CardinalNewsExecutiveEditorJeffSchwanertooka300-miledrivethroughthestatetoseehowoftenhiscarwouldberecorded.Marketplace’sMeghanMcCartyCarinospokewithSchwanerabouthisexperienceandissuesrelatedtoprivacyandwhohasaccesstothedata. Thefollowingisaneditedtranscriptoftheirconversation. JeffSchwaner:Martinsvillehasquiteafewcameras.Theyonlycapturedmeonce.Stauntoncapturedmeattwodifferentpoints,exitpointsandentrancepoints,tothecity.Lynchburgcapturedmeoncene