Privacy

Nine police cars in Henderson are now equipped with extra eyes - license plate scanners. Each vehicle has four cameras, and they have the ability to scan one plate each second or nearly 30,000 plates in an 8 hour shift. The device compares the plates it scans to a database of “wanted” license plates. The police say that the scanner records a plate only if it’s a match in the system, but the ACLU of Nevada is concerned about the privacy implications of this new scanning system.

In 2007 the American Civil Liberties Union filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request for records of using Americans' cell phones to to pinpoint their locations, sometimes without a warrant or any court oversight. After six months, when no records were received from the U.S. Department of Justice, the ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a lawsuit urging a federal court to order the DOJ to turn over the records.

The bill requiring automatic DNA collection of arrestees died in committee on Monday evening. Assembly Bill 552 would have mandated collection of DNA from anyone arrested for a felony, whether or not DNA is necessary to investigate the crime, and whether or not the individual is ever charged or convicted of the crime.