Recently, the border patrol has come under scrutiny for its usage of a closed surveillance program. The program uses license plates to monitor and track suspicious travel patterns. A program to help bolster the border’s protective services, this program raises significant issues regarding the wrongful imprisonment of citizens and a violation of their civil rights and privacy. Documents obtained by investigative journalists prove that the CBP has automated license plate readers, known as ALPRs for short, to gather and monitor the constant flow of vehicular traffic at and near the border and, in some instances, even further.
Automated license plates – what do they do?
The automated systems track license plates, timestamps, and geospatial coordinates and upload them into a system that automatically detects and flags patterns that the system determines to be outside the norm or that the system has classified as suspicious for such things as trafficking or other contraband activities.
Although the ALPR system has become surprisingly common among law enforcement agencies, this report has exposed the fact that border patrol’s usage of the ALPR system has extended well beyond established border patrol checkpoints.
Reputation has suggested that the program tracks surveillance miles away from the border, which has brought to light the fact that there are almost certainly legal limits that the program has, and to which it has shown a significant disregard.
American citizens are being flagged and detained due to this surveillance
For example, drivers stopped and interrogated for hours were only approached due to an algorithm’s assessment of their route. Detractors are claiming profiling is happening here, especially of those living and working on the borders and crossing them for legitimate reasons. Along with the expansion of the surveillance system, numerous legal questions arise.
The Fourth Amendment states, “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” However, the courts have always allowed borders to control a freer hand. Although in this case, the surveillance right is to baseline. Legal experts argue that tracking people’s travel patterns is a baseline surveillance.
The moral complexities also have to be carefully considered
The moral implications of using predictive algorithms in law enforcement have been controversial for quite some time. While some argue that these tools increase efficiency and security in law enforcement, others point out that these tools increase the likelihood of bias and false positives. In the context of border enforcement, these risks are heightened due to the potential for detention and interrogation of individuals.
The US CBP claims that the surveillance of license plates is an essential tool
Concerned citizens, legislators, and politicians are calling for an increase in transparency and oversight of the US CBP. The moral implications of using predictive algorithms in law enforcement have been controversial for quite some time.
Suggestion for US CBP oversight includes the obligation to establish and make public the guidelines that are used to define and categorize certain data as “suspicious,” the enactment of legislation that limits the duration for which data is retained, and the establishment of legally independent boards of compliance surveillance.
The surveillance of license plates by the US CBP imparts the clearest need for a policy that dictates the legal boundaries that impact the US CBP’s use of surveillance data crossing the border.
As technology continues to advance, the use of technology in law enforcement is certain to increase for the fiscal and security benefit of the US. However, the need for privacy around surveillance will also need to be addressed. In balancing fiscal responsibility, technology, and privacy, the use of technology in law enforcement will greatly benefit from the public’s acceptance of privacy that will come with technological advances.
