Austin Corbett was interviewed in the Edmonton Journal and Calgary Herald on Dec. 9, 2020, shortly after the Province announced they would be introducing new reflective licence plates to make them easier to be read by Automated Licence Plate Readers.
Automated Licence Plate readers have been used in some US states, where concerns over the privacy implications of these readers have been raised for some time.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/01/what-we-learned-oakland-raw-alpr-data
It is deeply concerning to consider that Alberta is bringing in automated licence plate readers for police vehicles or in stationary locations. These readers can be used to track individuals without a warrant, and have a disproportionate impact on marginalized and low-income communities. Common-sense rules can limit any breach of privacy created by these devices.
From the article:
“I think both a data retention period, setting out that we keep this data for a limited period of time, and saying, ‘Here are the uses that you’re allowed to use it for, here are the uses where you have to go get a judge to sign off,’” said Corbett, describing what restrictions could be put in place.