LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – As a growing number of municipalities and private entities install automatic license plate readers to help solve crimes, locate missing people and identify trespassers, privacy advocates are creating online maps that reveal the devices’ locations.
License plate readers, or LPRs, photograph and electronically log the tag numbers of passing vehicles while potentially using artificial intelligence to collect additional data like the vehicles’ model or color.
LPRs manufactured by Flock Safety and other companies are usually visible to motorists, but law enforcement agencies are often reluctant to publicize the specific locations of where such devices are deployed.
“I don’t think anybody likes mass surveillance and being watched all the time,” said Ed Vogel, a researcher who works with the privacy organization DeFlock. “I think we need to pause and slow down because a lot of this is being adopted very quickly.”
Using public records and crowdsourced reports, DeFlock is building an online map that has already documented the locations of nearly 75,000 LPRs across the U.S.
[BELOW: Is LPR data public record? Here’s what Florida law says]
The DeFlock map shows hundreds of LPRs in Central Florida communities like Orlando, Titusville, Sanford and Ocala.
While most of the devices were purchased by government and law enforcement agencies, private companies like retailers and apartment complexes also own LPRs.
Lowe’s Home Improvement uses the technology for security, fraud prevention and asset-protection purposes but will also share data with law enforcement solely in connection with criminal investigations, according to the company’s website.
News 6 independently verified the locations of dozens of cameras plotted on the DeFlock map, including several located in Lake County.
The Mount Dora Police Department told News 6 it uses LPR technology to assist with criminal investigations, locate stolen vehicles, and support efforts to identify missing or endangered people.
Other Central Florida law enforcement agencies have previously cited similar reasons for purchasing LPRs.
When 13-year-old Madeline Soto was first reported missing in 2024, Kissimmee Police used LPRs to prove her mother’s boyfriend lied about driving the teen to school that morning.
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Instead, the LPR data revealed that Stephan Sterns, who was later convicted of raping and murdering Soto, drove his car in the opposite direction of the school.
Information from LPRs and other traffic cameras helped search teams successfully narrow down the location where Soto’s body was found, court records show.
“LPRs are not used to monitor law-abiding citizens or track individuals’ daily activities,” the Mount Dora Police Department said in a statement. “The technology captures license plate data visible from public roadways and is used in accordance with Florida law, departmental policy, and established data retention and access controls.”
Mount Dora police believe discussions about the placement, usage or operational aspects of public safety tools like LPRs could compromise law enforcement strategies and effectiveness.
But Vogel thinks citizens have a right to know where LPRs have been deployed and how governments use them.
“Once you really understand their full capabilities, and how much data they’re collecting, who has access to that data, I think it raises a lot of concerns,” said Vogel. “There’s very little democratic conversation happening regarding their use, their adoption, and why the police even need them.”