{"id":18936,"date":"2026-10-01T08:39:53","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T15:39:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/?p=18936"},"modified":"2026-10-01T08:39:53","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T15:39:53","slug":"wyoming-lawmakers-warned-that-besides-license-plates-tech-can-track-faces-phones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/2026\/10\/01\/wyoming-lawmakers-warned-that-besides-license-plates-tech-can-track-faces-phones\/","title":{"rendered":"Wyoming Lawmakers Warned That Besides License Plates, Tech Can Track Faces, Phones"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A promising start, and it will show just how captured the legislature is by where this goes. If it goes too far, I’d bet we see the governor veto it on his way out. And some of these cameras are used by private parties on their properties like Home Depot and Lowes, so we’ll have to see how those are addressed. My preference would be immediate deletion unless on a watch list with court order or probably cause due to an emergency. But of course, can we count on these companies not passing all the data to the federal government before deletion? As they have massive data centers for hoovering up all the data they can get which never really stopped after Snowden’s revelations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/cowboystatedaily.com\/2026\/09\/30\/wyoming-lawmakers-warned-that-besides-license-plates-tech-can-track-faces-and-phones\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
A proposed partial ban of license plate readers is a first step at regulating the devices, but may already fall short, a researcher told Wyoming lawmakers Tuesday. He said devices also can now track faces, cellphones and radio frequencies.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

By Clair McFarland<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wyoming
Wyoming lawmakers were warned Tuesday that a partial ban on license plate reader cameras being discussed may not go far enough. The Wyoming Highway Patrol says it could unintentionally hurt the technology it uses at ports of entry and roadside inspections (Greg Johnson, Cowboy State Daily)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wyoming\u2019s proposed partial ban on license plate reader cameras is a bold first attempt at regulating the devices, but may already be behind the times, a Cato Institute researcher told lawmakers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cato criminal justice project director Matthew Cavedon\u2019s remarks unfolded during a meeting of the  Select Committee on Blockchain, Financial Technology and Digital Innovation Technology held Tuesday in Laramie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cato Institute is a nonprofit group focused on advancing liberty-oriented causes, its website says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This meeting was the committee\u2019s second attempt, at least, to build momentum on a draft of a limited ban on license plate readers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, the bill seeks to ban free-rein and long-term use by law enforcement, and vendor sales of people\u2019s data to data brokers and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State legislators did not vote on the bill Tuesday, deciding instead to work more fully on it at the committee\u2019s November meeting in Cheyenne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to thank this committee for starting from the same place that most Americans and most people in Wyoming are starting, which is that this kind of technology poses serious risks to civil liberties and to privacy, and that it needs important safeguards,\u201d said Cavedon, who appeared via virtual link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch Out For Face, Digital ID<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The bill defines \u201cautomatic license plate reader\u201d as any device, software, or algorithm that is used to capture license plate images and convert those into computer-readable data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The language carves school bus video systems out of that definition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The definition misses the point, said Cavedon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFlock\u2019s top-of-the-line technology at this point can develop full-blown vehicle fingerprints using everything from dents on vehicles to bumper stickers,\u201d he said. \u201cIn addition, it came to light through leaked coding and investigative reporting, Flock devices can now identify people as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flock Safety maintains that it does not perform facial recognition. But in May, Gadget Review reported<\/u><\/a> a salesperson from VIDIZMO pitched a facial recognition add-on to the Flock Safety license plate reader system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cavedon noted another company is now developing<\/u><\/a> a \u201csignal trace\u201d product that can read cellphone and wearable device electronic signals from inside vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shane Forry, third-year law student at the University of Wyoming, had given a similar testimony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI can put a box underneath my camera that’s not an ALPR (automated license place reader) under the definition of this \u2026 that just collects signals,\u201d said Forry. \u201cThe Bluetooth signals that my phone requests every 6 seconds, the Wi-Fi signals that get sent out; the RF (radio frequency) signals that my tires send to the rest of my car to tell them whether it’s inflated to the proper amount.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides urging modernization of the bill\u2019s definition, Cavedon asked lawmakers to put transparency requirements on the technology companies, so that people know what they\u2019re doing without relying on leaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, Cavedon asked the committee to strengthen the bill\u2019s enforcement mechanism, which is a route to sue the government or the encroaching private company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About The Bill<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The bill would still let law enforcement use LPRs to compare license plate data against an externally-held crime, missing person\u2019s, or vehicle registry database in real time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would let the government use the devices to enforce parking restrictions, but would ban database comparison with that data and would require deletion after 12 hours of settling any parking violation, or 12 hours after the data is captured if there\u2019s no parking citation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It would also let the government use the devices \u201cfor the sole purpose of capturing and checking license plates.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Law enforcement agencies would have to remove license plate numbers from the databases \u201cas soon as practicable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The bill also allows law enforcement agencies to use the \u201chotlist\u201d database with a court order or under exigent circumstances, to achieve purposes listed in the court order, or merited by the exigent circumstances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And it contains language requiring agencies to check in with the court at a yet-unspecified period of time after making the initial entry into the database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the court doesn\u2019t let the agency keep using that data, it would have to delete its entry, under the bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill would also impose tight restrictions on when an agency could retain LPR data: only long enough to resolve a case resulting in an arrest, citation, or protective custody, or in finding a missing or endangered person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bill would also ban vendor sharing or disclosure of LPR data except where required by federal law or court orders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Agencies could apply to a court for an order authorizing them to share the data, under limited circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good Cop, Bad Cop<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Allen Thompson, executive director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police, said he recognizes the bill seeks to ban casual and unlawful access to the system by government employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The association\u2019s members support that effort \u201cextremely,\u201d said Thompson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo one hates a bad cop more than a good cop,\u201d he said. \u201cIt brings us all down as a profession when we see these cases across the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reports have surfaced around the nation about police officers who use license plate reader technology to track domestic partners, among other misuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thompson suggested anchoring the ban to the bad behavior, rather than the technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also warned that the bill may outlaw body cameras and dash cameras that may capture license plate data. And he voiced disagreement with a ban on using LPRs to collect other vehicle information like make, model, color markings decals and damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police document those features when they enter a stolen vehicle into the National Crime Information Center database.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He questioned the bill\u2019s strictures of judicial oversight, saying that can be difficult on three-day weekends and nights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He urged a longer retention window to determine whether exigent circumstances exist. And he asked for a later start date than the bill\u2019s planned July 1, 2027, beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wyoming recently passed a new law making it more time-consuming for agencies to codify rules, which can make it more difficult for agencies to implement laws on deadline, according to committee testimony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many laws across the nation allow data retention for 30 days, Thompson noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would just say that some of the most egregious crimes that we investigate are not reported for hours or days later,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd in order to get on to a cold case like that, we have to go back and look at the time, the neighborhood, and the vehicles coming through that area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Committee co-chair Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, countered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no question that good purposes are for good,\u201d he said. \u201cBut as is always the case, you know, surveillance, privacy laws are inconvenient. Surveillance is handy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We know law enforcement\u2019s always easier if we can  just know where everyone was for the last year, at all times.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that \u201cstill creeps people out for good reason,\u201d said Rothfuss. \u201cBecause we\u2019ve all read those books, I guess, is what it comes down to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rothfuss confirmed in a text to Cowboy State Daily that he was referencing George Orwell\u2019s \u201c1984\u201d and other dystopian novels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trucker Ports<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wyoming Highway Patrol commercial carrier section Lt. Kyle McKay said the agency supports the bill\u2019s intent, but the current draft could unintentionally hurt the technology it uses at ports of entry and roadside inspections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHP uses devices that capture or process license plate information as part of commercial vehicle inspection and screening, but not for general surveillance, said McKay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rothfuss said the committee could carve out that kind of inspection technology from the definition of the cameras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McKay said the ban could also limit options for private trucking companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wyoming Airport Coalition, via a written statement from its president Devon Brubaker, urged better bill language to comply with federal monitoring requirements and better catalogue parked vehicles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation testified to give more clarity about criminal databases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A promising start, and it will show just how captured the legislature is by where this goes. If it goes too far, I’d bet we see the governor veto it on his way out. And some of these cameras are used by private parties on their properties like Home Depot and Lowes, so we’ll have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech","category-wyoming"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Jason","author_link":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/author\/jturning\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18936"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18936\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18937,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18936\/revisions\/18937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasonsblog.ddns.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}